root/trunk/activerecord/lib/active_record/base.rb

require 'yaml'
require 'set'

module ActiveRecord #:nodoc:
  # Generic ActiveRecord exception class.
  class ActiveRecordError < StandardError
  end

  # Raised when the single-table inheritance mechanism failes to locate the subclass
  # (for example due to improper usage of column that +inheritance_column+ points to).
  class SubclassNotFound < ActiveRecordError #:nodoc:
  end

  # Raised when object assigned to association is of incorrect type.
  #
  # Example:
  #
  # class Ticket < ActiveRecord::Base
  #   has_many :patches
  # end
  #
  # class Patch < ActiveRecord::Base
  #   belongs_to :ticket
  # end
  #
  # and somewhere in the code:
  #
  # @ticket.patches << Comment.new(:content => "Please attach tests to your patch.")
  # @ticket.save
  class AssociationTypeMismatch < ActiveRecordError
  end

  # Raised when unserialized object's type mismatches one specified for serializable field.
  class SerializationTypeMismatch < ActiveRecordError
  end

  # Raised when adapter not specified on connection (or configuration file config/database.yml misses adapter field).
  class AdapterNotSpecified < ActiveRecordError
  end

  # Raised when ActiveRecord cannot find database adapter specified in config/database.yml or programmatically.
  class AdapterNotFound < ActiveRecordError
  end

  # Raised when connection to the database could not been established (for example when connection= is given a nil object).
  class ConnectionNotEstablished < ActiveRecordError
  end

  # Raised when ActiveRecord cannot find record by given id or set of ids.
  class RecordNotFound < ActiveRecordError
  end

  # Raised by ActiveRecord::Base.save! and ActiveRecord::Base.create! methods when record cannot be
  # saved because record is invalid.
  class RecordNotSaved < ActiveRecordError
  end

  # Raised when SQL statement cannot be executed by the database (for example, it's often the case for MySQL when Ruby driver used is too old).
  class StatementInvalid < ActiveRecordError
  end

  # Raised when number of bind variables in statement given to :condition key (for example, when using +find+ method)
  # does not match number of expected variables.
  #
  # Example:
  #
  # Location.find :all, :conditions => ["lat = ? AND lng = ?", 53.7362]
  #
  # in example above two placeholders are given but only one variable to fill them.
  class PreparedStatementInvalid < ActiveRecordError
  end

  # Raised on attempt to save stale record. Record is stale when it's being saved in another query after
  # instantiation, for example, when two users edit the same wiki page and one starts editing and saves
  # the page before the other.
  #
  # Read more about optimistic locking in +ActiveRecord::Locking+ module RDoc.
  class StaleObjectError < ActiveRecordError
  end

  # Raised when association is being configured improperly or
  # user tries to use offset and limit together with has_many or has_and_belongs_to_many associations.
  class ConfigurationError < ActiveRecordError
  end

  # Raised on attempt to update record that is instantiated as read only.
  class ReadOnlyRecord < ActiveRecordError
  end

  # Used by ActiveRecord transaction mechanism to distinguish rollback from other exceptional situations.
  # You can use it to roll your transaction back explicitly in the block passed to +transaction+ method.
  class Rollback < ActiveRecordError
  end

  # Raised when attribute has a name reserved by ActiveRecord (when attribute has name of one of ActiveRecord instance methods).
  class DangerousAttributeError < ActiveRecordError
  end

  # Raised when you've tried to access a column which wasn't
  # loaded by your finder.  Typically this is because :select
  # has been specified
  class MissingAttributeError < NoMethodError
  end

  class AttributeAssignmentError < ActiveRecordError #:nodoc:
    attr_reader :exception, :attribute
    def initialize(message, exception, attribute)
      @exception = exception
      @attribute = attribute
      @message = message
    end
  end

  class MultiparameterAssignmentErrors < ActiveRecordError #:nodoc:
    attr_reader :errors
    def initialize(errors)
      @errors = errors
    end
  end

