Class: ActiveRecord::Base

Inherits:
Object
  • Object
show all
Defined in:
lib/active_record/base.rb,
lib/active_record/connection_adapters/mysql_adapter.rb,
lib/active_record/connection_adapters/mysql2_adapter.rb,
lib/active_record/connection_adapters/sqlite3_adapter.rb,
lib/active_record/connection_adapters/postgresql_adapter.rb,
lib/active_record/connection_adapters/abstract/connection_specification.rb

Overview

Active Record

Active Record objects don’t specify their attributes directly, but rather infer them from the table definition with which they’re linked. Adding, removing, and changing attributes and their type is done directly in the database. Any change is instantly reflected in the Active Record objects. The mapping that binds a given Active Record class to a certain database table will happen automatically in most common cases, but can be overwritten for the uncommon ones.

See the mapping rules in table_name and the full example in files/activerecord/README_rdoc.html for more insight.

Creation

Active Records accept constructor parameters either in a hash or as a block. The hash method is especially useful when you’re receiving the data from somewhere else, like an HTTP request. It works like this:

user = User.new(:name => "David", :occupation => "Code Artist")
user.name # => "David"

You can also use block initialization:

user = User.new do |u|
  u.name = "David"
  u.occupation = "Code Artist"
end

And of course you can just create a bare object and specify the attributes after the fact:

user = User.new
user.name = "David"
user.occupation = "Code Artist"

Conditions

Conditions can either be specified as a string, array, or hash representing the WHERE-part of an SQL statement. The array form is to be used when the condition input is tainted and requires sanitization. The string form can be used for statements that don’t involve tainted data. The hash form works much like the array form, except only equality and range is possible. Examples:

class User < ActiveRecord::Base
  def self.authenticate_unsafely(user_name, password)
    where("user_name = '#{user_name}' AND password = '#{password}'").first
  end

  def self.authenticate_safely(user_name, password)
    where("user_name = ? AND password = ?", user_name, password).first
  end

  def self.authenticate_safely_simply(user_name, password)
    where(:user_name => user_name, :password => password).first
  end
end

The authenticate_unsafely method inserts the parameters directly into the query and is thus susceptible to SQL-injection attacks if the user_name and password parameters come directly from an HTTP request. The authenticate_safely and authenticate_safely_simply both will sanitize the user_name and password before inserting them in the query, which will ensure that an attacker can’t escape the query and fake the login (or worse).

When using multiple parameters in the conditions, it can easily become hard to read exactly what the fourth or fifth question mark is supposed to represent. In those cases, you can resort to named bind variables instead. That’s done by replacing the question marks with symbols and supplying a hash with values for the matching symbol keys:

Company.where(
  "id = :id AND name = :name AND division = :division AND created_at > :accounting_date",
  { :id => 3, :name => "37signals", :division => "First", :accounting_date => '2005-01-01' }
).first

Similarly, a simple hash without a statement will generate conditions based on equality with the SQL AND operator. For instance:

Student.where(:first_name => "Harvey", :status => 1)
Student.where(params[:student])

A range may be used in the hash to use the SQL BETWEEN operator:

Student.where(:grade => 9..12)

An array may be used in the hash to use the SQL IN operator:

Student.where(:grade => [9,11,12])

When joining tables, nested hashes or keys written in the form ‘table_name.column_name’ can be used to qualify the table name of a particular condition. For instance:

Student.joins(:schools).where(:schools => { :category => 'public' })
Student.joins(:schools).where('schools.category' => 'public' )

Overwriting default accessors

All column values are automatically available through basic accessors on the Active Record object, but sometimes you want to specialize this behavior. This can be done by overwriting the default accessors (using the same name as the attribute) and calling read_attribute(attr_name) and write_attribute(attr_name, value) to actually change things.

class Song < ActiveRecord::Base
  # Uses an integer of seconds to hold the length of the song

  def length=(minutes)
    write_attribute(:length, minutes.to_i * 60)
  end

  def length
    read_attribute(:length) / 60
  end
end

You can alternatively use self[:attribute]=(value) and self[:attribute] instead of write_attribute(:attribute, value) and read_attribute(:attribute).

Attribute query methods

In addition to the basic accessors, query methods are also automatically available on the Active Record object. Query methods allow you to test whether an attribute value is present.

For example, an Active Record User with the name attribute has a name? method that you can call to determine whether the user has a name:

user = User.new(:name => "David")
user.name? # => true

anonymous = User.new(:name => "")
anonymous.name? # => false

Accessing attributes before they have been typecasted

Sometimes you want to be able to read the raw attribute data without having the column-determined typecast run its course first. That can be done by using the <attribute>_before_type_cast accessors that all attributes have. For example, if your Account model has a balance attribute, you can call account.balance_before_type_cast or account.id_before_type_cast.

This is especially useful in validation situations where the user might supply a string for an integer field and you want to display the original string back in an error message. Accessing the attribute normally would typecast the string to 0, which isn’t what you want.

Dynamic attribute-based finders

Dynamic attribute-based finders are a cleaner way of getting (and/or creating) objects by simple queries without turning to SQL. They work by appending the name of an attribute to find_by_, find_last_by_, or find_all_by_ and thus produces finders like Person.find_by_user_name, Person.find_all_by_last_name, and Payment.find_by_transaction_id. Instead of writing Person.where(:user_name => user_name).first, you just do Person.find_by_user_name(user_name). And instead of writing Person.where(:last_name => last_name).all, you just do Person.find_all_by_last_name(last_name).

It’s also possible to use multiple attributes in the same find by separating them with “and”.

Person.where(:user_name => user_name, :password => password).first
Person.find_by_user_name_and_password(user_name, password) # with dynamic finder

It’s even possible to call these dynamic finder methods on relations and named scopes.

Payment.order("created_on").find_all_by_amount(50)
Payment.pending.find_last_by_amount(100)

The same dynamic finder style can be used to create the object if it doesn’t already exist. This dynamic finder is called with find_or_create_by_ and will return the object if it already exists and otherwise creates it, then returns it. Protected attributes won’t be set unless they are given in a block.

# No 'Summer' tag exists
Tag.find_or_create_by_name("Summer") # equal to Tag.create(:name => "Summer")

# Now the 'Summer' tag does exist
Tag.find_or_create_by_name("Summer") # equal to Tag.find_by_name("Summer")

# Now 'Bob' exist and is an 'admin'
User.find_or_create_by_name('Bob', :age => 40) { |u| u.admin = true }

Use the find_or_initialize_by_ finder if you want to return a new record without saving it first. Protected attributes won’t be set unless they are given in a block.

# No 'Winter' tag exists
winter = Tag.find_or_initialize_by_name("Winter")
winter.persisted? # false

To find by a subset of the attributes to be used for instantiating a new object, pass a hash instead of a list of parameters.

Tag.find_or_create_by_name(:name => "rails", :creator => current_user)

That will either find an existing tag named “rails”, or create a new one while setting the user that created it.

Just like find_by_*, you can also use scoped_by_* to retrieve data. The good thing about using this feature is that the very first time result is returned using method_missing technique but after that the method is declared on the class. Henceforth method_missing will not be hit.

