# File activerecord/lib/active_record/model_schema.rb, line 392
def column_defaults
  load_schema
  @column_defaults ||= _default_attributes.deep_dup.to_hash
end

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

# File activerecord/lib/active_record/model_schema.rb, line 403
def column_names
  @column_names ||= columns.map(&:name)
end

Returns an array of column names as strings.

# File activerecord/lib/active_record/model_schema.rb, line 414
def content_columns
  @content_columns ||= columns.reject do |c|
    c.name == primary_key ||
    c.name == inheritance_column ||
    c.name.end_with?("_id") ||
    c.name.end_with?("_count")
  end
end

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.

# File activerecord/lib/active_record/model_schema.rb, line 280
def ignored_columns
  if defined?(@ignored_columns)
    @ignored_columns
  else
    superclass.ignored_columns
  end
end

The list of columns names the model should ignore. Ignored columns won't have attribute accessors defined, and won't be referenced in SQL queries.

# File activerecord/lib/active_record/model_schema.rb, line 290
def ignored_columns=(columns)
  @ignored_columns = columns.map(&:to_s)
end

Sets the columns names the model should ignore. Ignored columns won't have attribute accessors defined, and won't be referenced in SQL queries.

# File activerecord/lib/active_record/model_schema.rb, line 268
def inheritance_column
  (@inheritance_column ||= nil) || superclass.inheritance_column
end

Defines the name of the table column which will store the class name on single-table inheritance situations.

The default inheritance column name is type, which means it's a reserved word inside Active Record. To be able to use single-table inheritance with another column name, or to use the column type in your own model for something else, you can set inheritance_column:

self.inheritance_column = 'zoink'

# File activerecord/lib/active_record/model_schema.rb, line 273
def inheritance_column=(value)
  @inheritance_column = value.to_s
  @explicit_inheritance_column = true
end

Sets the value of #inheritance_column

# File activerecord/lib/active_record/model_schema.rb, line 334
def next_sequence_value
  connection.next_sequence_value(sequence_name)
end

Returns the next value that will be used as the primary key on an insert statement.

# File activerecord/lib/active_record/model_schema.rb, line 328
def prefetch_primary_key?
  connection.prefetch_primary_key?(table_name)
end

Determines if the primary key values should be selected from their corresponding sequence before the insert statement.

# File activerecord/lib/active_record/model_schema.rb, line 246
def protected_environments
  if defined?(@protected_environments)
    @protected_environments
  else
    superclass.protected_environments
  end
end

The array of names of environments where destructive actions should be prohibited. By default, the value is ["production"].

# File activerecord/lib/active_record/model_schema.rb, line 255
def protected_environments=(environments)
  @protected_environments = environments.map(&:to_s)
end

Sets an array of names of environments where destructive actions should be prohibited.

# File activerecord/lib/active_record/model_schema.rb, line 221
def quoted_table_name
  @quoted_table_name ||= connection.quote_table_name(table_name)
end

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

# File activerecord/lib/active_record/model_schema.rb, line 449
def reset_column_information
  connection.clear_cache!
  ([self] + descendants).each(&:undefine_attribute_methods)
  connection.schema_cache.clear_data_source_cache!(table_name)

  reload_schema_from_cache
  initialize_find_by_cache
end

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[5.0]
  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

# File activerecord/lib/active_record/model_schema.rb, line 321
def sequence_name=(value)
  @sequence_name          = value.to_s
  @explicit_sequence_name = true
end

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, 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
  self.sequence_name = "projectseq"   # default would have been "project_seq"
end

# File activerecord/lib/active_record/model_schema.rb, line 339
def table_exists?
  connection.schema_cache.data_source_exists?(table_name)
end

Indicates whether the table associated with this class exists

# File activerecord/lib/active_record/model_schema.rb, line 195
def table_name
  reset_table_name unless defined?(@table_name)
  @table_name
end

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 set your own table name explicitly:

class Mouse < ActiveRecord::Base
  self.table_name = "mice"
end

# File activerecord/lib/active_record/model_schema.rb, line 205
def table_name=(value)
  value = value && value.to_s

  if defined?(@table_name)
    return if value == @table_name
    reset_column_information if connected?
  end

  @table_name        = value
  @quoted_table_name = nil
  @arel_table        = nil
  @sequence_name     = nil unless defined?(@explicit_sequence_name) && @explicit_sequence_name
  @predicate_builder = nil
end

Sets the table name explicitly. Example:

class Project < ActiveRecord::Base
  self.table_name = "project"
end

# File activerecord/lib/active_record/model_schema.rb, line 381
def type_for_attribute(attr_name, &block)
  attr_name = attr_name.to_s
  if block
    attribute_types.fetch(attr_name, &block)
  else
    attribute_types[attr_name]
  end
end

Returns the type of the attribute with the given name, after applying all modifiers. This method is the only valid source of information for anything related to the types of a model's attributes. This method will access the database and load the model's schema if it is required.

The return value of this method will implement the interface described by ActiveModel::Type::Value (though the object itself may not subclass it).

attr_name The name of the attribute to retrieve the type for. Must be a string or a symbol.