# Sum Method in Active Record

**URL:** <https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/sum-method-in-active-record/146603>\
**Category:** Rails\
**Created:** [August 22, 2008, 10:33pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/sum-method-in-active-record/146603 "2008-08-22T22:33:42Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![chinnakaruppan](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/c/c4cdca/32.png) [@chinnakaruppan](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/chinnakaruppan)\
**Post date:** [August 22, 2008, 10:33pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/sum-method-in-active-record/146603/1 "2008-08-22T22:33:42Z")

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Hi,  
How can I use the sum method in the Active Record in my normal class.I  
have one helper class…I saw a webcast in which the guy was using the  
method in rails in his class by just including the module that contained  
the method.I don’t remember which screen cast …  
But the question is can I use the include  
ActiveRecord:Calculations:ClassMethods in my class and start using the  
sum method on it…  
THnks  
Chinna

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**Author:** ![chinnakaruppan](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/c/c4cdca/32.png) [@chinnakaruppan](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/chinnakaruppan)\
**Post date:** [August 23, 2008, 12:24am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/sum-method-in-active-record/146603/2 "2008-08-23T00:24:23Z")

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You should be able to do YourModel.sum(:column) without including  
anything  
special.

[http://www.railsbrain.com/api/rails-2.1.0/doc/index.html?a=M001763&name=sum](http://www.railsbrain.com/api/rails-2.1.0/doc/index.html?a=M001763&name=sum)

On Fri, Aug 22, 2008 at 4:33 PM, Chinna K. \<

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**Author:** ![chinnakaruppan](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/c/c4cdca/32.png) [@chinnakaruppan](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/chinnakaruppan)\
**Post date:** [August 23, 2008, 12:56am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/sum-method-in-active-record/146603/3 "2008-08-23T00:56:19Z")

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my model is not backed by active record.I said my NORMAL CLASS .IT IS  
NOT EXTENDING FROM ACTIVERECORD…or any class how can it use some of  
the use methods available in rails…

Joe K wrote:

> You should be able to do YourModel.sum(:column) without including  
> anything  
> special.
> 
> [http://www.railsbrain.com/api/rails-2.1.0/doc/index.html?a=M001763&name=sum](http://www.railsbrain.com/api/rails-2.1.0/doc/index.html?a=M001763&name=sum)
> 
> On Fri, Aug 22, 2008 at 4:33 PM, Chinna K. \<

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**Author:** ![chinnakaruppan](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/c/c4cdca/32.png) [@chinnakaruppan](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/chinnakaruppan)\
**Post date:** [August 23, 2008, 1:11am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/sum-method-in-active-record/146603/4 "2008-08-23T01:11:14Z")

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Ohh, sorry about that.

Just an educated guess, but from skimming the source code, it looks like  
it  
relies pretty heavily on the rest of active record being there.  
Personally,  
I would just write a class method that constructs an sql query and  
executes  
it, which I have done before in cases where I have complex joins that  
would  
take active record ages to process.

rows = sql.execute(“select sum(column) as total from table where stuff”)  
rows.each do |row|  
print row[0]  
end

On Fri, Aug 22, 2008 at 6:56 PM, Chinna K. \<

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**Author:** ![chinnakaruppan](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/c/c4cdca/32.png) [@chinnakaruppan](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/chinnakaruppan)\
**Post date:** [August 23, 2008, 4:03pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/sum-method-in-active-record/146603/5 "2008-08-23T16:03:17Z")

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On 22 Aug 2008, at 23:56, Chinna K. wrote:

> my model is not backed by active record.I said my NORMAL CLASS .IT IS  
> NOT EXTENDING FROM ACTIVERECORD…or any class how can it use some of  
> the use methods available in rails…

If your model is not an activerecord model, then what does  
YourModel.sum(:something) mean ?

Fred