ruby - Rails find and replace instances of attribute after rename_column -

i've looked around , haven't found elegant solution this, figured i'd ask.

i in middle of refactoring couple database tables keep naming scheme continuous throughout application. process this:

create migration rename bunch of columns:

class renamesomeattributes < activerecord::migration   def change     rename_column :some_tables, :old_name, :new_name   end end 

save record of instances of :old_name before replace them in rest of code. (optional)

$ grep -r old_name app lib spec >> find-replace-history.txt 

find , replace string in models, views, controllers, javascripts, stylesheets, specs, rake tasks etc.

$ grep -rl old_name app lib spec | xargs sed -r 's/old_name/new_name/g' 

however, method useful when i'm working attribute names specific table adjusting. more general attribute names (:name, :description etc), forced manually edit files avoid replacing wrong table's attribute.

is there better tool should using me find every instance of attribute, , replace when attributes applies specific table? don't mind adjusting assets separately, because won't know table referring to. however, rails should able determine if given attribute pertains table adjusting in of ruby files.

i don't think there's such tool. have manually you're doing now. however, if old attribute name still in use somewhere, there's way prevent breaking code.

in sometable model, implement method_missing method

def method_missing(method, *arguments, &block)   if method.to_s == "old_name"     self.new_name   else     super   end end 

to understand how method_missing works, check out this article recommend should implement respond_to? method.

you might want add following method_missing method above (add after if statement).

rails.logger.debug caller.join("\n") 

this show code still references old attribute name. hope helps.