Get most recent records from deeply nested model - sql

Question

Say I have 3 models:
ModelA has many ModelB
ModelB has many ModelC
I'm querying ModelA, but in ModelC I have multiple ones of the same type, let's say I have 3 but I only need the most recently one.
I tried to do something like this...
records = ModelA.where(some query).includes ModelB includes ModelC
// convert activerecord collection to array
records = records.to_a
records.each do |record|
record.modelBs.each do |modelB|
filter the modelCs i don't need
modelB.modelCs = filteredModelCs
end
end
return records
but instead of merely returning the array of records, an UPDATE sql query is run and the db records are modified. this is a surprise because i never used the .save method and i thought i had converted the collection from an active record collection to an array
How can I filter deeply nested records without modifying the db records? then i can return the filtered result

Answer 1

Assigning a list of instances to a has_many collection with = will immediately persist the changes to the database.
Instead, I would try to solve this with more specific associations like this:
class A
has_many :bs
has_many(:cs, through: :bs)
has_one :recent_c, -> { order(created_at: :desc).limit(1) }, source: :cs
class B
has_many :cs
With those associations, I would expect the following to work:
as = A.where(some query).includes(:recent_c)
as.each do |a|
a.recent_c # returns the most recent c for this a
end

Answer 2

If I got you right, you want to get a collection of latest Cs, which are connected to Bs, which are connected to certain A-relation? If so, you can do something like that (considering you have tables as, bs and cs):
class A < ApplicationRecord
has_many :bs
end
class B < ApplicationRecord
belongs_to :a
has_many :cs
end
class C < ApplicationRecord
belongs_to :b
scope :recent_for_bs, -> { joins(
<<-sql
INNER JOIN (SELECT b_id, MAX(id) AS max_id FROM cs GROUP BY b_id) recent_cs
ON cs.b_id = recent_cs.b_id AND cs.id = recent_cs.max_id
sql
) }
end
And then you would query Cs like that:
C.recent_for_bs.joins(b: :a).merge(A.where(some_query))
You get recent Cs, inner join them with Bs and As and then get records connected to your A-relation by merging it.