method

default_scope

Importance_5
v3.1.0 - Show latest stable - 4 notes - Class: ActiveRecord::Base
default_scope(scope = {}) protected

Use this macro in your model to set a default scope for all operations on the model.

class Article < ActiveRecord::Base
  default_scope where(:published => true)
end

Article.all # => SELECT * FROM articles WHERE published = true

The default_scope is also applied while creating/building a record. It is not applied while updating a record.

Article.new.published    # => true
Article.create.published # => true

You can also use default_scope with a block, in order to have it lazily evaluated:

class Article < ActiveRecord::Base
  default_scope { where(:published_at => Time.now - 1.week) }
end

(You can also pass any object which responds to call to the default_scope macro, and it will be called when building the default scope.)

If you use multiple default_scope declarations in your model then they will be merged together:

class Article < ActiveRecord::Base
  default_scope where(:published => true)
  default_scope where(:rating => 'G')
end

Article.all # => SELECT * FROM articles WHERE published = true AND rating = 'G'

This is also the case with inheritance and module includes where the parent or module defines a default_scope and the child or including class defines a second one.

If you need to do more complex things with a default scope, you can alternatively define it as a class method:

class Article < ActiveRecord::Base
  def self.default_scope
    # Should return a scope, you can call 'super' here etc.
  end
end
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June 11, 2009
4 thanks

If you want to do a find without the default scope...

Checkout with_exclusive_scope

June 4, 2011 - (>= v3.0.0)
4 thanks

finding without default scopes in rails 3

if you want to find without default scopes in rails 3 and with_exclusive_scope is giving you protected method errors in controllers, use unscoped for a similar purpose

February 26, 2010
3 thanks

default_scope on create

If you specify :conditions in your default_scope in form of a Hash, they will also be applied as default values for newly created objects. Example:

class Article
  default_scope :conditions => {:published => true}
end

Article.new.published? # => true

However:

class Article
  default_scope :conditions => 'published = 1'
end

Article.new.published? # => false
March 26, 2012 - (<= v3.1.0)
1 thank

Use exist scopes on default_scope - pay attention

To use exists scopes on default_scope , you can use something like:

class Article < ActiveRecord::Base
  scope :active, proc {
    where("expires_at IS NULL or expires_at > '#{Time.now}'")
  }

  scope :by_newest, order("created_at DESC")

  default_scope by_newest
end

But, if you would add a filter, and it require a lazy evaluate, use block on default_scope declaration, like:

default_scope { active.by_newest }