User.scoped_by_user_name('David')

Saving arrays, hashes, and other non-mappable objects in text columns

Active Record can serialize any object in text columns using YAML. To do so, you must specify this with a call to the class method serialize. This makes it possible to store arrays, hashes, and other non-mappable objects without doing any additional work.

class User < ActiveRecord::Base
  serialize :preferences
end

user = User.create(:preferences => { "background" => "black", "display" => large })
User.find(user.id).preferences # => { "background" => "black", "display" => large }

You can also specify a class option as the second parameter that’ll raise an exception if a serialized object is retrieved as a descendant of a class not in the hierarchy.

class User < ActiveRecord::Base
  serialize :preferences, Hash
end

user = User.create(:preferences => %w( one two three ))
User.find(user.id).preferences    # raises SerializationTypeMismatch

When you specify a class option, the default value for that attribute will be a new instance of that class.

class User < ActiveRecord::Base
  serialize :preferences, OpenStruct
end

user = User.new
user.preferences.theme_color = "red"

Single table inheritance

Active Record allows inheritance by storing the name of the class in a column that by default is named “type” (can be changed by overwriting Base.inheritance_column). This means that an inheritance looking like this:

class Company < ActiveRecord::Base; end
class Firm < Company; end
class Client < Company; end
class PriorityClient < Client; end

When you do Firm.create(:name => "37signals"), this record will be saved in the companies table with type = “Firm”. You can then fetch this row again using Company.where(:name => '37signals').first and it will return a Firm object.

If you don’t have a type column defined in your table, single-table inheritance won’t be triggered. In that case, it’ll work just like normal subclasses with no special magic for differentiating between them or reloading the right type with find.

Note, all the attributes for all the cases are kept in the same table. Read more: www.martinfowler.com/eaaCatalog/singleTableInheritance.html

Connection to multiple databases in different models

Connections are usually created through ActiveRecord::Base.establish_connection and retrieved by ActiveRecord::Base.connection. All classes inheriting from ActiveRecord::Base will use this connection. But you can also set a class-specific connection. For example, if Course is an ActiveRecord::Base, but resides in a different database, you can just say Course.establish_connection and Course and all of its subclasses will use this connection instead.

This feature is implemented by keeping a connection pool in ActiveRecord::Base that is a Hash indexed by the class. If a connection is requested, the retrieve_connection method will go up the class-hierarchy until a connection is found in the connection pool.

Exceptions

  • ActiveRecordError - Generic error class and superclass of all other errors raised by Active Record.

  • AdapterNotSpecified - The configuration hash used in establish_connection didn’t include an :adapter key.

  • AdapterNotFound - The :adapter key used in establish_connection specified a non-existent adapter (or a bad spelling of an existing one).

  • AssociationTypeMismatch - The object assigned to the association wasn’t of the type specified in the association definition.

  • SerializationTypeMismatch - The serialized object wasn’t of the class specified as the second parameter.

  • ConnectionNotEstablished+ - No connection has been established. Use establish_connection before querying.

  • RecordNotFound - No record responded to the find method. Either the row with the given ID doesn’t exist or the row didn’t meet the additional restrictions. Some find calls do not raise this exception to signal nothing was found, please check its documentation for further details.

  • StatementInvalid - The database server rejected the SQL statement. The precise error is added in the message.

  • MultiparameterAssignmentErrors - Collection of errors that occurred during a mass assignment using the attributes= method. The errors property of this exception contains an array of AttributeAssignmentError objects that should be inspected to determine which attributes triggered the errors.

  • AttributeAssignmentError - An error occurred while doing a mass assignment through the attributes= method. You can inspect the attribute property of the exception object to determine which attribute triggered the error.

Note: The attributes listed are class-level attributes (accessible from both the class and instance level). So it’s possible to assign a logger to the class through Base.logger= which will then be used by all instances in the current object space.

Direct Known Subclasses

SessionStore::Session

Defined Under Namespace

Classes: ConnectionSpecification

Constant Summary collapse

@@configurations = 
{}
@@primary_key_prefix_type = 
nil
@@default_timezone = 
:local
@@schema_format = 
:ruby
@@timestamped_migrations = 
true

Class Attribute Summary collapse

Class Method Summary collapse

Instance Method Summary collapse

Constructor Details

#initialize(attributes = nil, options = {}) {|_self| ... } ⇒ Base

New objects can be instantiated as either empty (pass no construction parameter) or pre-set with attributes but not yet saved (pass a hash with key names matching the associated table column names). In both instances, valid attribute keys are determined by the column names of the associated table – hence you can’t have attributes that aren’t part of the table columns.

initialize respects mass-assignment security and accepts either :as or :without_protection options in the options parameter.

Examples

# Instantiates a single new object
User.new(:first_name => 'Jamie')

# Instantiates a single new object using the :admin mass-assignment security role
User.new({ :first_name => 'Jamie', :is_admin => true }, :as => :admin)

# Instantiates a single new object bypassing mass-assignment security
User.new({ :first_name => 'Jamie', :is_admin => true }, :without_protection => true)

Yields:

  • (_self)

Yield Parameters:



1560
1561
1562
1563
1564
1565
1566
1567
1568
1569
1570
1571
1572
1573
1574
1575
1576
1577
1578
1579
1580
1581
1582
 
# File 'lib/active_record/base.rb', line 1560

def initialize(attributes = nil, options = {})
  @attributes = attributes_from_column_definition
  @association_cache = {}
  @aggregation_cache = {}
  @attributes_cache = {}
  @new_record = true
  @readonly = false
  @destroyed = false
  @marked_for_destruction = false
  @previously_changed = {}
  @changed_attributes = {}
  @relation = nil

  ensure_proper_type
  set_serialized_attributes

  populate_with_current_scope_attributes

  assign_attributes(attributes, options) if attributes

  yield self if block_given?
  run_callbacks :initialize
end

Class Attribute Details

.abstract_class ⇒ Object

Set this to true if this is an abstract class (see abstract_class?).



883
884
885
 
# File 'lib/active_record/base.rb', line 883

def abstract_class
  @abstract_class
end

Class Method Details

.===(object) ⇒ Object

Overwrite the default class equality method to provide support for association proxies.



860
861
862
 
# File 'lib/active_record/base.rb', line 860

def ===(object)
  object.is_a?(self)
end

.abstract_class? ⇒ Boolean

Returns whether this class is an abstract class or not.

Returns:

  • (Boolean) 


886
887
888
 
# File 'lib/active_record/base.rb', line 886

def abstract_class?
  defined?(@abstract_class) && @abstract_class == true
end

.arel_engine ⇒ Object 



908
909
910
911
912
913
914
915
916
 
# File 'lib/active_record/base.rb', line 908

def arel_engine
  @arel_engine ||= begin
    if self == ActiveRecord::Base
      ActiveRecord::Base
    else
      connection_handler.connection_pools[name] ? self : superclass.arel_engine
    end
  end
end

.arel_table ⇒ Object 



904
905
906
 
# File 'lib/active_record/base.rb', line 904

def arel_table
  @arel_table ||= Arel::Table.new(table_name, arel_engine)
end

.attr_readonly(*attributes) ⇒ Object

Attributes listed as readonly will be used to create a new record but update operations will ignore these fields.



533
534
535
 
# File 'lib/active_record/base.rb', line 533

def attr_readonly(*attributes)
  self._attr_readonly = Set.new(attributes.map { |a| a.to_s }) + (self._attr_readonly || [])
end

.attribute_method?(attribute) ⇒ Boolean

Returns:

  • (Boolean) 


790
791
792
 
# File 'lib/active_record/base.rb', line 790

def attribute_method?(attribute)
  super || (table_exists? && column_names.include?(attribute.to_s.sub(/=$/, '')))
end

.attribute_names ⇒ Object

Returns an array of column names as strings if it’s not an abstract class and table exists. Otherwise it returns an empty array.



