The cleanest way of selecting a random record from an ActiveRecord table.

RandomRecord.rb

module ActiveRecord
  class Base
    def self.random(conditions = nil)
      c = count(:conditions=>conditions)
      unless c == 0
        first(:conditions=>conditions, :offset =>rand(c))
      end
    end
  end
end

So this is a snippet I use in script/console when playing around/testing. It extends ActiveRecord::Base which allows me to do Message.random.resend_notification et cetera. Use it in an initializer, or alternatively, I've written it into a plugin.

I prefer the way this works because it is very clean and efficient. Other solutions of getting a random record either require loading a list of all IDs in the table to choose from, or pick a random number, then check that a record of that ID exists in the table. Both seem silly to me.

Now you can add conditions