  # Active Record objects don't specify their attributes directly, but rather infer them from the table definition with
  # which they're linked. Adding, removing, and changing attributes and their type is done directly in the database. Any change
  # is instantly reflected in the Active Record objects. The mapping that binds a given Active Record class to a certain
  # database table will happen automatically in most common cases, but can be overwritten for the uncommon ones.
  #
  # See the mapping rules in table_name and the full example in link:files/README.html for more insight.
  #
  # == Creation
  #
  # Active Records accept constructor parameters either in a hash or as a block. The hash method is especially useful when
  # you're receiving the data from somewhere else, like an HTTP request. It works like this:
  #
  #   user = User.new(:name => "David", :occupation => "Code Artist")
  #   user.name # => "David"
  #
  # You can also use block initialization:
  #
  #   user = User.new do |u|
  #     u.name = "David"
  #     u.occupation = "Code Artist"
  #   end
  #
  # And of course you can just create a bare object and specify the attributes after the fact:
  #
  #   user = User.new
  #   user.name = "David"
  #   user.occupation = "Code Artist"
  #
  # == Conditions
  #
  # Conditions can either be specified as a string, array, or hash representing the WHERE-part of an SQL statement.
  # The array form is to be used when the condition input is tainted and requires sanitization. The string form can
  # be used for statements that don't involve tainted data. The hash form works much like the array form, except
  # only equality and range is possible. Examples:
  #
  #   class User < ActiveRecord::Base
  #     def self.authenticate_unsafely(user_name, password)
  #       find(:first, :conditions => "user_name = '#{user_name}' AND password = '#{password}'")
  #     end
  #
  #     def self.authenticate_safely(user_name, password)
  #       find(:first, :conditions => [ "user_name = ? AND password = ?", user_name, password ])
  #     end
  #
  #     def self.authenticate_safely_simply(user_name, password)
  #       find(:first, :conditions => { :user_name => user_name, :password => password })
  #     end
  #   end
  #
  # The <tt>authenticate_unsafely</tt> method inserts the parameters directly into the query and is thus susceptible to SQL-injection
  # attacks if the <tt>user_name</tt> and +password+ parameters come directly from an HTTP request. The <tt>authenticate_safely</tt>  and
  # <tt>authenticate_safely_simply</tt> both will sanitize the <tt>user_name</tt> and +password+ before inserting them in the query,
  # which will ensure that an attacker can't escape the query and fake the login (or worse).
  #
  # When using multiple parameters in the conditions, it can easily become hard to read exactly what the fourth or fifth
  # question mark is supposed to represent. In those cases, you can resort to named bind variables instead. That's done by replacing
  # the question marks with symbols and supplying a hash with values for the matching symbol keys:
  #
  #   Company.find(:first, :conditions => [
  #     "id = :id AND name = :name AND division = :division AND created_at > :accounting_date",
  #     { :id => 3, :name => "37signals", :division => "First", :accounting_date => '2005-01-01' }
  #   ])
  #
  # Similarly, a simple hash without a statement will generate conditions based on equality with the SQL AND
  # operator. For instance:
  #
  #   Student.find(:all, :conditions => { :first_name => "Harvey", :status => 1 })
  #   Student.find(:all, :conditions => params[:student])
  #
  # A range may be used in the hash to use the SQL BETWEEN operator:
  #
  #   Student.find(:all, :conditions => { :grade => 9..12 })
  #
  # An array may be used in the hash to use the SQL IN operator:
  #
  #   Student.find(:all, :conditions => { :grade => [9,11,12] })
  #
  # == Overwriting default accessors
  #
  # All column values are automatically available through basic accessors on the Active Record object, but sometimes you
  # want to specialize this behavior. This can be done by overwriting the default accessors (using the same
  # name as the attribute) and calling read_attribute(attr_name) and write_attribute(attr_name, value) to actually change things.
  # Example:
  #
  #   class Song < ActiveRecord::Base
  #     # Uses an integer of seconds to hold the length of the song
  #
  #     def length=(minutes)
  #       write_attribute(:length, minutes * 60)
  #     end
  #
  #     def length
  #       read_attribute(:length) / 60
  #     end
  #   end
  #
  # You can alternatively use self[:attribute]=(value) and self[:attribute] instead of write_attribute(:attribute, value) and
  # read_attribute(:attribute) as a shorter form.
  #
  # == Attribute query methods
  #
  # In addition to the basic accessors, query methods are also automatically available on the Active Record object.
  # Query methods allow you to test whether an attribute value is present.
  #
  # For example, an Active Record User with the <tt>name</tt> attribute has a <tt>name?</tt> method that you can call
  # to determine whether the user has a name:
  #
  #   user = User.new(:name => "David")
  #   user.name? # => true
  #
  #   anonymous = User.new(:name => "")
  #   anonymous.name? # => false
  #
  # == Accessing attributes before they have been typecasted
  #
  # Sometimes you want to be able to read the raw attribute data without having the column-determined typecast run its course first.
  # That can be done by using the <attribute>_before_type_cast accessors that all attributes have. For example, if your Account model
  # has a balance attribute, you can call account.balance_before_type_cast or account.id_before_type_cast.
  #
  # This is especially useful in validation situations where the user might supply a string for an integer field and you want to display
  # the original string back in an error message. Accessing the attribute normally would typecast the string to 0, which isn't what you
  # want.
  #
  # == Dynamic attribute-based finders
  #
  # Dynamic attribute-based finders are a cleaner way of getting (and/or creating) objects by simple queries without turning to SQL. They work by
  # appending the name of an attribute to <tt>find_by_</tt> or <tt>find_all_by_</tt>, so you get finders like Person.find_by_user_name,
  # Person.find_all_by_last_name, Payment.find_by_transaction_id. So instead of writing
  # <tt>Person.find(:first, :conditions => ["user_name = ?", user_name])</tt>, you just do <tt>Person.find_by_user_name(user_name)</tt>.
  # And instead of writing <tt>Person.find(:all, :conditions => ["last_name = ?", last_name])</tt>, you just do <tt>Person.find_all_by_last_name(last_name)</tt>.
  #
  # It's also possible to use multiple attributes in the same find by separating them with "_and_", so you get finders like
  # <tt>Person.find_by_user_name_and_password</tt> or even <tt>Payment.find_by_purchaser_and_state_and_country</tt>. So instead of writing
  # <tt>Person.find(:first, :conditions => ["user_name = ? AND password = ?", user_name, password])</tt>, you just do
  # <tt>Person.find_by_user_name_and_password(user_name, password)</tt>.
  #
  # It's even possible to use all the additional parameters to find. For example, the full interface for Payment.find_all_by_amount
  # is actually Payment.find_all_by_amount(amount, options). And the full interface to Person.find_by_user_name is
  # actually Person.find_by_user_name(user_name, options). So you could call <tt>Payment.find_all_by_amount(50, :order => "created_on")</tt>.
  #
  # The same dynamic finder style can be used to create the object if it doesn't already exist. This dynamic finder is called with
  # <tt>find_or_create_by_</tt> and will return the object if it already exists and otherwise creates it, then returns it. Protected attributes won't be set unless they are given in a block. For example:
  #
  #   # No 'Summer' tag exists
  #   Tag.find_or_create_by_name("Summer") # equal to Tag.create(:name => "Summer")
  #
  #   # Now the 'Summer' tag does exist
  #   Tag.find_or_create_by_name("Summer") # equal to Tag.find_by_name("Summer")
  #
  #   # Now 'Bob' exist and is an 'admin'
  #   User.find_or_create_by_name('Bob', :age => 40) { |u| u.admin = true }
  #
  # Use the <tt>find_or_initialize_by_</tt> finder if you want to return a new record without saving it first. Protected attributes won't be setted unless they are given in a block. For example:
  #
  #   # No 'Winter' tag exists
  #   winter = Tag.find_or_initialize_by_name("Winter")
  #   winter.new_record? # true
  #
  # To find by a subset of the attributes to be used for instantiating a new object, pass a hash instead of
  # a list of parameters. For example:
  #
  #   Tag.find_or_create_by_name(:name => "rails", :creator => current_user)
  #
  # That will either find an existing tag named "rails", or create a new one while setting the user that created it.
  #
  # == Saving arrays, hashes, and other non-mappable objects in text columns
  #
  # Active Record can serialize any object in text columns using YAML. To do so, you must specify this with a call to the class method +serialize+.
  # This makes it possible to store arrays, hashes, and other non-mappable objects without doing any additional work. Example:
  #
  #   class User < ActiveRecord::Base
  #     serialize :preferences
  #   end
  #
  #   user = User.create(:preferences => { "background" => "black", "display" => large })
  #   User.find(user.id).preferences # => { "background" => "black", "display" => large }
  #
  # You can also specify a class option as the second parameter that'll raise an exception if a serialized object is retrieved as a
  # descendent of a class not in the hierarchy. Example:
  #
  #   class User < ActiveRecord::Base
  #     serialize :preferences, Hash
  #   end
  #
  #   user = User.create(:preferences => %w( one two three ))
  #   User.find(user.id).preferences    # raises SerializationTypeMismatch
  #
  # == Single table inheritance
  #
  # Active Record allows inheritance by storing the name of the class in a column that by default is named "type" (can be changed
  # by overwriting <tt>Base.inheritance_column</tt>). This means that an inheritance looking like this:
  #
  #   class Company < ActiveRecord::Base; end
  #   class Firm < Company; end
  #   class Client < Company; end
  #   class PriorityClient < Client; end
  #
  # When you do Firm.create(:name => "37signals"), this record will be saved in the companies table with type = "Firm". You can then
  # fetch this row again using Company.find(:first, "name = '37signals'") and it will return a Firm object.
  #
  # If you don't have a type column defined in your table, single-table inheritance won't be triggered. In that case, it'll work just
  # like normal subclasses with no special magic for differentiating between them or reloading the right type with find.
  #
  # Note, all the attributes for all the cases are kept in the same table. Read more:
  # http://www.martinfowler.com/eaaCatalog/singleTableInheritance.html
  #
  # == Connection to multiple databases in different models
  #
  # Connections are usually created through ActiveRecord::Base.establish_connection and retrieved by ActiveRecord::Base.connection.
  # All classes inheriting from ActiveRecord::Base will use this connection. But you can also set a class-specific connection.
  # For example, if Course is an ActiveRecord::Base, but resides in a different database, you can just say Course.establish_connection
  # and Course *and all its subclasses* will use this connection instead.
  #
  # This feature is implemented by keeping a connection pool in ActiveRecord::Base that is a Hash indexed by the class. If a connection is
  # requested, the retrieve_connection method will go up the class-hierarchy until a connection is found in the connection pool.
  #
  # == Exceptions
  #
  # * +ActiveRecordError+ -- generic error class and superclass of all other errors raised by Active Record
  # * +AdapterNotSpecified+ -- the configuration hash used in <tt>establish_connection</tt> didn't include an
  #   <tt>:adapter</tt> key.
  # * +AdapterNotFound+ -- the <tt>:adapter</tt> key used in <tt>establish_connection</tt> specified a non-existent adapter
  #   (or a bad spelling of an existing one).
  # * +AssociationTypeMismatch+ -- the object assigned to the association wasn't of the type specified in the association definition.
  # * +SerializationTypeMismatch+ -- the serialized object wasn't of the class specified as the second parameter.
  # * +ConnectionNotEstablished+ -- no connection has been established. Use <tt>establish_connection</tt> before querying.
  # * +RecordNotFound+ -- no record responded to the find* method.
  #   Either the row with the given ID doesn't exist or the row didn't meet the additional restrictions.
  # * +StatementInvalid+ -- the database server rejected the SQL statement. The precise error is added in the  message.
  #   Either the record with the given ID doesn't exist or the record didn't meet the additional restrictions.
  # * +MultiparameterAssignmentErrors+ -- collection of errors that occurred during a mass assignment using the
  #   +attributes=+ method. The +errors+ property of this exception contains an array of +AttributeAssignmentError+
  #   objects that should be inspected to determine which attributes triggered the errors.
  # * +AttributeAssignmentError+ -- an error occurred while doing a mass assignment through the +attributes=+ method.
  #   You can inspect the +attribute+ property of the exception object to determine which attribute triggered the error.
  #
  # *Note*: The attributes listed are class-level attributes (accessible from both the class and instance level).
  # So it's possible to assign a logger to the class through Base.logger= which will then be used by all
  # instances in the current object space.
  class Base
    # Accepts a logger conforming to the interface of Log4r or the default Ruby 1.8+ Logger class, which is then passed
    # on to any new database connections made and which can be retrieved on both a class and instance level by calling +logger+.
    cattr_accessor :logger, :instance_writer => false

