How to get list of Active record fields in database order?

Rails
1

If rec is an active record object and you call rec.attribute_names, it
gives you the field names in alphabetical order.
If there is a way to get the order that the fields where created into
the dabatase on the create_table sql call, I would find that very
useful. It seems like there is supposed to be a columns(), and
column_names() methods, but I am not seeing them and wondering if they
maybe disappeared in rails 3 ?

2

I wrote this for now, a terrible hack

def get_order
str = self.inspect
ar = str.split(’,’)
ar[0] = ar[0].gsub(/^\S*/,’’)
ar[ar.length - 1] = ar.last.chop
puts ‘ar’
p ar
ar2 = ar.map{|el| el.split(":")[0].strip}
puts ‘ar2’
p ar2
del_idxs = []
ar2.each_with_index do |el,idx|
if !self.attribute_names.include?(el)
del_idxs << idx
end
end
puts ‘del idx’
puts “\n\n\n”
del_idxs.each{|i| ar2.delete_at(i)}
ar2
end

3

Jedrin wrote in post #1016808:

If rec is an active record object and you call rec.attribute_names, it
gives you the field names in alphabetical order.
If there is a way to get the order that the fields where created into
the dabatase on the create_table sql call, I would find that very
useful.

How?

4

column_names is the one you’re looking for, it is a class method, so you
should use it like Model.column_names

2011/8/16 7stud – [email protected]