A quick way to get all column/attribute names for a model: (normal columns are Strings, association-attributes are Symbols)

   1  # returns all columns/attributes for a model
   2  # column-names used for associations (foreign_keys) are replaces by their
   3  # association-names (as symbol).
   4  def get_column_names_for( record )
   5    # get all column-names, check for foreign_keys and replace them by association_name
   6    record.columns.collect(&:name).collect { |c|
   7        (a = check_association( record, c ) ).empty? ? c : a.collect(&:name)
   8    }.flatten.uniq + 
   9    # get all has_one/has_many/habtm association names
  10    record.reflect_on_all_associations.select { |a| a.macro.to_s =~/^has/ }.collect(&:name)
  11  
  12  end
  13    
  14    
  15  def check_association( record, string )
  16    # check if +string+ (like "artist_id") is a foreign_key for an association
  17    # if yes, return association.
  18    record.reflect_on_all_associations.select { |a| a.options[:foreign_key] ? 
  19      a.options[:foreign_key].to_sym == string.to_sym : 
  20      a.name.to_s.foreign_key.to_sym == string.to_sym }
  21  end

Useful if you want to build like an automatic scaffold function or ...