Question

Is there a way to validate the uniqueness of two or more fields in the same model? For example lets say that I have fields :name and :zip. An acceptable set would be {[name1, zip1], [name1, zip2]}but you can’t have {[name1,zip1],[name1,zip1]} in the same table.

Is there a rails validates method that can be used?

Answer 1

You should use scope:

  validates_uniqueness_of :name, :scope => [:zip]

See documentation and guide for more information.

You can use :scope option to specify other attributes that are used to limit the uniqueness check.