    def self.inherited(child) #:nodoc:
      @@subclasses[self] ||= []
      @@subclasses[self] << child
      super
    end

    def self.reset_subclasses #:nodoc:
      nonreloadables = []
      subclasses.each do |klass|
        unless Dependencies.autoloaded? klass
          nonreloadables << klass
          next
        end
        klass.instance_variables.each { |var| klass.send(:remove_instance_variable, var) }
        klass.instance_methods(false).each { |m| klass.send :undef_method, m }
      end
      @@subclasses = {}
      nonreloadables.each { |klass| (@@subclasses[klass.superclass] ||= []) << klass }
    end

    @@subclasses = {}

    cattr_accessor :configurations, :instance_writer => false
    @@configurations = {}

    # Accessor for the prefix type that will be prepended to every primary key column name. The options are :table_name and
    # :table_name_with_underscore. If the first is specified, the Product class will look for "productid" instead of "id" as
    # the primary column. If the latter is specified, the Product class will look for "product_id" instead of "id". Remember
    # that this is a global setting for all Active Records.
    cattr_accessor :primary_key_prefix_type, :instance_writer => false
    @@primary_key_prefix_type = nil

    # Accessor for the name of the prefix string to prepend to every table name. So if set to "basecamp_", all
    # table names will be named like "basecamp_projects", "basecamp_people", etc. This is a convenient way of creating a namespace
    # for tables in a shared database. By default, the prefix is the empty string.
    cattr_accessor :table_name_prefix, :instance_writer => false
    @@table_name_prefix = ""

    # Works like +table_name_prefix+, but appends instead of prepends (set to "_basecamp" gives "projects_basecamp",
    # "people_basecamp"). By default, the suffix is the empty string.
    cattr_accessor :table_name_suffix, :instance_writer => false
    @@table_name_suffix = ""

    # Indicates whether table names should be the pluralized versions of the corresponding class names.
    # If true, the default table name for a +Product+ class will be +products+. If false, it would just be +product+.
    # See table_name for the full rules on table/class naming. This is true, by default.
    cattr_accessor :pluralize_table_names, :instance_writer => false
    @@pluralize_table_names = true

    # Determines whether to use ANSI codes to colorize the logging statements committed by the connection adapter. These colors
    # make it much easier to overview things during debugging (when used through a reader like +tail+ and on a black background), but
    # may complicate matters if you use software like syslog. This is true, by default.
    cattr_accessor :colorize_logging, :instance_writer => false
    @@colorize_logging = true

    # Determines whether to use Time.local (using :local) or Time.utc (using :utc) when pulling dates and times from the database.
    # This is set to :local by default.
    cattr_accessor :default_timezone, :instance_writer => false
    @@default_timezone = :local

    # Determines whether to use a connection for each thread, or a single shared connection for all threads.
    # Defaults to false. Set to true if you're writing a threaded application.
    cattr_accessor :allow_concurrency, :instance_writer => false
    @@allow_concurrency = false

