dynamically defining STI + fixing Rails STI routing problem

a-m-opiton.rb

class Option < ActiveRecord::Base

  def self.sti_class_names
    %w[Alert Foo Bar]
  end

  #define STIs
  sti_class_names.each do |class_name|
    new_class = Class.new(Option) do
      def self.model_name
        Option.model_name
      end
    end
    eval "#{class_name} = new_class"
  end
end

# you will end up with 
# Option
# Option::Alert
# Option::Foo
# Option::Bar
# 
# child classes will have model name set to "Option"
# this will fix Rails routing problem described here 
#   http://stackoverflow.com/questions/4507149/best-practices-to-handle-routes-for-sti-subclasses-in-rails 
# ..only disadvantage is that this affects I18n

related links: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/4507149/best-practices-to-handle-routes-for-sti-subclasses-in-rails ryanb/cancan#368