797
798
799
800
801
802
803
 
# File 'lib/active_record/base.rb', line 797

def attribute_names
  @attribute_names ||= if !abstract_class? && table_exists?
      column_names
    else
      []
    end
end

.base_class ⇒ Object

Returns the base AR subclass that this class descends from. If A extends AR::Base, A.base_class will return A. If B descends from A through some arbitrarily deep hierarchy, B.base_class will return A.

If B < A and C < B and if A is an abstract_class then both B.base_class and C.base_class would return B as the answer since A is an abstract_class.



878
879
880
 
# File 'lib/active_record/base.rb', line 878

def base_class
  class_of_active_record_descendant(self)
end

.before_remove_const ⇒ Object

:nodoc:



945
946
947
 
# File 'lib/active_record/base.rb', line 945

def before_remove_const #:nodoc:
  self.current_scope = nil
end

.clear_active_connections! ⇒ Object 



127
128
129
 
# File 'lib/active_record/connection_adapters/abstract/connection_specification.rb', line 127

def clear_active_connections!
  connection_handler.clear_active_connections!
end

.clear_cache! ⇒ Object

:nodoc:



786
787
788
 
# File 'lib/active_record/base.rb', line 786

def clear_cache! # :nodoc:
  connection_pool.clear_cache!
end

.column_defaults ⇒ Object

Returns a hash where the keys are column names and the values are default values when instantiating the AR object for this table.



722
723
724
 
# File 'lib/active_record/base.rb', line 722

def column_defaults
  connection_pool.column_defaults[table_name]
end

.column_methods_hash ⇒ Object

Returns a hash of all the methods added to query each of the columns in the table with the name of the method as the key and true as the value. This makes it possible to do O(1) lookups in respond_to? to check if a given method for attribute is available.



740
741
742
743
744
745
746
747
748
749
 
# File 'lib/active_record/base.rb', line 740

def column_methods_hash #:nodoc:
  @dynamic_methods_hash ||= column_names.inject(Hash.new(false)) do |methods, attr|
    attr_name = attr.to_s
    methods[attr.to_sym]       = attr_name
    methods["#{attr}=".to_sym] = attr_name
    methods["#{attr}?".to_sym] = attr_name
    methods["#{attr}_before_type_cast".to_sym] = attr_name
    methods
  end
end

.column_names ⇒ Object

Returns an array of column names as strings.



727
728
729
 
# File 'lib/active_record/base.rb', line 727

def column_names
  @column_names ||= columns.map { |column| column.name }
end

.columns ⇒ Object

Returns an array of column objects for the table associated with this class.



707
708
709
710
711
712
713
 
# File 'lib/active_record/base.rb', line 707

def columns
  if defined?(@primary_key)
    connection_pool.primary_keys[table_name] ||= primary_key
  end

  connection_pool.columns[table_name]
end

.columns_hash ⇒ Object

Returns a hash of column objects for the table associated with this class.



716
717
718
 
# File 'lib/active_record/base.rb', line 716

def columns_hash
  connection_pool.columns_hash[table_name]
end

.connected? ⇒ Boolean

Returns true if Active Record is connected.

Returns:

  • (Boolean) 


119
120
121
 
# File 'lib/active_record/connection_adapters/abstract/connection_specification.rb', line 119

def connected?
  connection_handler.connected?(self)
end

.connection ⇒ Object

Returns the connection currently associated with the class. This can also be used to “borrow” the connection to do database work unrelated to any of the specific Active Records.



88
89
90
 
# File 'lib/active_record/connection_adapters/abstract/connection_specification.rb', line 88

def connection
  retrieve_connection
end

.connection_config ⇒ Object

Returns the configuration of the associated connection as a hash:

ActiveRecord::Base.connection_config
# => {:pool=>5, :timeout=>5000, :database=>"db/development.sqlite3", :adapter=>"sqlite3"}

Please use only for reading.



106
107
108
 
# File 'lib/active_record/connection_adapters/abstract/connection_specification.rb', line 106

def connection_config
  connection_pool.spec.config
end

.connection_id ⇒ Object 



92
93
94
 
# File 'lib/active_record/connection_adapters/abstract/connection_specification.rb', line 92

def connection_id
  Thread.current['ActiveRecord::Base.connection_id']
end

.connection_id=(connection_id) ⇒ Object 



96
97
98
 
# File 'lib/active_record/connection_adapters/abstract/connection_specification.rb', line 96

def connection_id=(connection_id)
  Thread.current['ActiveRecord::Base.connection_id'] = connection_id
end

.connection_pool ⇒ Object 



110
111
112
 
# File 'lib/active_record/connection_adapters/abstract/connection_specification.rb', line 110

def connection_pool
  connection_handler.retrieve_connection_pool(self) or raise ConnectionNotEstablished
end

.content_columns ⇒ Object

Returns an array of column objects where the primary id, all columns ending in “_id” or “_count”, and columns used for single table inheritance have been removed.



733
734
735
 
# File 'lib/active_record/base.rb', line 733

def content_columns
  @content_columns ||= columns.reject { |c| c.primary || c.name =~ /(_id|_count)$/ || c.name == inheritance_column }
end

.count_by_sql(sql) ⇒ Object

Returns the result of an SQL statement that should only include a COUNT(*) in the SELECT part. The use of this method should be restricted to complicated SQL queries that can’t be executed using the ActiveRecord::Calculations class methods. Look into those before using this.

Parameters

  • sql - An SQL statement which should return a count query from the database, see the example below.

Examples

Product.count_by_sql "SELECT COUNT(*) FROM sales s, customers c WHERE s.customer_id = c.id"



526
527
528
529
 
# File 'lib/active_record/base.rb', line 526

def count_by_sql(sql)
  sql = sanitize_conditions(sql)
  connection.select_value(sql, "#{name} Count").to_i
end

.create(attributes = nil, options = {}, &block) ⇒ Object

Creates an object (or multiple objects) and saves it to the database, if validations pass. The resulting object is returned whether the object was saved successfully to the database or not.

The attributes parameter can be either be a Hash or an Array of Hashes. These Hashes describe the attributes on the objects that are to be created.

create respects mass-assignment security and accepts either :as or :without_protection options in the options parameter.

Examples

# Create a single new object
User.create(:first_name => 'Jamie')

# Create a single new object using the :admin mass-assignment security role
User.create({ :first_name => 'Jamie', :is_admin => true }, :as => :admin)

# Create a single new object bypassing mass-assignment security
User.create({ :first_name => 'Jamie', :is_admin => true }, :without_protection => true)

# Create an Array of new objects
User.create([{ :first_name => 'Jamie' }, { :first_name => 'Jeremy' }])

# Create a single object and pass it into a block to set other attributes.
User.create(:first_name => 'Jamie') do |u|
  u.is_admin = false
end

# Creating an Array of new objects using a block, where the block is executed for each object:
User.create([{ :first_name => 'Jamie' }, { :first_name => 'Jeremy' }]) do |u|
  u.is_admin = false
end



504
505
506
507
508
509
510
511
512
513
 
# File 'lib/active_record/base.rb', line 504

def create(attributes = nil, options = {}, &block)
  if attributes.is_a?(Array)
    attributes.collect { |attr| create(attr, options, &block) }
  else
    object = new(attributes, options)
    yield(object) if block_given?
    object.save
    object
  end
end

.descends_from_active_record? ⇒ Boolean

True if this isn’t a concrete subclass needing a STI type condition.

