Hi --
Hello,
For a number of my models I have many constant key value pairs (sometimes dozens). I have considered putting them in the model but it ends up creating a very cluttered model file. Is there an approvaed approach to having an external data file that is associated with a model? Should I use a yaml file of the same name? xml? csv? Recommendations are appreciated.
How about Ruby? 
Just define some constants and pull them in at
runtime. You can put things in lib/ and then require them from your
model file(s), or from the bottom of environment.rb. For example, you
could create a file called extra_data.rb:
module ExtraData COLORS = %w{ red orange yellow } end
Then in your model file:
require 'extra_data' # now you have access to ExtraData::COLORS.
David