Jim Lindley Notes

Just added to edge Rails is an update that makes fixtures worth using again. Instead of manually specifying the keys of associated fixtures or created/modified times, like this:

# in users.yaml

  jdoe:
    id: 1
    name: John Doe
    created_at: <%= Time.now %>
    modified_at: <%= Time.now %>

# in photos.yaml

  sunset_photo:
    id: 42
    title: Photo of a Sunset
    user_id: 1
    created_at: <%= Time.now %>
    modified_at: <%= Time.now %>

You can just give the name of the associated fixture and Rails will figure out keys for you:

# in users.yaml

  jdoe:
    name: John Doe

# in photos.yaml

  sunset_photo:
    title: Photo of a Sunset
    user: jdoe # user not user_id

For has_and_belongs_to_many assocations, you can specify the relations with a comma separted list of references to the associated fixtures:

# in tags.yaml

  red:
    name: Red
    items: fire_hydrant, rover

Changeset #8036, RDoc