Returns:

  • (Boolean) 


823
824
825
826
827
828
829
 
# File 'lib/active_record/base.rb', line 823

def descends_from_active_record?
  if superclass.abstract_class?
    superclass.descends_from_active_record?
  else
    superclass == Base || !columns_hash.include?(inheritance_column)
  end
end

.establish_connection(spec = nil) ⇒ Object

Establishes the connection to the database. Accepts a hash as input where the :adapter key must be specified with the name of a database adapter (in lower-case) example for regular databases (MySQL, Postgresql, etc):

ActiveRecord::Base.establish_connection(
  :adapter  => "mysql",
  :host     => "localhost",
  :username => "myuser",
  :password => "mypass",
  :database => "somedatabase"
)

Example for SQLite database:

ActiveRecord::Base.establish_connection(
  :adapter => "sqlite",
  :database  => "path/to/dbfile"
)

Also accepts keys as strings (for parsing from YAML for example):

ActiveRecord::Base.establish_connection(
  "adapter" => "sqlite",
  "database"  => "path/to/dbfile"
)

The exceptions AdapterNotSpecified, AdapterNotFound and ArgumentError may be returned on an error.



51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
 
# File 'lib/active_record/connection_adapters/abstract/connection_specification.rb', line 51

def self.establish_connection(spec = nil)
  case spec
    when nil
      raise AdapterNotSpecified unless defined?(Rails.env)
      establish_connection(Rails.env)
    when ConnectionSpecification
      self.connection_handler.establish_connection(name, spec)
    when Symbol, String
      if configuration = configurations[spec.to_s]
        establish_connection(configuration)
      else
        raise AdapterNotSpecified, "#{spec} database is not configured"
      end
    else
      spec = spec.symbolize_keys
      unless spec.key?(:adapter) then raise AdapterNotSpecified, "database configuration does not specify adapter" end

      begin
        require "active_record/connection_adapters/#{spec[:adapter]}_adapter"
      rescue LoadError => e
        raise "Please install the #{spec[:adapter]} adapter: `gem install activerecord-#{spec[:adapter]}-adapter` (#{e})"
      end

      adapter_method = "#{spec[:adapter]}_connection"
      unless respond_to?(adapter_method)
        raise AdapterNotFound, "database configuration specifies nonexistent #{spec[:adapter]} adapter"
      end

      remove_connection
      establish_connection(ConnectionSpecification.new(spec, adapter_method))
  end
end

.find_by_sql(sql, binds = []) ⇒ Object

Executes a custom SQL query against your database and returns all the results. The results will be returned as an array with columns requested encapsulated as attributes of the model you call this method from. If you call Product.find_by_sql then the results will be returned in a Product object with the attributes you specified in the SQL query.

If you call a complicated SQL query which spans multiple tables the columns specified by the SELECT will be attributes of the model, whether or not they are columns of the corresponding table.

The sql parameter is a full SQL query as a string. It will be called as is, there will be no database agnostic conversions performed. This should be a last resort because using, for example, MySQL specific terms will lock you to using that particular database engine or require you to change your call if you switch engines.

Examples

# A simple SQL query spanning multiple tables
Post.find_by_sql "SELECT p.title, c.author FROM posts p, comments c WHERE p.id = c.post_id"
> [#<Post:0x36bff9c @attributes={"title"=>"Ruby Meetup", "first_name"=>"Quentin"}>, ...]

# You can use the same string replacement techniques as you can with ActiveRecord#find
Post.find_by_sql ["SELECT title FROM posts WHERE author = ? AND created > ?", author_id, start_date]
> [#<Post:0x36bff9c @attributes={"title"=>"The Cheap Man Buys Twice"}>, ...]



469
470
471
 
# File 'lib/active_record/base.rb', line 469

def find_by_sql(sql, binds = [])
  connection.select_all(sanitize_sql(sql), "#{name} Load", binds).collect! { |record| instantiate(record) }
end

.finder_needs_type_condition? ⇒ Boolean

:nodoc:

Returns:

  • (Boolean) 


831
832
833
834
 
# File 'lib/active_record/base.rb', line 831

def finder_needs_type_condition? #:nodoc:
  # This is like this because benchmarking justifies the strange :false stuff
  :true == (@finder_needs_type_condition ||= descends_from_active_record? ? :false : :true)
end

.full_table_name_prefix ⇒ Object

:nodoc:



630
631
632
 
# File 'lib/active_record/base.rb', line 630

def full_table_name_prefix #:nodoc:
  (parents.detect{ |p| p.respond_to?(:table_name_prefix) } || self).table_name_prefix
end

.i18n_scope ⇒ Object

Set the i18n scope to overwrite ActiveModel.



818
819
820
 
# File 'lib/active_record/base.rb', line 818

def i18n_scope #:nodoc:
  :activerecord
end

.inheritance_column ⇒ Object

Defines the column name for use with single table inheritance. Use set_inheritance_column to set a different value.



636
637
638
 
# File 'lib/active_record/base.rb', line 636

def inheritance_column
  @inheritance_column ||= "type"
end

.inspect ⇒ Object

Returns a string like ‘Post(id:integer, title:string, body:text)’



837
838
839
840
841
842
843
844
845
846
847
848
 
# File 'lib/active_record/base.rb', line 837

def inspect
  if self == Base
    super
  elsif abstract_class?
    "#{super}(abstract)"
  elsif table_exists?
    attr_list = columns.map { |c| "#{c.name}: #{c.type}" } * ', '
    "#{super}(#{attr_list})"
  else
    "#{super}(Table doesn't exist)"
  end
end

.instantiate(record) ⇒ Object

Finder methods must instantiate through this method to work with the single-table inheritance model that makes it possible to create objects of different types from the same table.



952
953
954
955
956
957
958
959
960
961
962
963
 
# File 'lib/active_record/base.rb', line 952

def instantiate(record)
  sti_class = find_sti_class(record[inheritance_column])
  record_id = sti_class.primary_key && record[sti_class.primary_key]

  if ActiveRecord::IdentityMap.enabled? && record_id
    instance = use_identity_map(sti_class, record_id, record)
  else
    instance = sti_class.allocate.init_with('attributes' => record)
  end

  instance
end

.lookup_ancestors ⇒ Object

Set the lookup ancestors for ActiveModel.



806
807
808
809
810
811
812
813
814
815
 
# File 'lib/active_record/base.rb', line 806

def lookup_ancestors #:nodoc:
  klass = self
  classes = [klass]
  return classes if klass == ActiveRecord::Base

  while klass != klass.base_class
    classes << klass = klass.superclass
  end
  classes
end

.mysql2_connection(config) ⇒ Object

Establishes a connection to the database that’s used by all Active Record objects.



10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
 
# File 'lib/active_record/connection_adapters/mysql2_adapter.rb', line 10

def self.mysql2_connection(config)
  config[:username] = 'root' if config[:username].nil?

  if Mysql2::Client.const_defined? :FOUND_ROWS
    config[:flags] = Mysql2::Client::FOUND_ROWS
  end

  client = Mysql2::Client.new(config.symbolize_keys)
  options = [config[:host], config[:username], config[:password], config[:database], config[:port], config[:socket], 0]
  ConnectionAdapters::Mysql2Adapter.new(client, logger, options, config)
end

.mysql_connection(config) ⇒ Object

Establishes a connection to the database that’s used by all Active Record objects.



