merge(other) public

Merges in the conditions from other, if other is an ActiveRecord::Relation. Returns an array representing the intersection of the resulting records with other, if other is an array.

Post.where(published: true).joins(:comments).merge( Comment.where(spam: false) )
# Performs a single join query with both where conditions.

recent_posts = Post.order('created_at DESC').first(5)
Post.where(published: true).merge(recent_posts)
# Returns the intersection of all published posts with the 5 most recently created posts.
# (This is just an example. You'd probably want to do this with a single query!)

Procs will be evaluated by merge:

Post.where(published: true).merge(-> { joins(:comments) })
# => Post.where(published: true).joins(:comments)

This is mainly intended for sharing common conditions between multiple associations.

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March 27, 2012
5 thanks

Makes it possible to use a scope through an association

This is a very useful method if you want to to use a scope through an association:

class Book < ActiveRecord::Base
  scope :available, where(:available => true)
end

class Author < ActiveRecord::Base
  has_many :books
  scope :with_available_books, joins(:books).merge(Book.available)
end

# Return all authors with at least one available book:
Author.with_available_books

See http://asciicasts.com/episodes/215-advanced-queries-in-rails-3 for more info.