# Several newbyish questions about Rails

**URL:** <https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/several-newbyish-questions-about-rails/151363>\
**Category:** Rails\
**Created:** [October 20, 2008, 6:11pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/several-newbyish-questions-about-rails/151363 "2008-10-20T18:11:36Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![lduperval](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/l/97f17d/32.png) [@lduperval](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/lduperval)\
**Post date:** [October 20, 2008, 6:11pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/several-newbyish-questions-about-rails/151363/1 "2008-10-20T18:11:36Z")

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Hi,

I am creating a Rails application and I’ve run into a couple of snags.  
Answers to the following questions would be appreciated.

Couple of things to note: I am using a legacy database where all of the  
tables have an integer primary key called “id.”

The application has to coexist with a Java/Hibernate application. The ID  
for all tables is generated using a Hibernate sequence number. The same  
sequence is used for all tables.

I am using Postgres 8.2 and 8.3 (depending on my environment)

My questions:

- what is the best way to generate an id for a new object? I want to  
avoid risks of collision between what the Java app does and what the  
Ruby ap does.

- when creating a new object, the id is never stored. In my current  
form, I force the id to be set manually (until I can solve the previous  
question). Yet, when the data is stored, I get an error from my database  
saying the id is null. When I look at the code used to store, the ID  
does not appear. Why not and how do I fix that?

- I have a few fields that set the modification date, and the status  
(one modified, one for deleted). The database does not set the  
modification date automatically. What is the preferred way to updated  
it? Similar question for the modified field.

- For the delete field, I want to set the “delete” flag to TRUE instead  
of physically deleting the object. What is the best way to do this?

- Finally, I am working with one object for now but I will need to do  
something similar for five or six other objects. How can I scaffold all  
of the above so that I have as little code to retype as possible?

Thanks,

L