wrapping an ActiveRecord instance in a subclass with more functionality. Given an instance you didn't create (aka current_user, User class), you can get a new instance who's class is the wrapping class. The primary reason to do this is for smaller objects in different parts of your system.

wrap.rb

# per sean cribb's suggestion some time ago

User.new.becomes(Super::User) # thanks Rails :)

# below not needed, for reference

User = Class.new(ActiveRecord::Base)

class Super::User < ::User
  def self.wrap(user)
    new.init_with 'attributes' => user.attributes, 'column_types' => user.class.column_types
  end
  
  def make_me_a_sandwich
    open('http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/sandwich.png')
  end
end
require 'open'

user = User.first
sudo = Super::User.wrap(user)

sudo.make_me_a_sandwich

I'm curious on thoughts about this pattern. Normally I feel like I would just cram the extra functions in module MakeMeASandwich but that doesn't feel right. The fact that I had to write a SuperUser.wrap method doesn't feel right either. Thoughts?