26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
 
# File 'lib/active_record/connection_adapters/mysql_adapter.rb', line 26

def self.mysql_connection(config) # :nodoc:
  config = config.symbolize_keys
  host     = config[:host]
  port     = config[:port]
  socket   = config[:socket]
  username = config[:username] ? config[:username].to_s : 'root'
  password = config[:password].to_s
  database = config[:database]

  mysql = Mysql.init
  mysql.ssl_set(config[:sslkey], config[:sslcert], config[:sslca], config[:sslcapath], config[:sslcipher]) if config[:sslca] || config[:sslkey]

  default_flags = Mysql.const_defined?(:CLIENT_MULTI_RESULTS) ? Mysql::CLIENT_MULTI_RESULTS : 0
  default_flags |= Mysql::CLIENT_FOUND_ROWS if Mysql.const_defined?(:CLIENT_FOUND_ROWS)
  options = [host, username, password, database, port, socket, default_flags]
  ConnectionAdapters::MysqlAdapter.new(mysql, logger, options, config)
end

.postgresql_connection(config) ⇒ Object

Establishes a connection to the database that’s used by all Active Record objects



14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
 
# File 'lib/active_record/connection_adapters/postgresql_adapter.rb', line 14

def self.postgresql_connection(config) # :nodoc:
  config = config.symbolize_keys
  host     = config[:host]
  port     = config[:port] || 5432
  username = config[:username].to_s if config[:username]
  password = config[:password].to_s if config[:password]

  if config.key?(:database)
    database = config[:database]
  else
    raise ArgumentError, "No database specified. Missing argument: database."
  end

  # The postgres drivers don't allow the creation of an unconnected PGconn object,
  # so just pass a nil connection object for the time being.
  ConnectionAdapters::PostgreSQLAdapter.new(nil, logger, [host, port, nil, nil, database, username, password], config)
end

.quote_value(value, column = nil) ⇒ Object

:nodoc:



850
851
852
 
# File 'lib/active_record/base.rb', line 850

def quote_value(value, column = nil) #:nodoc:
  connection.quote(value,column)
end

.quoted_table_name ⇒ Object

Returns a quoted version of the table name, used to construct SQL statements.



619
620
621
 
# File 'lib/active_record/base.rb', line 619

def quoted_table_name
  @quoted_table_name ||= connection.quote_table_name(table_name)
end

.readonly_attributes ⇒ Object

Returns an array of all the attributes that have been specified as readonly.



538
539
540
 
# File 'lib/active_record/base.rb', line 538

def readonly_attributes
  self._attr_readonly
end

.remove_connection(klass = self) ⇒ Object 



123
124
125
 
# File 'lib/active_record/connection_adapters/abstract/connection_specification.rb', line 123

def remove_connection(klass = self)
  connection_handler.remove_connection(klass)
end

.reset_column_information ⇒ Object

Resets all the cached information about columns, which will cause them to be reloaded on the next request.

The most common usage pattern for this method is probably in a migration, when just after creating a table you want to populate it with some default values, eg:

class CreateJobLevels < ActiveRecord::Migration
  def up
    create_table :job_levels do |t|
      t.integer :id
      t.string :name

      t.timestamps
    end

    JobLevel.reset_column_information
    %w{assistant executive manager director}.each do |type|
      JobLevel.create(:name => type)
    end
  end

  def down
    drop_table :job_levels
  end
end



777
778
779
780
781
782
783
784
 
# File 'lib/active_record/base.rb', line 777

def reset_column_information
  connection.clear_cache!
  undefine_attribute_methods
  connection_pool.clear_table_cache!(table_name) if table_exists?

  @column_names = @content_columns = @dynamic_methods_hash = @inheritance_column = nil
  @arel_engine = @relation = nil
end

.reset_sequence_name ⇒ Object

:nodoc:



646
647
648
649
650
 
# File 'lib/active_record/base.rb', line 646

def reset_sequence_name #:nodoc:
  default = connection.default_sequence_name(table_name, primary_key)
  set_sequence_name(default)
  default
end

.reset_table_name ⇒ Object

Computes the table name, (re)sets it internally, and returns it.



624
625
626
627
628
 
# File 'lib/active_record/base.rb', line 624

def reset_table_name #:nodoc:
  return if abstract_class?

  self.table_name = compute_table_name
end

.respond_to?(method_id, include_private = false) ⇒ Boolean

Returns:

  • (Boolean) 


890
891
892
893
894
895
896
897
898
 
# File 'lib/active_record/base.rb', line 890

def respond_to?(method_id, include_private = false)
  if match = DynamicFinderMatch.match(method_id)
    return true if all_attributes_exists?(match.attribute_names)
  elsif match = DynamicScopeMatch.match(method_id)
    return true if all_attributes_exists?(match.attribute_names)
  end

  super
end

.retrieve_connection ⇒ Object 



114
115
116
 
# File 'lib/active_record/connection_adapters/abstract/connection_specification.rb', line 114

def retrieve_connection
  connection_handler.retrieve_connection(self)
end

.sanitize(object) ⇒ Object

Used to sanitize objects before they’re used in an SQL SELECT statement. Delegates to connection.quote.



855
856
857
 
# File 'lib/active_record/base.rb', line 855

def sanitize(object) #:nodoc:
  connection.quote(object)
end

.sequence_name ⇒ Object

Lazy-set the sequence name to the connection’s default. This method is only ever called once since set_sequence_name overrides it.



642
643
644
 
# File 'lib/active_record/base.rb', line 642

def sequence_name #:nodoc:
  reset_sequence_name
end

.serialize(attr_name, class_name = Object) ⇒ Object

If you have an attribute that needs to be saved to the database as an object, and retrieved as the same object, then specify the name of that attribute using this method and it will be handled automatically. The serialization is done through YAML. If class_name is specified, the serialized object must be of that class on retrieval or SerializationTypeMismatch will be raised.

Parameters

  • attr_name - The field name that should be serialized.

  • class_name - Optional, class name that the object type should be equal to.

Example

# Serialize a preferences attribute
class User < ActiveRecord::Base
  serialize :preferences
end



557
558
559
560
561
562
563
564
565
566
567
 
# File 'lib/active_record/base.rb', line 557

def serialize(attr_name, class_name = Object)
  coder = if [:load, :dump].all? { |x| class_name.respond_to?(x) }
            class_name
          else
            Coders::YAMLColumn.new(class_name)
          end

  # merge new serialized attribute and create new hash to ensure that each class in inheritance hierarchy
  # has its own hash of own serialized attributes
  self.serialized_attributes = serialized_attributes.merge(attr_name.to_s => coder)
end

.set_inheritance_column(value = nil, &block) ⇒ Object Also known as: inheritance_column=

Sets the name of the inheritance column to use to the given value, or (if the value # is nil or false) to the value returned by the given block.

class Project < ActiveRecord::Base
  set_inheritance_column do
    original_inheritance_column + "_id"
  end
end



677
678
679
 
# File 'lib/active_record/base.rb', line 677

def set_inheritance_column(value = nil, &block)
  define_attr_method :inheritance_column, value, &block
end

.set_sequence_name(value = nil, &block) ⇒ Object Also known as: sequence_name=

Sets the name of the sequence to use when generating ids to the given value, or (if the value is nil or false) to the value returned by the given block. This is required for Oracle and is useful for any database which relies on sequences for primary key generation.

