rails override default getter for a relationship (belongs_to)

Question

alias_method is your friend here.

alias_method :original_bar, :bar
def bar
  self.original_bar || Bar.last
end

The way this works is that you alias the default "bar" method as "original bar" and then implement your own version of "bar". If the call to original_bar returns nil then you return the last Bar instance instead.

i found that using "super" is the best way

def bar
  super || Bar.last
end

I hope this helps you :D

Randy's answer is spot on, but there's an easier way to write it, using alias_method_chain:

def bar_with_default_find
  self.bar_without_default_find || Bar.last
end
alias_method_chain :bar, :default_find

That creates two methods - bar_with_default_find and bar_without_default_find and aliases bar to the with method. That way you can explicitly call one or the other, or just leave the defaults as is.