    # Specifies the format to use when dumping the database schema with Rails'
    # Rakefile.  If :sql, the schema is dumped as (potentially database-
    # specific) SQL statements.  If :ruby, the schema is dumped as an
    # ActiveRecord::Schema file which can be loaded into any database that
    # supports migrations.  Use :ruby if you want to have different database
    # adapters for, e.g., your development and test environments.
    cattr_accessor :schema_format , :instance_writer => false
    @@schema_format = :ruby
    
    class << self # Class methods
      # Find operates with four different retrieval approaches:
      #
      # * Find by id: This can either be a specific id (1), a list of ids (1, 5, 6), or an array of ids ([5, 6, 10]).
      #   If no record can be found for all of the listed ids, then RecordNotFound will be raised.
      # * Find first: This will return the first record matched by the options used. These options can either be specific
      #   conditions or merely an order. If no record can be matched, nil is returned.
      # * Find last: This will return the last record matched by the options used. These options can either be specific
      #   conditions or merely an order. If no record can be matched, nil is returned.
      # * Find all: This will return all the records matched by the options used. If no records are found, an empty array is returned.
      #
      # All approaches accept an options hash as their last parameter. The options are:
      #
      # * <tt>:conditions</tt>: An SQL fragment like "administrator = 1" or [ "user_name = ?", username ]. See conditions in the intro.
      # * <tt>:order</tt>: An SQL fragment like "created_at DESC, name".
      # * <tt>:group</tt>: An attribute name by which the result should be grouped. Uses the GROUP BY SQL-clause.
      # * <tt>:limit</tt>: An integer determining the limit on the number of rows that should be returned.
      # * <tt>:offset</tt>: An integer determining the offset from where the rows should be fetched. So at 5, it would skip rows 0 through 4.
      # * <tt>:joins</tt>: Either an SQL fragment for additional joins like "LEFT JOIN comments ON comments.post_id = id" (rarely needed)
      #   or named associations in the same form used for the :include option, which will perform an INNER JOIN on the associated table(s).
      #   If the value is a string, then the records will be returned read-only since they will have attributes that do not correspond to the table's columns.
      #   Pass :readonly => false to override.
      # * <tt>:include</tt>: Names associations that should be loaded alongside using LEFT OUTER JOINs. The symbols named refer
      #   to already defined associations. See eager loading under Associations.
      # * <tt>:select</tt>: By default, this is * as in SELECT * FROM, but can be changed if you, for example, want to do a join but not
      #   include the joined columns.
      # * <tt>:from</tt>: By default, this is the table name of the class, but can be changed to an alternate table name (or even the name
      #   of a database view).
      # * <tt>:readonly</tt>: Mark the returned records read-only so they cannot be saved or updated.
      # * <tt>:lock</tt>: An SQL fragment like "FOR UPDATE" or "LOCK IN SHARE MODE".
      #   :lock => true gives connection's default exclusive lock, usually "FOR UPDATE".
      #
      # Examples for find by id:
      #   Person.find(1)       # returns the object for ID = 1
      #   Person.find(1, 2, 6) # returns an array for objects with IDs in (1, 2, 6)
      #   Person.find([7, 17]) # returns an array for objects with IDs in (7, 17)
      #   Person.find([1])     # returns an array for the object with ID = 1
      #   Person.find(1, :conditions => "administrator = 1", :order => "created_on DESC")
      #
      # Note that returned records may not be in the same order as the ids you
      # provide since database rows are unordered. Give an explicit :order
      # to ensure the results are sorted.
      #
      # Examples for find first:
      #   Person.find(:first) # returns the first object fetched by SELECT * FROM people
      #   Person.find(:first, :conditions => [ "user_name = ?", user_name])
      #   Person.find(:first, :order => "created_on DESC", :offset => 5)
      #
      # Examples for find last:
      #   Person.find(:last) # returns the last object fetched by SELECT * FROM people
      #   Person.find(:last, :conditions => [ "user_name = ?", user_name])
      #   Person.find(:last, :order => "created_on DESC", :offset => 5)
      #
      # Examples for find all:
      #   Person.find(:all) # returns an array of objects for all the rows fetched by SELECT * FROM people
      #   Person.find(:all, :conditions => [ "category IN (?)", categories], :limit => 50)
      #   Person.find(:all, :conditions => { :friends => ["Bob", "Steve", "Fred"] }
      #   Person.find(:all, :offset => 10, :limit => 10)
      #   Person.find(:all, :include => [ :account, :friends ])
      #   Person.find(:all, :group => "category")
      #
      # Example for find with a lock. Imagine two concurrent transactions:
      # each will read person.visits == 2, add 1 to it, and save, resulting
      # in two saves of person.visits = 3.  By locking the row, the second
      # transaction has to wait until the first is finished; we get the
      # expected person.visits == 4.
      #   Person.transaction do
      #     person = Person.find(1, :lock => true)
      #     person.visits += 1
      #     person.save!
      #   end
      def find(*args)
        options = args.extract_options!
        validate_find_options(options)
        set_readonly_option!(options)

