# Help: rails magic fallout **URL:** \ **Category:** Rails\ **Created:** [March 12, 2009, 11:23pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/help-rails-magic-fallout/162711 "2009-03-12T23:23:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![simon1](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/s/fbc32d/32.png) [@simon1](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/simon1)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2009, 11:23pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/help-rails-magic-fallout/162711/1 "2009-03-12T23:23:01Z")
Hi all, I’ve just wasted a day fixing an issue that IMO shouldn’t be one. I’ve got a workaround, but it smells as there’s more, and I would greatly appreciate pointers what to watch out for. The issue: I’ve got a model, and it had a method ‘all\_noload’. It’s homebrew, i.e. doesnt’ derive from ActiveRecord::Base. all\_noload simply enumerated a directory and made model objects of it. Now in production, it didn’t work any more. Instead on an array, I got []. But not in development or test, i.e. it worked fine in them. Even the precise code of all\_noload, in the rails console, worked fine in all environments. The ‘fix’ is to rename the method. Apparently it is related to ActiveRecord initialization, since production was suddenly fine when I removed the DB defintion (which of course didn’t get me far). So, I suspect some rails magic is applied here with overly optimistic assumptions. So, is there a semi-official list of forbidden names in models or something? Cheers, Simon ---
**Author:** ![simon1](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/s/fbc32d/32.png) [@simon1](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/simon1)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2009, 12:23am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/help-rails-magic-fallout/162711/2 "2009-03-13T00:23:19Z")
On Thu, Mar 12, 2009 at 4:28 PM, simon [removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid](mailto:removed_email_address@domain.invalid) wrote: > Now in production, it didn’t work any more. Instead on an array, I got > []. But not in development or test, i.e. it worked fine in them. Even > the precise code of all\_noload, in the rails console, worked fine in > all environments. > > The ‘fix’ is to rename the method. Apparently it is related to > ActiveRecord initialization, This makes no sense since you just said your model “doesnt’ derive from ActiveRecord::Base” above. > So, I suspect some rails magic is applied here with overly optimistic > assumptions. If you use Rails you have to deal with it’s chosen name spaces. Why would you think it’d be any other way? > So, is there a semi-official list of forbidden names in models or > something? You can easily check what’s already there before making your own class or method: ObjectSpace.const\_defined?( ‘Foo’ ) ActiveRecord::Base.respond\_to?( ‘all\_noload’ ) – Greg D. [http://destiney.com/](http://destiney.com/) ---
**Author:** ![simon1](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/s/fbc32d/32.png) [@simon1](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/simon1)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2009, 12:56am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/help-rails-magic-fallout/162711/3 "2009-03-13T00:56:04Z")
@Simon: Hey, namespace collisions can be troubling, but I’m confused. You said you made a method on a non-activerecord model but then you said it worked once you removed the db definition. What was the name of your model, and did you define a class method or an instance method? Did you have other plugins installed? Before you go too much farther, make a brand new Rails app and duplicate the behavior there. If you can reproduce it, then it’s either something with names or something goofy in your code. Can you write a test that reproduces that behavior? Also can you tell us more about your production environment? You said it works in all environments through the console, so now I wonder if you’re running it through apache and trying to enumerate a dir that the user has no access to on the file system. Tell us more. ---
**Author:** ![simon1](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/s/fbc32d/32.png) [@simon1](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/simon1)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2009, 10:45am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/help-rails-magic-fallout/162711/4 "2009-03-13T10:45:47Z")
Clarification: > It’s a class method. Named all\_noload, it returns []. I suspect it > doesn’t get called at all (I issued a print). > Named ‘humptydumpty’, it works fine, as it does in development or > test. Textually, both are the same > except the name behind def. > It doesn’t work in test (as all\_noload), and I’m unsure it ever did. > Unfortunate, but I edited all over the place, no reliable recovery > since my > svn wasn’t available. ---
**Author:** ![simon1](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/s/fbc32d/32.png) [@simon1](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/simon1)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2009, 10:20am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/help-rails-magic-fallout/162711/5 "2009-03-13T10:20:31Z")
> Hey, namespace collisions can be troubling, but I’m confused. You said > you made a method on a non-activerecord model but then you said it > worked once you removed the db definition. > Yes, exactly. That’s the irony. The only way to get it working _in > production_ (or test, as I discovered now) > is to have no DB definition. Even though I don’t derive from > activerecord. > That’s rails 2.2.2, on 2 different machines so far. I’ve got a gem in, > authlogic. > By ‘in production’, I mean either: > RAILS\_ENV=production script/console > Or the same with server (thin), getting no listing in html > What was the name of your model, and did you define a class method or > an instance method? Did you have other plugins installed? > It’s a class method. Named all\_noload, it returns []. I suspect it > doesn’t get called at all (I issued a print). > Named ‘humptydumpty’, it works fine, as it does in development or > test. Textually, both are the same > except the name behind def. > Before you go too much farther, make a brand new Rails app and > duplicate the behavior there. If you can reproduce it, then it’s > either something with names or something goofy in your code. Can you > write a test that reproduces that behavior? > Unfortunately, no. I couldn’t reproduce in a brand new app . > Also can you tell us more about your production environment? You said > it works in all environments through the console, so now I wonder if > No, that’s not what I meant. Console is in line with the running > instance, > i.e. it works or not depending on environment. I tried to see if it’s > a function > of the DB backend (prod uses mysql, dev is sqlite), but no luck. > you’re running it through apache and trying to enumerate a dir that > the user has no access to on the file system. > That’s what I thought too, but the humtydumpty test shows it’s a names > problem. Are there known-good ways to deal with this class of problems? Greg’s suggestion is fine but didn’t get me far, especially since I don’t derive from ActiveRecord::Base. For now, all\_kingkong works, but I’d feel safer knowing what is going on.