If you're working with SQLAlchemy, the best database driver for Python, and want to see only SQL syntax errors, you need to use the StatementError exception class. On it, is an attribute `orig`, that contains just the SQL syntax error... and not any data...

Take advantage of the named_scope method in your models and make find queries simple and beautiful! #app/models/comment.rb class Comment < ActiveRecord::Base belongs_to :post named_scope :pending, :conditions => ["pending = ?", true] named_scope :...

Versioning models with the acts_as_versioned plugin cd rails/app ./script/plugin install git://github.com/technoweenie/acts_as_versioned.git ./script/generate model post title:string body:text In your model class Post < ActiveRecord::Base acts_as_ve...

The module and class below demonstrate how to use instance methods and class methods from "module mixins". The thing to remember is scope. For instance, to use class methods within instance methods you need to call them from the class itself. This is acco...

Oh what trouble Rails 2.2 and MySQL (on Mac OS X) can be. Rails, as of version >= 2.2, no longer comes bundled with the MySQL adapter. This means you'll need to install it yourself, but it appears that the gem for installing it is also broken. This will ...