AR association accessor with string acceptance

AR association accessor with string acceptance

# Host is a simple two row model: id, name
# I think the check whether a host with the given
# name exists, should go right there.
# Still it accepts normal host objects.
# A big advantage over Host.find_or_create is,
# that I can use "host" as a normal text field in
# my forms and it's all done automatically.
class MyModel < ActiveRecord::Base
  belongs_to :host

  def host_with_string_acceptance=(obj)
    if obj.is_a?(String)
      obj = Host.find_by_name(obj) || Host.create({:name => obj})
    end
    self.host_without_string_acceptance = obj
  end
  alias_method_chain :host=, :string_acceptance
end