gistfile1.rb

  def associations_attributes
    # Get a list of symbols of the association names in this class
    association_names = self.class.reflect_on_all_associations.collect { |r| r.name }
    # Fetch myself again, but include all associations
    me = self.class.find self.id, :include => association_names

    # Collect an array of pairs, which we can use to build the hash we want
    pairs = association_names.collect do |association_name|

      # Get the association object(s)
      object_or_array = me.send(association_name)
      if(object_or_array.present?)
        # Build the single pair for this association
        if object_or_array.present? && object_or_array.to_a.respond_to?(:each)
          # If this is a has_many or the like, use the same array-of-pairs trick
          # to build a hash of "id => attributes"
          association_pairs = object_or_array.collect { |o| [o.id, o.attributes] }
          [association_name, Hash[*association_pairs.flatten(1)]]
        elsif(object_or_array.present?)
          # has_one, belongs_to, etc.
          [association_name, object_or_array.attributes]
        end
      else
        [association_name, nil]
      end
    end
    # Build the final hash
    Hash[*pairs.flatten(1)]
  end