alias_attribute Rails deprecation warnings

[fdocr]

I wanted to create this issue to see if these deprecation warnings are known/expected on Spree.

Context

I first created a draft PR (here) to see how removing alias_attribute :contact_email, :customer_support_email on Spree::Store model would affect the codebase. That wasn't an issue since this alias wasn't used throughout the project and other spree/spree-contrib gems.

CI passed and this got rid of a loud warning message (printed many times on a single endpoint), but others remain that feel a bit trickier compared to "simply removing them". For example:

DEPRECATION WARNING: Spree::Price model aliases `amount` and has a method called `amount=` defined. Starting in Rails 7.2 `price=` will not be calling `amount=` anymore. You may want to additionally define `price=` to preserve the current behavior. (called from find_or_build_default_price at /Users/fdocr/.rvm/gems/ruby-3.2.2/bundler/gems/spree-b3fca9917dc8/core/app/models/concerns/spree/default_price.rb:22)

This PR in Rails has some more context on the alias_attribute deprecation warning.

Expected Behavior

No alias_attribute deprecation warnings should appear

Actual Behavior

Plenty of warnings get printed on screen

Possible Fix

I think there are two ways out:

1. Simply remove the alias_attribute declaration
   • Would likely break the gem's usage (i.e. Spree::Price#price fetch and assignment methods)
2. Replace the alias_attribute with an explicit method
   • i.e. def price=(value); amount = price; end

Steps to Reproduce

1. Start up spree 4.7 app
2. Query through UI to visualize products/variants/prices/etc
3. Check the app's development logs for Deprecation Warnings

Your Environment

• Version used: 4.7
• Any relevant stack traces ("Full trace" preferred):

18:43:19 web.1  | DEPRECATION WARNING: Spree::User model aliases `bill_address`, but `bill_address` is not an attribute. Starting in Rails 7.2, alias_attribute with non-attribute targets will raise. Use `alias_method :billing_address, :bill_address` or define the method manually. (called from try_spree_current_user at /Users/fdocr/iandi/ruby/spree/core/lib/spree/core/controller_helpers/auth.rb:67)
18:43:19 web.1  | DEPRECATION WARNING: Spree::User model aliases `ship_address`, but `ship_address` is not an attribute. Starting in Rails 7.2, alias_attribute with non-attribute targets will raise. Use `alias_method :shipping_address, :ship_address` or define the method manually. (called from try_spree_current_user at /Users/fdocr/iandi/ruby/spree/core/lib/spree/core/controller_helpers/auth.rb:67)
18:43:20 web.1  | DEPRECATION WARNING: Spree::Price model aliases `amount` and has a method called `amount=` defined. Starting in Rails 7.2 `price=` will not be calling `amount=` anymore. You may want to additionally define `price=` to preserve the current behavior. (called from find_or_build_default_price at /Users/fdocr/iandi/ruby/spree/core/app/models/concerns/spree/default_price.rb:22)
18:43:20 web.1  | DEPRECATION WARNING: Spree::Price model aliases `compare_at_amount` and has a method called `compare_at_amount=` defined. Starting in Rails 7.2 `compare_at_price=` will not be calling `compare_at_amount=` anymore. You may want to additionally define `compare_at_price=` to preserve the current behavior. (called from find_or_build_default_price at /Users/fdocr/iandi/ruby/spree/core/app/models/concerns/spree/default_price.rb:22)

[rafalcymerys]

Hi @fdocr - that's correct, they were defined for backwards compatibility reasons. We didn't remove these aliases in 4.7, as we didn't want to introduce unnecessary breaking changes that would affect users' codebases. That said, I think the next version of Spree would be a good moment to sort this out :)

These deprecations not a problem at this moment, and such warnings can be suppressed in Rails configuration if they cause too much noise in the logs.

As for the solution - I'm leaning towards removing the aliases. I was planning to go through the aliased attributes one by one and verify if they're used in any meaningful way in both spree and spree-contrib repos. Given that the aliases are quite simple, I think anyone relying on them in their custom code should also be able to easily upgrade.

[fdocr]

That's great to hear @rafalcymerys, thank you for clarifying!

[damianlegawiec]

All of these were fixed in v4.8!