find() and SQL functions

rubyonrails-talk
1

Hi,

I have a complex SQL request to perform. I don't want to manually do the whole query (find_by_sql) because of the complex joins, but I want to use MySQL functions, such as:

Model.find(:all,            :include => [../..],            :conditions => ["(../..) AND YEAR(STR_TO_DATE(my_table.my_row,'%Y-%m-%d %H:%i:%s')) = #{year})"],            :select => [../..])

or

Model.find(:all,            :include => [../..],            :conditions => ["(../..) AND YEAR(STR_TO_DATE(my_table.my_row,GET_FORMAT(DATETIME,'ISO'))) = #{year})"],            :select => [../..])

Is there a way to combine the power of AR and SQL functions?

In the example above, I could use Ruby Time Class but what can I do if I want to use more specific SQL syntax (UNION, ...). I guess I have to make the joins by hand with find_by_sql?