        case args.first
          when :first then find_initial(options)
          when :last  then find_last(options)
          when :all   then find_every(options)
          else             find_from_ids(args, options)
        end
      end
      
      # This is an alias for find(:first).  You can pass in all the same arguments to this method as you can
      # to find(:first)
      def first(*args)
        find(:first, *args)
      end

      # This is an alias for find(:last).  You can pass in all the same arguments to this method as you can
      # to find(:last)
      def last(*args)
        find(:last, *args)
      end
      
      #
      # Executes a custom sql query against your database and returns all the results.  The results will
      # be returned as an array with columns requested encapsulated as attributes of the model you call
      # this method from.  If you call +Product.find_by_sql+ then the results will be returned in a Product
      # object with the attributes you specified in the SQL query.
      #
      # If you call a complicated SQL query which spans multiple tables the columns specified by the
      # SELECT will be attributes of the model, whether or not they are columns of the corresponding
      # table.
      #
      # The +sql+ parameter is a full sql query as a string.  It will be called as is, there will be
      # no database agnostic conversions performed.  This should be a last resort because using, for example,
      # MySQL specific terms will lock you to using that particular database engine or require you to
      # change your call if you switch engines
      #
      # ==== Examples
      #   # A simple sql query spanning multiple tables
      #   Post.find_by_sql "SELECT p.title, c.author FROM posts p, comments c WHERE p.id = c.post_id"
      #   > [#<Post:0x36bff9c @attributes={"title"=>"Ruby Meetup", "first_name"=>"Quentin"}>, ...]
      #
      #   # You can use the same string replacement techniques as you can with ActiveRecord#find
      #   Post.find_by_sql ["SELECT title FROM posts WHERE author = ? AND created > ?", author_id, start_date]
      #   > [#<Post:0x36bff9c @attributes={"first_name"=>"The Cheap Man Buys Twice"}>, ...]
      def find_by_sql(sql)
        connection.select_all(sanitize_sql(sql), "#{name} Load").collect! { |record| instantiate(record) }
      end

      # Checks whether a record exists in the database that matches conditions given.  These conditions
      # can either be a single integer representing a primary key id to be found, or a condition to be
      # matched like using ActiveRecord#find.
      #
      # The +id_or_conditions+ parameter can be an Integer or a String if you want to search the primary key
      # column of the table for a matching id, or if you're looking to match against a condition you can use
      # an Array or a Hash.
      #
      # Possible gotcha: You can't pass in a condition as a string e.g. "name = 'Jamie'", this would be
      # sanitized and then queried against the primary key column as "id = 'name = \'Jamie"
      #
      # ==== Examples
      #   Person.exists?(5)
      #   Person.exists?('5')
      #   Person.exists?(:name => "David")
      #   Person.exists?(['name LIKE ?', "%#{query}%"])
      def exists?(id_or_conditions)
        connection.select_all(
          construct_finder_sql(
            :select     => "#{quoted_table_name}.#{primary_key}", 
            :conditions => expand_id_conditions(id_or_conditions), 
            :limit      => 1
          ), 
          "#{name} Exists"
        ).size > 0
      end

