This gem adds support to ActiveRecord for connecting to a database by specifying a URL rather than a hash of parameters. Many ruby adapters have opted for this format (DataMapper, Sequel, MongoDB, etc.) in addition to numerous alternatives in other languages. So why should AR be missing out on all the fun?
The other notable benefit is that you can continue to use
config/database.yml in development, while setting an ENV variable
of DATABASE_URL on your production server to specify the connection
settings. No more risk of committing sensitive database credentials into
version control, or having to worry about Capistrano moving the relevant
production file into place on deploy.
The URL takes the form of:
<adapter>://<user>:<password>@<hostname>:<port>/<database>?<options>
Where options is a query string of key value pairs. For example:
mysql://app:s3crets@127.0.0.1:5123/nyancat_production?encoding=utf8
Only adapter, hostname, and database are required. Everything else
is optional, so to connect using local user permissions in postgres just do:
postgres://localhost/nyancat_production
Either in your Gemfile:
gem "activerecord_url_connections"
Or install it directly onto your system with rubygems:
gem install activerecord_url_connections
Then require in your app:
require "activerecord_url_connections"
ActiveRecord URL Connections is MIT Licensed
Copyright (C) 2011 by Glenn Gillen
Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:
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