# Activerecord Query Generation

**URL:** <https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/activerecord-query-generation/111310>\
**Category:** Rails\
**Created:** [August 5, 2007, 5:41pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/activerecord-query-generation/111310 "2007-08-05T17:41:47Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![toro04](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/t/ea5d25/32.png) [@toro04](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/toro04)\
**Post date:** [August 5, 2007, 5:41pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/activerecord-query-generation/111310/1 "2007-08-05T17:41:47Z")

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Is there a way to just retrieve the sql that would be generated by an  
activerecord call without actually executing the call?

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![toro04](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/t/ea5d25/32.png) [@toro04](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/toro04)\
**Post date:** [August 5, 2007, 7:55pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/activerecord-query-generation/111310/2 "2007-08-05T19:55:26Z")

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On Aug 5, 11:41 am, Adam T. [removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid](mailto:removed_email_address@domain.invalid)  
wrote:

> Is there a way to just retrieve the sql that would be generated by an  
> activerecord call without actually executing the call?

Umm, sort of, but it’s almost certainly not what you were hoping for.

ActiveRecord generates the SQL it uses with a method called  
construct\_finder\_sql(). That method is private, and it takes a hash of  
options. The tricky thing is that the options can be put together by  
any one of many execution paths depending upon how find() was called  
and what was passed into it, and you sort of have to have a bit of  
knowledge as to how ActiveRecord translates some of the symbols you  
can pass to it.

For example, say you have a User model, and you want to know what  
User.find(:first) translates to in SQL. In order to find out, you need  
to know that when ActiveRecord sees :first, it translates this into an  
entry in the options hash of “:limit =\> 1”. So, if you want to know  
what the SQL looks like for User.find(:first), what you really have to  
do in your console (for demonstration purposes) is this:

User.send(:construct\_finder\_sql, {:limit =\> 1})

When I do that, I get back this:

=\> “SELECT \* FROM users LIMIT 1”

And there is the SQL ActiveRecord would have used to perform  
User.find(:first). Using ‘User.send(:construct\_finder\_sql)’ sidesteps  
the fact that that method is private. If I tried to call it directly,  
I’d get an error.

One more example - how does AR execute User.find(1)? Well, I have to  
know that the ‘1’ argument causes AR to set {:conditions =\>  
‘users.`id` = 1’} in it’s options hash, and knowing this:

> > User.send(:construct\_finder\_sql, {:conditions =\> ‘users.`id` = 1’})  
> > =\> "SELECT \* FROM users WHERE (users.`id` = 1) "

So I think the answer to your question is, yes, there is a way -  
unfortunately it’s not a really straightforward one, and it requires a  
good deal of detective work. By the time you figure out what to pass  
into construct\_finder\_sql, you’ve practically answered the question of  
what the SQL looks like anyways, so doing this may be of limited  
usefulness.

Maybe someone else knows of an easier way, but I don’t know what it  
might be.

-Bill K.