How to remove validation using instance_eval clause in Rails?

Question

I would like to enhance existing class using instance_eval. There original definition contains validation, which require presence of certain fields, ie:

class Du         


        

Answer 1

Assuming the original implementation of Dummy is defined in an engine there is a nasty hack that will do what you want. Define Dummy in your application to keep the original implementation of Dummy from being auto-loaded. Then load the source to Dummy and remove the line that does the validation. Eval the modified source.

Put the following in your app/models/dummy.rb

class Dummy < ActiveRecord::Base
end

# Replace DummyPlugin with name of engine
engine = Rails::Application::Railties.engines.find { |e| e.class == DummyPlugin::Engine }
dummy_source = File.read File.join(engine.config.root, "app", "models", "dummy.rb")
dummy_source = dummy_source.gsub(/validates :field, :presence => true.*/, "")
eval dummy_source

If it is regular gem instead of an engine the same concept would apply, just would need to load the source for Dummy from the gem root instead of the engine root.