gistfile1.txt

module States
 
  STATES = %w(cancelled declined passive active approved pending flagged complete)
  attr_accessor :state # remove this if using an activerecord column
 
  STATES.each do |state|
    const_set(state.upcase, state)
    define_method(state+'?') do
      self.state == state
    end
  end 
end
 
irb(main):017:0> class A; include States; end
irb(main):018:0> a=A.new; a.state = States::CANCELLED
=> "cancelled"
irb(main):019:0> a.cancelled?
=> true
irb(main):020:0> a.declined?
=> false