ActsAsBoolean

Treat time-y attributes like boolean attributes.

Ruby is expressive. Expressive is sexy. ActiveRecord time-y objects are time-y objects. Time-y objects are a nightmare, and therefore, not sexy.

We like sexy.

class Post < ApplicationRecord
  acts_as_boolean :published_at 
end 

class PostsController < ApplicationController
  def index
    @posts = Post.published 
  end
  
  def show
    @post = Post.find(params[:id])
    unless @post.published?
      raise ActiveRecord::RecordNotFound
    end
  end 
end  

Given Post#published_at:

Add this line to your application's Gemfile:

gem 'acts_as_boolean'

And then execute:

$ bundle

The great migration — you probably want an index here because we create a scope to the column:

rails g migration AddPublishedAtToPosts published_at:datetime:index

rake db:migrate

Then drop it in:

class Post < ApplicationRecord
  acts_as_boolean :published_at 
end

By default, ActsAsBoolean uses Time.current. Want to use DateTime.now? Great, just send in a proc.

In config/initializers/acts_as_boolean.rb:

ActsAsBoolean.timeish = -> { DateTime.now }

Want more control? Pass it in.

class Post < ApplicationRecord
  acts_as_boolean :published_at, time: -> { DateTime.now }
end 

By default, ActsAsBoolean assumes you want column_name.to_s.delete_suffix("_at"). Given you have published_pie as your column name (which, of course, you do, because you love pie)...

class Post < ApplicationRecord
  acts_as_boolean :published_pie, as: :published
end 

Want to control this globally?

In config/initializers/acts_as_boolean.rb:

ActsAsBoolean.normalize_column = -> (str) { str.gsub("_at", "") }

Yes.

The gem is available as open source under the terms of the MIT License.