If a sequence name is not explicitly set when using Oracle or Firebird, it will default to the commonly used pattern of: #table_name_seq

If a sequence name is not explicitly set when using PostgreSQL, it will discover the sequence corresponding to your primary key for you.

class Project < ActiveRecord::Base
  set_sequence_name "projectseq"   # default would have been "project_seq"
end



696
697
698
 
# File 'lib/active_record/base.rb', line 696

def set_sequence_name(value = nil, &block)
  define_attr_method :sequence_name, value, &block
end

.set_table_name(value = nil, &block) ⇒ Object Also known as: table_name=

Sets the table name. If the value is nil or false then the value returned by the given block is used.

class Project < ActiveRecord::Base
  set_table_name "project"
end



658
659
660
661
662
663
664
665
 
# File 'lib/active_record/base.rb', line 658

def set_table_name(value = nil, &block)
  @quoted_table_name = nil
  define_attr_method :table_name, value, &block
  @arel_table = nil

  @arel_table = Arel::Table.new(table_name, arel_engine)
  @relation = Relation.new(self, arel_table)
end

.sqlite3_connection(config) ⇒ Object

sqlite3 adapter reuses sqlite_connection.



9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
 
# File 'lib/active_record/connection_adapters/sqlite3_adapter.rb', line 9

def self.sqlite3_connection(config) # :nodoc:
  # Require database.
  unless config[:database]
    raise ArgumentError, "No database file specified. Missing argument: database"
  end

  # Allow database path relative to Rails.root, but only if
  # the database path is not the special path that tells
  # Sqlite to build a database only in memory.
  if defined?(Rails.root) && ':memory:' != config[:database]
    config[:database] = File.expand_path(config[:database], Rails.root)
  end

  unless 'sqlite3' == config[:adapter]
    raise ArgumentError, 'adapter name should be "sqlite3"'
  end

  db = SQLite3::Database.new(
    config[:database],
    :results_as_hash => true
  )

  db.busy_timeout(config[:timeout]) if config[:timeout]

  ConnectionAdapters::SQLite3Adapter.new(db, logger, config)
end

.sti_name ⇒ Object 



900
901
902
 
# File 'lib/active_record/base.rb', line 900

def sti_name
  store_full_sti_class ? name : name.demodulize
end

.symbolized_base_class ⇒ Object 



864
865
866
 
# File 'lib/active_record/base.rb', line 864

def symbolized_base_class
  @symbolized_base_class ||= base_class.to_s.to_sym
end

.symbolized_sti_name ⇒ Object 



868
869
870
 
# File 'lib/active_record/base.rb', line 868

def symbolized_sti_name
  @symbolized_sti_name ||= sti_name.present? ? sti_name.to_sym : symbolized_base_class
end

.table_exists? ⇒ Boolean

Indicates whether the table associated with this class exists

Returns:

  • (Boolean) 


702
703
704
 
# File 'lib/active_record/base.rb', line 702

def table_exists?
  connection.table_exists?(table_name)
end

.table_name ⇒ Object

Guesses the table name (in forced lower-case) based on the name of the class in the inheritance hierarchy descending directly from ActiveRecord::Base. So if the hierarchy looks like: Reply < Message < ActiveRecord::Base, then Message is used to guess the table name even when called on Reply. The rules used to do the guess are handled by the Inflector class in Active Support, which knows almost all common English inflections. You can add new inflections in config/initializers/inflections.rb.

Nested classes are given table names prefixed by the singular form of the parent’s table name. Enclosing modules are not considered.

Examples

class Invoice < ActiveRecord::Base
end

file                  class               table_name
invoice.rb            Invoice             invoices

class Invoice < ActiveRecord::Base
  class Lineitem < ActiveRecord::Base
  end
end

file                  class               table_name
invoice.rb            Invoice::Lineitem   invoice_lineitems

module Invoice
  class Lineitem < ActiveRecord::Base
  end
end

file                  class               table_name
invoice/lineitem.rb   Invoice::Lineitem   lineitems

Additionally, the class-level table_name_prefix is prepended and the table_name_suffix is appended. So if you have “myapp_” as a prefix, the table name guess for an Invoice class becomes “myapp_invoices”. Invoice::Lineitem becomes “myapp_invoice_lineitems”.

You can also overwrite this class method to allow for unguessable links, such as a Mouse class with a link to a “mice” table. Example:

class Mouse < ActiveRecord::Base
  set_table_name "mice"
end



614
615
616
 
# File 'lib/active_record/base.rb', line 614

def table_name
  reset_table_name
end

.unscoped ⇒ Object

Returns a scope for this class without taking into account the default_scope.

class Post < ActiveRecord::Base
  def self.default_scope
    where :published => true
  end
end

Post.all          # Fires "SELECT * FROM posts WHERE published = true"
Post.unscoped.all # Fires "SELECT * FROM posts"

This method also accepts a block meaning that all queries inside the block will not use the default_scope:

Post.unscoped {
  Post.limit(10) # Fires "SELECT * FROM posts LIMIT 10"
}

It is recommended to use block form of unscoped because chaining unscoped with scope does not work. Assuming that published is a scope following two statements are same.

Post.unscoped.published Post.published



941
942
943
 
# File 'lib/active_record/base.rb', line 941

def unscoped #:nodoc:
  block_given? ? relation.scoping { yield } : relation
end

Instance Method Details

#<=>(other_object) ⇒ Object

Allows sort on objects



1847
1848
1849
1850
1851
1852
1853
 
# File 'lib/active_record/base.rb', line 1847

def <=>(other_object)
  if other_object.is_a?(self.class)
    self.to_key <=> other_object.to_key
  else
    nil
  end
end

#==(comparison_object) ⇒ Object Also known as: eql?

Returns true if comparison_object is the same exact object, or comparison_object is of the same type and self has an ID and it is equal to comparison_object.id.

Note that new records are different from any other record by definition, unless the other record is the receiver itself. Besides, if you fetch existing records with select and leave the ID out, you’re on your own, this predicate will return false.

Note also that destroying a record preserves its ID in the model instance, so deleted models are still comparable.



1822
1823
1824
1825
1826
1827
 
# File 'lib/active_record/base.rb', line 1822

def ==(comparison_object)
  super ||
    comparison_object.instance_of?(self.class) &&
    id.present? &&
    comparison_object.id == id
end

#assign_attributes(new_attributes, options = {}) ⇒ Object

Allows you to set all the attributes for a particular mass-assignment security role by passing in a hash of attributes with keys matching the attribute names (which again matches the column names) and the role name using the :as option.

