Question

How can I limit the number of rows returned in a has many relationship? For example:

class User < ActiveRecord::Base
  has_many :photos
end

I want to be able to do:

User.includes(:photos => {:limit => 8}).all

This obviously doesnt work, but something with this functionality. Do I need to write out the SQL myself?

Thanks in advance!

EDIT:
I dont want to limit the association, just the query results. So a User might have a thousand photos, I only want the top 3 returned.

Answer 1

Just add a limit option to the has_many association:

class User < ActiveRecord::Base
  has_many :photos, :limit => 8
end

EDIT

According to your needs:

class User < ActiveRecord::Base
  has_many :all_photos, :class_name => "Photo"
  has_many :photos, :limit => 8
end

note: changed ‘class’ to ‘class_name’ in the all_photos association