method

table_name

Importance_3
v2.3.8 - Show latest stable - 1 note - Class: ActiveRecord::Base
table_name() public

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
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August 16, 2008
1 thank

Examples of Setting the Prefix and Suffix

Both of the following will work for setting the prefix or suffix:

class Mouse < ActiveRecord::Base
  self.table_name_prefix = 'forum_'
end

and

class Mouse < ActiveRecord::Base
  def self.table_name_prefix
    'forum_'
  end
end