Gady,
This is a perfect area where Ruby can work its magic. Here's an
example of what you could do:
class Element < ActiveRecord::Base has_many :variables
def (name) variables.find_by_name(name) end
def =(name,value) var = variables.find_or_create_by_name(name) var.value = value var.save end end
class Variable < ActiveRecord::Base belongs_to :element end
Now you will be able to do the following:
e = Element.create e["x"] = 800 e["y"] = 600 e["whatever"] = "anything"
e["x"] #-> "800" e["y"] #-> "600" e["whatever"] #-> "anything"
Isn't that fantastic? Note that this is assuming that your value field
is a TEXT which will return anything as a string. You could also store
a type and coerce the values, let me know if you want more detail.
Michael Bleigh michael@intridea.com
