Question

I have a database which, after 30 minutes from the rows updated_at time, I want to delete rows from the database. I know how to find rows based on this time, but I don’t know a technique for actually deleting it on a timed interval.

What is a good method of achieving this? Is there something Rails-esque?

Answer 1

Delayed Job is a common tool for this sort of thing.

You could make a simple class with a perform method to delete the entry:

class DeleteTheThing
  attr_accessor :thing_id

  def initialize(the_thing)
    @thing_id = the_thing.id
  end

  def perform
    # Delete the thing if it should still be deleted
  end
end

And then, when you decide that your object should be deleted, queue up your delayed task:

Delayed::Job.enqueue(
  DeleteTheThing.new(the_thing),
  :run_at => 30.minutes.from_now.getutc
)