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Validations in Rails 3
Episode #211Apr 26, 201059 comments

Validations in Rails 3

Rails 3 offers several new additions to validations. Here learn how to make a custom error_messages partial, reflect on validations, and clean up complex validations in a model. (9 minutes)
Virtual Attributes (revised)
Episode #16Jul 20, 201271 comments

Virtual Attributes (revised)

Virtual attributes are a clean way to add form fields that do not map directly to the database. Here I show how to handle validations, associations, and more. (11 minutes)
Optimistic Locking (revised)
Episode #59Aug 04, 2012135 comments

Optimistic Locking (revised)

There is a chance one user will unintentionally override someone else's changes if they update a record near the same time. One solution is to use optimistic locking. The updated_at column can also be used for this as shown. (8 minutes)
Model Name in URL (revised)
Episode #63Dec 16, 201285 comments

Model Name in URL (revised)

A model's ID in the URL is not very helpful to the user. Consider adding the name which can also improve SEO. Learn how to override to_param, add a slug attribute, and make a catch all route for deep nesting. (9 minutes)
A Tour of State Machines
Episode #392Nov 17, 201293 comments

A Tour of State Machines

Here I show how three popular state machine gems can be used to clean up a list of boolean/datetime fields. I also show a custom solution which keeps track of the history of events. (12 minutes)
Multitenancy with Scopes
Episode #388Oct 20, 2012120 comments

Multitenancy with Scopes

A multi-tenant application can be difficult to implement because the data for each tenant must be completely separate. Here I show how to do this using subdomains and default scopes in Active Record. (12 minutes)
STI and Polymorphic Associations
Episode #394Nov 25, 201281 comments

STI and Polymorphic Associations

Single Table Inheritance (STI) can help organize branching logic into separate classes, but a polymorphic association may be a better fit if there are unique database columns. (14 minutes)
Active Record Reputation System
Episode #364Jul 09, 2012105 comments

Active Record Reputation System

If you need to calculate an average user's rating or sum up a number of votes, consider using the activerecord-reputation-system gem. Here I will cover the basics and also briefly present a from-scratch solution. (10 minutes)
Conditional Validations
Episode #41Jun 06, 200756 comments

Conditional Validations

By default, validations will take place every time the model is saved. Sometimes you only want a validation to happen when certain conditions are met. See how to do that in this episode. (4 minutes)
Multistep Forms
Episode #217Jun 07, 201092 comments

Multistep Forms

See how to create a multi-step (wizard) form from scratch in this episode. (15 minutes)