Best way to load module/class from lib folder in Rails 3?

Question

Since the latest Rails 3 release is not auto-loading modules and classes from lib anymore, what would be the best way to load them?

From github:

A few changes were done in this commit:

Do not autoload code in *lib* for applications (now you need to explicitly 
require them). This makes an application behave closer to an engine 
(code in lib is still autoloaded for plugins);

Answer 1

You have a setting in application.rb in which you can specify dirs that contain files you want autoloaded.

From application.rb:

# Custom directories with classes and modules you want to be autoloadable.
# config.autoload_paths += %W(#{config.root}/extras)

Answer 2

If only certain files need access to the modules in lib, just add a require statement to the files that need it. For example, if one model needs to access one module, add:

require 'mymodule'

at the top of the model.rb file.

Answer 3

So what's the point in removing autoloading the lib directory when you have to add it to autoload_paths to be able to use "include ModuleName" then?

Answer 4

I had the same problem. Here is how I solved it. The solution loads the lib directory and all the subdirectories (not only the direct). Of course you can use this for all directories.

Hope this helps.

Answer 5

config.autoload_paths += Dir["#{config.root}/lib/**/"] # include all subdirectories

http://www.hemju.com/2010/09/22/rails-3-quicktip-autoload-lib-directory-including-all-subdirectories/comment-page-1/#comment-274