column_for_attribute

Returns the column object for the named attribute. Returns an ActiveRecord::ConnectionAdapters::NullColumn if the named attribute does not exist.

class Person < ActiveRecord::Base
end

person = Person.new
person.column_for_attribute(:name) # the result depends on the ConnectionAdapter
# => #<ActiveRecord::ConnectionAdapters::Column:0x007ff4ab083980 @name="name", @sql_type="varchar(255)", @null=true, ...>

person.column_for_attribute(:nothing)
# => #<ActiveRecord::ConnectionAdapters::NullColumn:0xXXX @name=nil, @sql_type=nil, @cast_type=#<Type::Value>, ...>