Describing how I use ActiveRecord models as Data Access objects.

ar_as_dao.rb

module Models::Storage
  class Artist < ActiveRecord::Base
     validates_presence_of :name   
  end
end

---

module Models
  class Artist
     def self.search(query)
       stored = storage.find_by_name(query)
       new(stored)
     end

     def self.allowed_attributes
       ['name']
     end 

     def initialize(stored)
       @stored = stored
     end
     
     def update(data)
      data = data.reject {|k, v| !self.class.allowed_attributes.include?(k.to_s) }
      return true if data.empty?
      @stored.update_attributes(data)
     end
  end
end