Question

I am using DataMapper to interface with MySql. Is there any check I can do with Datamapper to ensure that the database is up?

Answer 1

If you want to test whether you can actually do some work with your database, something like this could be helpful:

begin
  DataMapper.repository(:default).adapter.execute('SHOW TABLES;')
rescue
  puts "Problem!"
end

This will make sure that the server is up and that the database you chose is valid (that’s why something like SELECT 1 wouldn’t work).