AttributeColumn

When Rails' form_for (or, similarly, simple_form_for) looks at a model class, it calls column_for_attribute(attr_name) for each attribute that is represented in the form.

I made this single-file module to help respond to those requests.

Installation

gem install attribute_column

Usage

(I'm writing this extemporaneously, contact me if I've made mistakes or it isn't clear how this works)

class Model
  include AttributeColumn

  def self.add_attribute(attr_name, type = :string)
    define_method attr_name do
      instance_variable_get(attr_name)
    end
    define_method "#{attr_name}=" do |new_val|
      instance_variable_set(attr_name, new_val)
    end

    attribute_column(attr_name, type)
  end

  add_attribute(:created_at, :datetime)
end

# Then, in a view
= simple_form_for(Model.new) do |f|
  = f.created_at

The Rails form helpers call column_for_attribute, which wants names of attributes and their types. This helps provide that.

Contributing

1. Fork it
2. Create your feature branch (git checkout -b my-new-feature)
3. Commit your changes (git commit -am 'Add some feature')
4. Push to the branch (git push origin my-new-feature)
5. Create new Pull Request