Rails 6.1 introduce ‘compact_blank’

Before Rails 6 we used to remove the blank values from Array and Hash by using other available methods.

Before:

  [...].delete_if(&:blank?)
  {....}.delete_if { |_k, v| v.blank? }
OR
  [...].reject(&:blank?)
  ...

From now, Rails 6.1.3.1 onwards you can use the module Enumerable’s compact_blank and compact_blank! methods.

Now we can use:

[1, "", nil, 2, " ", [], {}, false, true].compact_blank
=> [1, 2, true]

['', nil, 8, [], {}].compact_blank
=> [8]

{ a: "", b: 1, c: nil, d: [], e: false, f: true }.compact_blank
=> {:b=>1, :f=>true}

The method compact_blank! is a destructive method (handle with care) for compact_blank.

As a Rails developer, I am grateful for this method because there are many scenarios where we find ourselves replicating this code.

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Author: Abhilash

Hi, I’m Abhilash! A seasoned web developer with 15 years of experience specializing in Ruby and Ruby on Rails. Since 2010, I’ve built scalable, robust web applications and worked with frameworks like Angular, Sinatra, Laravel, Node.js, Vue and React. Passionate about clean, maintainable code and continuous learning, I share insights, tutorials, and experiences here. Let’s explore the ever-evolving world of web development together!

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