cleanup.rb

class ActiveRecord::Base
  before_validation :strip_whitespace_from_attributes!, :stringify_content_attributes!
  
  private

    # Will strip trailing and leading whitespace from all attributes and convert
    # empty strings to nil.
    def strip_whitespace_from_attributes!
      for col in self.class.content_columns.collect{|c| c.name.to_sym}
        if !self[col].nil? && self[col].respond_to?(:strip)
          s = self[col].strip.gsub(/\r\n?/, "\n")
          s.size == 0 ? self[col] = nil : self[col] = s
        end
      end
    end

    # Will convert symbols to strings
    def stringify_content_attributes!
      for col in self.class.content_columns.collect{|c| c.name.to_sym}
        self[col] = self[col].to_s if self[col].is_a?(Symbol)
      end
    end
end