To bypass mass-assignment security you can use the :without_protection => true option.

class User < ActiveRecord::Base
  attr_accessible :name
  attr_accessible :name, :is_admin, :as => :admin
end

user = User.new
user.assign_attributes({ :name => 'Josh', :is_admin => true })
user.name       # => "Josh"
user.is_admin?  # => false

user = User.new
user.assign_attributes({ :name => 'Josh', :is_admin => true }, :as => :admin)
user.name       # => "Josh"
user.is_admin?  # => true

user = User.new
user.assign_attributes({ :name => 'Josh', :is_admin => true }, :without_protection => true)
user.name       # => "Josh"
user.is_admin?  # => true



1747
1748
1749
1750
1751
1752
1753
1754
1755
1756
1757
1758
1759
1760
1761
1762
1763
1764
1765
1766
1767
1768
1769
1770
 
# File 'lib/active_record/base.rb', line 1747

def assign_attributes(new_attributes, options = {})
  return unless new_attributes

  attributes = new_attributes.stringify_keys
  multi_parameter_attributes = []
  @mass_assignment_options = options

  unless options[:without_protection]
    attributes = sanitize_for_mass_assignment(attributes, mass_assignment_role)
  end

  attributes.each do |k, v|
    if k.include?("(")
      multi_parameter_attributes << [ k, v ]
    elsif respond_to?("#{k}=")
      send("#{k}=", v)
    else
      raise(UnknownAttributeError, "unknown attribute: #{k}")
    end
  end

  @mass_assignment_options = nil
  assign_multiparameter_attributes(multi_parameter_attributes)
end

#attribute_for_inspect(attr_name) ⇒ Object

Returns an #inspect-like string for the value of the attribute attr_name. String attributes are truncated upto 50 characters, and Date and Time attributes are returned in the :db format. Other attributes return the value of #inspect without modification.

person = Person.create!(:name => "David Heinemeier Hansson " * 3)

person.attribute_for_inspect(:name)
# => '"David Heinemeier Hansson David Heinemeier Hansson D..."'

person.attribute_for_inspect(:created_at)
# => '"2009-01-12 04:48:57"'



1790
1791
1792
1793
1794
1795
1796
1797
1798
1799
1800
 
# File 'lib/active_record/base.rb', line 1790

def attribute_for_inspect(attr_name)
  value = read_attribute(attr_name)

  if value.is_a?(String) && value.length > 50
    "#{value[0..50]}...".inspect
  elsif value.is_a?(Date) || value.is_a?(Time)
    %("#{value.to_s(:db)}")
  else
    value.inspect
  end
end

#attribute_names ⇒ Object

Returns an array of names for the attributes available on this object.



1683
1684
1685
 
# File 'lib/active_record/base.rb', line 1683

def attribute_names
  @attributes.keys
end

#attribute_present?(attribute) ⇒ Boolean

Returns true if the specified attribute has been set by the user or by a database load and is neither nil nor empty? (the latter only applies to objects that respond to empty?, most notably Strings).

Returns:

  • (Boolean) 


1804
1805
1806
 
# File 'lib/active_record/base.rb', line 1804

def attribute_present?(attribute)
  !_read_attribute(attribute).blank?
end

#attributes ⇒ Object

Returns a hash of all the attributes with their names as keys and the values of the attributes as values.



1773
1774
1775
 
# File 'lib/active_record/base.rb', line 1773

def attributes
  Hash[@attributes.map { |name, _| [name, read_attribute(name)] }]
end

#attributes=(new_attributes, guard_protected_attributes = nil) ⇒ Object

Allows you to set all the attributes at once by passing in a hash with keys matching the attribute names (which again matches the column names).

If any attributes are protected by either attr_protected or attr_accessible then only settable attributes will be assigned.

The guard_protected_attributes argument is now deprecated, use the assign_attributes method if you want to bypass mass-assignment security.

class User < ActiveRecord::Base
  attr_protected :is_admin
end

user = User.new
user.attributes = { :username => 'Phusion', :is_admin => true }
user.username   # => "Phusion"
user.is_admin?  # => false



1704
1705
1706
1707
1708
1709
1710
1711
1712
1713
1714
1715
1716
1717
1718
 
# File 'lib/active_record/base.rb', line 1704

def attributes=(new_attributes, guard_protected_attributes = nil)
  unless guard_protected_attributes.nil?
    message = "the use of 'guard_protected_attributes' will be removed from the next minor release of rails, " +
              "if you want to bypass mass-assignment security then look into using assign_attributes"
    ActiveSupport::Deprecation.warn(message)
  end

  return unless new_attributes.is_a?(Hash)

  if guard_protected_attributes == false
    assign_attributes(new_attributes, :without_protection => true)
  else
    assign_attributes(new_attributes)
  end
end

#cache_key ⇒ Object

Returns a cache key that can be used to identify this record.

Examples

Product.new.cache_key     # => "products/new"
Product.find(5).cache_key # => "products/5" (updated_at not available)
Person.find(5).cache_key  # => "people/5-20071224150000" (updated_at available)



1661
1662
1663
1664
1665
1666
1667
1668
1669
1670
1671
 
# File 'lib/active_record/base.rb', line 1661

def cache_key
  case
  when new_record?
    "#{self.class.model_name.cache_key}/new"
  when timestamp = self[:updated_at]
    timestamp = timestamp.utc.to_s(:number)
    "#{self.class.model_name.cache_key}/#{id}-#{timestamp}"
  else
    "#{self.class.model_name.cache_key}/#{id}"
  end
end

#column_for_attribute(name) ⇒ Object

Returns the column object for the named attribute.



1809
1810
1811
 
# File 'lib/active_record/base.rb', line 1809

def column_for_attribute(name)
  self.class.columns_hash[name.to_s]
end

#configurations ⇒ Object

:singleton-method: Contains the database configuration - as is typically stored in config/database.yml - as a Hash.

For example, the following database.yml…

development:
  adapter: sqlite3
  database: db/development.sqlite3

production:
  adapter: sqlite3
  database: db/production.sqlite3

…would result in ActiveRecord::Base.configurations to look like this:

{
   'development' => {
      'adapter'  => 'sqlite3',
      'database' => 'db/development.sqlite3'
   },
   'production' => {
      'adapter'  => 'sqlite3',
      'database' => 'db/production.sqlite3'
   }
}



359
 
# File 'lib/active_record/base.rb', line 359

cattr_accessor :configurations, :instance_writer => false

#connection ⇒ Object

Returns the connection currently associated with the class. This can also be used to “borrow” the connection to do database work that isn’t easily done without going straight to SQL.



19
20
21
 
# File 'lib/active_record/connection_adapters/abstract/connection_specification.rb', line 19

def connection
  self.class.connection
end

#connection_handler ⇒ Object

:singleton-method: The connection handler



13
 
# File 'lib/active_record/connection_adapters/abstract/connection_specification.rb', line 13

class_attribute :connection_handler, :instance_writer => false

#default_timezone ⇒ Object

:singleton-method: Determines whether to use Time.local (using :local) or Time.utc (using :utc) when pulling dates and times from the database. This is set to :local by default.



404
 
# File 'lib/active_record/base.rb', line 404

cattr_accessor :default_timezone, :instance_writer => false

#dup ⇒ Object

:nodoc:



1857
1858
1859
1860
1861
 
# File 'lib/active_record/base.rb', line 1857

def dup # :nodoc:
  copy = super
  copy.initialize_dup(self)
  copy
end

#encode_with(coder) ⇒ Object

Populate coder with attributes about this record that should be serialized. The structure of coder defined in this method is guaranteed to match the structure of coder passed to the init_with method.

Example:

class Post < ActiveRecord::Base
end
coder = {}
Post.new.encode_with(coder)
coder # => { 'id' => nil, ... }



1596
1597
1598
 
# File 'lib/active_record/base.rb', line 1596

def encode_with(coder)
  coder['attributes'] = attributes
end

#freeze ⇒ Object

Freeze the attributes hash such that associations are still accessible, even on destroyed records.



1837
1838
1839
 
# File 'lib/active_record/base.rb', line 1837

def freeze
  @attributes.freeze; self
end

#frozen? ⇒ Boolean

Returns true if the attributes hash has been frozen.

