is it necessary to use db:migrate for working

Question

Is it necessary to use db:migrate?

I have existing database, i want to write ROR classes for this and synchronize with DB.

How can I do this?

Answer 1

You do not. Your class name just has to match the table name. However, I would warn you that working with Active Record (the rails orm by default) against an existing db that doesn't have the ar conventions is going to be a huge pain. I would recommend checking out datamapper, and using rails 3 (since alternative orms in rails 3 is way easier)