      # Creates an object (or multiple objects) and saves it to the database, if validations pass.
      # The resulting object is returned whether the object was saved successfully to the database or not.
      #
      # The +attributes+ parameter can be either be a Hash or an Array of Hashes.  These Hashes describe the
      # attributes on the objects that are to be created.
      #
      # ==== Examples
      #   # Create a single new object
      #   User.create(:first_name => 'Jamie')
      #   # Create an Array of new objects
      #   User.create([{:first_name => 'Jamie'}, {:first_name => 'Jeremy'}])
      def create(attributes = nil)
        if attributes.is_a?(Array)
          attributes.collect { |attr| create(attr) }
        else
          object = new(attributes)
          object.save
          object
        end
      end

      # Updates an object (or multiple objects) and saves it to the database, if validations pass.
      # The resulting object is returned whether the object was saved successfully to the database or not.
      #
      # ==== Options
      #
      # +id+          This should be the id or an array of ids to be updated
      # +attributes+  This should be a Hash of attributes to be set on the object, or an array of Hashes.
      #
      # ==== Examples
      #
      #   # Updating one record:
      #   Person.update(15, {:user_name => 'Samuel', :group => 'expert'})
      #
      #   # Updating multiple records:
      #   people = { 1 => { "first_name" => "David" }, 2 => { "first_name" => "Jeremy"} }
      #   Person.update(people.keys, people.values)
      def update(id, attributes)
        if id.is_a?(Array)
          idx = -1
          id.collect { |one_id| idx += 1; update(one_id, attributes[idx]) }
        else
          object = find(id)
          object.update_attributes(attributes)
          object
        end
      end

      # Delete an object (or multiple objects) where the +id+ given matches the primary_key.  A SQL +DELETE+ command
      # is executed on the database which means that no callbacks are fired off running this.  This is an efficient method
      # of deleting records that don't need cleaning up after or other actions to be taken.
      #
      # Objects are _not_ instantiated with this method.
      #
      # ==== Options
      #
      # +id+  Can be either an Integer or an Array of Integers
      #
      # ==== Examples
      #
      #   # Delete a single object
      #   Todo.delete(1)
      #
      #   # Delete multiple objects
      #   todos = [1,2,3]
      #   Todo.delete(todos)
      def delete(id)
        delete_all([ "#{connection.quote_column_name(primary_key)} IN (?)", id ])
      end

      # Destroy an object (or multiple objects) that has the given id, the object is instantiated first,
      # therefore all callbacks and filters are fired off before the object is deleted.  This method is
      # less efficient than ActiveRecord#delete but allows cleanup methods and other actions to be run.
      #
      # This essentially finds the object (or multiple objects) with the given id, creates a new object
      # from the attributes, and then calls destroy on it.
      #
      # ==== Options
      #
      # +id+  Can be either an Integer or an Array of Integers
      #
      # ==== Examples
      #
      #   # Destroy a single object
      #   Todo.destroy(1)
      #
      #   # Destroy multiple objects
      #   todos = [1,2,3]
      #   Todo.destroy(todos)
      def destroy(id)
        if id.is_a?(Array)
          id.map { |one_id| destroy(one_id) }
        else
          find(id).destroy
        end
      end

      # Updates all records with details given if they match a set of conditions supplied, limits and order can
      # also be supplied.
      #
      # ==== Options
      #
      # +updates+     A String of column and value pairs that will be set on any records that match conditions
      # +conditions+  An SQL fragment like "administrator = 1" or [ "user_name = ?", username ].
      #               See conditions in the intro for more info.
      # +options+     Additional options are :limit and/or :order, see the examples for usage.
      #
      # ==== Examples
      #
      #   # Update all billing objects with the 3 different attributes given
      #   Billing.update_all( "category = 'authorized', approved = 1, author = 'David'" )
      #
      #   # Update records that match our conditions
    &nbs