Embarrassingly, I must admit that I have never understood models. I am hoping that with this post I can clear up a basic question that will allow me to get a toe-hold into understanding models. The basic question is this:
Do we only use models with databases or do they have other uses? Models descend from ActiveRecord::Base. That certainly gives rise to a notion that models are used exclusively with databases. However, I have read plenty of chatter encouraging me to move code out of the controller and into the model. At the moment, I happen to be dealing with a perfect example. In a user's profile I store an integer named 'flags'. The integer is a decimal representation of a set of binary flags that correspond to various yes/no configuration selections that the user has made. I have written a very short method that will accept 2 arguments, a user's flags integer and the weight of a specific flag. The method returns true or false depending on whether the specific flag is set in the given flags integer. The method has absolutely nothing to do with a database. The question is: Where do I put this method? From the description that I have given I think that it is clear that this method is back-room, heavy-duty, number-crunching stuff (to use terms that I have seen in my reading). So, does it go in the model? If so, how do I access it from other places? Thanks very much for any input. ... doug --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Ruby on Rails: Talk" group. To post to this group, send email to rubyonrails-talk@googlegroups.com To unsubscribe from this group, send email to rubyonrails-talk+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rubyonrails-talk?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---