An simple way to find an object by slug

slugable.rb

module Slugable
  module ClassMethods
    def find_by_slug(param)
      if to_return = where("lower(name) LIKE ?", "#{patternify(param)}")
        to_return.first
      else
        nil
      end
    end

    def patternify(param)
      words = param.split('-')
      pattern = ''
      words.each { |word| pattern << word.downcase + "_" }
      words.length == 1 ? "#{words[0].downcase}%" : "#{pattern[0..-2]}%"
    end
  end

  module InstanceMethods
    def to_param
      # in this case, we use the name as default field
      name.downcase.gsub(/[^0-9a-zA-Z]/i,'-')
    end
  end

  def self.included(base)
    base.send :include, InstanceMethods
    base.send :extend, ClassMethods
  end

end