Returns:

  • (Boolean) 


1842
1843
1844
 
# File 'lib/active_record/base.rb', line 1842

def frozen?
  @attributes.frozen?
end

#has_attribute?(attr_name) ⇒ Boolean

Returns true if the given attribute is in the attributes hash

Returns:

  • (Boolean) 


1678
1679
1680
 
# File 'lib/active_record/base.rb', line 1678

def has_attribute?(attr_name)
  @attributes.has_key?(attr_name.to_s)
end

#hash ⇒ Object

Delegates to id in order to allow two records of the same type and id to work with something like:

[ Person.find(1), Person.find(2), Person.find(3) ] & [ Person.find(1), Person.find(4) ] # => [ Person.find(1) ]



1832
1833
1834
 
# File 'lib/active_record/base.rb', line 1832

def hash
  id.hash
end

#init_with(coder) ⇒ Object

Initialize an empty model object from coder. coder must contain the attributes necessary for initializing an empty model object. For example:

class Post < ActiveRecord::Base
end

post = Post.allocate
post.init_with('attributes' => { 'title' => 'hello world' })
post.title # => 'hello world'



1610
1611
1612
1613
1614
1615
1616
1617
1618
1619
1620
1621
1622
1623
1624
1625
 
# File 'lib/active_record/base.rb', line 1610

def init_with(coder)
  @attributes = coder['attributes']
  @relation = nil

  set_serialized_attributes

  @attributes_cache, @previously_changed, @changed_attributes = {}, {}, {}
  @association_cache = {}
  @aggregation_cache = {}
  @readonly = @destroyed = @marked_for_destruction = false
  @new_record = false
  run_callbacks :find
  run_callbacks :initialize

  self
end

#initialize_dup(other) ⇒ Object

Duped objects have no id assigned and are treated as new records. Note that this is a “shallow” copy as it copies the object’s attributes only, not its associations. The extent of a “deep” copy is application specific and is therefore left to the application to implement according to its need. The dup method does not preserve the timestamps (created|updated)_(at|on).



1870
1871
1872
1873
1874
1875
1876
1877
1878
1879
1880
1881
1882
1883
1884
1885
1886
1887
1888
1889
1890
1891
 
# File 'lib/active_record/base.rb', line 1870

def initialize_dup(other)
  cloned_attributes = other.clone_attributes(:read_attribute_before_type_cast)
  cloned_attributes.delete(self.class.primary_key)

  @attributes = cloned_attributes

  _run_after_initialize_callbacks if respond_to?(:_run_after_initialize_callbacks)

  @changed_attributes = {}
  attributes_from_column_definition.each do |attr, orig_value|
    @changed_attributes[attr] = orig_value if field_changed?(attr, orig_value, @attributes[attr])
  end

  @aggregation_cache = {}
  @association_cache = {}
  @attributes_cache = {}
  @new_record  = true

  ensure_proper_type
  populate_with_current_scope_attributes
  clear_timestamp_attributes
end

#inspect ⇒ Object

Returns the contents of the record as a nicely formatted string.



1905
1906
1907
1908
1909
1910
1911
1912
 
# File 'lib/active_record/base.rb', line 1905

def inspect
  attributes_as_nice_string = self.class.column_names.collect { |name|
    if has_attribute?(name)
      "#{name}: #{attribute_for_inspect(name)}"
    end
  }.compact.join(", ")
  "#<#{self.class} #{attributes_as_nice_string}>"
end

#logger ⇒ Object

:singleton-method: Accepts a logger conforming to the interface of Log4r or the default Ruby 1.8+ Logger class, which is then passed on to any new database connections made and which can be retrieved on both a class and instance level by calling logger.



330
 
# File 'lib/active_record/base.rb', line 330

cattr_accessor :logger, :instance_writer => false

#pluralize_table_names ⇒ Object

:singleton-method: Indicates whether table names should be the pluralized versions of the corresponding class names. If true, the default table name for a Product class will be products. If false, it would just be product. See table_name for the full rules on table/class naming. This is true, by default.



397
 
# File 'lib/active_record/base.rb', line 397

class_attribute :pluralize_table_names, :instance_writer => false

#primary_key_prefix_type ⇒ Object

:singleton-method: Accessor for the prefix type that will be prepended to every primary key column name. The options are :table_name and :table_name_with_underscore. If the first is specified, the Product class will look for “productid” instead of “id” as the primary column. If the latter is specified, the Product class will look for “product_id” instead of “id”. Remember that this is a global setting for all Active Records.



369
 
# File 'lib/active_record/base.rb', line 369

cattr_accessor :primary_key_prefix_type, :instance_writer => false

#quoted_id ⇒ Object

:nodoc:



1673
1674
1675
 
# File 'lib/active_record/base.rb', line 1673

def quoted_id #:nodoc:
  quote_value(id, column_for_attribute(self.class.primary_key))
end

#readonly! ⇒ Object

Marks this record as read only.



1900
1901
1902
 
# File 'lib/active_record/base.rb', line 1900

def readonly!
  @readonly = true
end

#readonly? ⇒ Boolean

Returns true if the record is read only. Records loaded through joins with piggy-back attributes will be marked as read only since they cannot be saved.

Returns:

  • (Boolean) 


1895
1896
1897
 
# File 'lib/active_record/base.rb', line 1895

def readonly?
  @readonly
end

#schema_format ⇒ Object

:singleton-method: Specifies the format to use when dumping the database schema with Rails’ Rakefile. If :sql, the schema is dumped as (potentially database- specific) SQL statements. If :ruby, the schema is dumped as an ActiveRecord::Schema file which can be loaded into any database that supports migrations. Use :ruby if you want to have different database adapters for, e.g., your development and test environments.



415
 
# File 'lib/active_record/base.rb', line 415

cattr_accessor :schema_format , :instance_writer => false

#table_name_prefix ⇒ Object

:singleton-method: Accessor for the name of the prefix string to prepend to every table name. So if set to “basecamp_”, all table names will be named like “basecamp_projects”, “basecamp_people”, etc. This is a convenient way of creating a namespace for tables in a shared database. By default, the prefix is the empty string.

If you are organising your models within modules you can add a prefix to the models within a namespace by defining a singleton method in the parent module called table_name_prefix which returns your chosen prefix.



382
 
# File 'lib/active_record/base.rb', line 382

class_attribute :table_name_prefix, :instance_writer => false

#table_name_suffix ⇒ Object

:singleton-method: Works like table_name_prefix, but appends instead of prepends (set to “_basecamp” gives “projects_basecamp”, “people_basecamp”). By default, the suffix is the empty string.



389
 
# File 'lib/active_record/base.rb', line 389

class_attribute :table_name_suffix, :instance_writer => false

#timestamped_migrations ⇒ Object

:singleton-method: Specify whether or not to use timestamps for migration versions



421
 
# File 'lib/active_record/base.rb', line 421

cattr_accessor :timestamped_migrations , :instance_writer => false

#to_param ⇒ Object

Returns a String, which Action Pack uses for constructing an URL to this object. The default implementation returns this record’s id as a String, or nil if this record’s unsaved.

For example, suppose that you have a User model, and that you have a resources :users route. Normally, user_path will construct a path with the user object’s ‘id’ in it:

user = User.find_by_name('Phusion')
user_path(user)  # => "/users/1"

You can override to_param in your model to make user_path construct a path using the user’s name instead of the user’s id:

class User < ActiveRecord::Base
  def to_param  # overridden
    name
  end
end

user = User.find_by_name('Phusion')
user_path(user)  # => "/users/Phusion"



1649
1650
1651
1652
 
# File 'lib/active_record/base.rb', line 1649

def to_param
  # We can't use alias_method here, because method 'id' optimizes itself on the fly.
  id && id.to_s # Be sure to stringify the id for routes
end