== Pacecar Pacecar adds named_scope methods and other common functionality to ActiveRecord classes via database column introspection. Pacecar automatically includes the Pacecar::Helpers module into all ActiveRecord::Base classes. To get all Pacecar functionality, you need to "include Pacecar" in your class. To get some subset (for example, only the state functionality), you can do something like "include Pacecar::State" to get only the module(s) you want. == Usage Assuming a database schema... class CreateSchema < ActiveRecord::Migration def self.up create_table :users, :force => true do |t| t.boolean :admin, :default => false, :null => false t.datetime :approved_at t.datetime :rejected_at t.string :first_name t.string :last_name t.text :description t.timestamps end create_table :posts, :force => true do |t| t.string :owner_type t.integer :owner_id t.string :publication_state t.string :post_type t.timestamps end create_table :comments, :force => true do |t| t.integer :user_id t.text :description t.timestamps end end end And some basic model declarations... class User < ActiveRecord::Base include Pacecar has_many :posts, :as => :owner has_many :comments has_many :articles has_ranking :comments has_recent_records :comments has_recent_records :articles, :comments end class Post < ActiveRecord::Base include Pacecar PUBLICATION_STATES = %w(Draft Submitted Rejected Accepted) TYPES = %w(Free Open Private Anonymous PostModern) belongs_to :owner, :polymorphic => true has_state :publication_state has_state :post_type, :with => TYPES has_polymorph :owner end class Comment < ActiveRecord::Base include Pacecar belongs_to :user end class Article < ActiveRecord::Base belongs_to :user end = All columns Records where approved_at is not null, or where it is null... User.approved_at_present User.approved_at_missing Records where first_name is not null, or where it is null... User.first_name_present User.first_name_missing Records ordered by first_name (default to 'asc', can specify to override)... User.by_first_name User.by_first_name(:asc) User.by_first_name(:desc) Records where an attribute matches a search term (column LIKE "%term%")... User.first_name_matches('John') Records where an attribute starts or ends with a search term... User.first_name_starts_with('A') User.first_name_ends_with('a') Records where any non-state text or string column matches term... User.search_for('test') Records where any of a list of columns match the term... User.search_for 'test', :on => [:first_name, :last_name] Records where all of a list of columns match the term... User.search_for 'test', :on => [:first_name, :last_name], :require => :all = Boolean columns Records that are all admins or non-admins... User.admin User.not_admin The "balance" (count of true minus false for column in question)... User.admin_balance = Datetime columns Records approved before or after certain times... User.approved_at_before(5.days.ago) User.approved_at_after(4.weeks.ago) Records with approved_at in the past or future... User.approved_at_in_past User.approved_at_in_future Records with approved_at inside or outside of two times... User.approved_at_inside(10.days.ago, 1.day.ago) User.approved_at_outside(2.days.ago, 1.day.ago) Records with certain year, month or day... User.approved_at_in_year(2000) User.approved_at_in_month(01) User.approved_at_in_day(01) Records with a duration (time delta between two columns) of, over or under a certain number of days... User.with_duration_of(14, :approved_at, :rejected_at) User.with_duration_over(14, :approved_at, :rejected_at) User.with_duration_under(14, :approved_at, :rejected_at) = Polymorphic relationships Records which have an owner_type of User... Post.for_owner_type(User) = Associations Records with the most and least associated records... User.maximum_comments User.minimum_comments Records with associated records since a certain time... User.recent_comments_since(2.days.ago) User.recent_comments_and_posts_since(3.days.ago) User.recent_comments_or_posts_since(4.days.ago) = State columns Records which are in a particular state, or not in a state... Post.publication_state_draft Post.post_type_not_open Query methods on instances to check state... Post.first.publication_state_draft? Post.last.post_type_not_open? = Limits First x records... User.limited(10) = Named scopes Because these are all named_scope, you can combine them. To get all users that have a first_name set, who are admins and approved more than 2 weeks ago, ordered by their first name... User.first_name_present.admin.approved_at_before(2.weeks.ago).by_first_name To get the top 10 commenters... User.maximim_comments.limited(10) = License Pacecar is free software, and may be redistributed under the terms specified in the MIT-LICENSE file.