[ruby-on-rails] Rails: Default sort order for a rails model?

I would like to specify a default sort order in my model.

So that when I do a .where() without specifying an .order() it uses the default sort. But if I specify an .order(), it overrides the default.

You can use default_scope to implement a default sort order http://api.rubyonrails.org/classes/ActiveRecord/Scoping/Default/ClassMethods.html

A quick update to Michael's excellent answer above.

For Rails 4.0+ you need to put your sort in a block like this:

class Book < ActiveRecord::Base
  default_scope { order('created_at DESC') }
end

Notice that the order statement is placed in a block denoted by the curly braces.

They changed it because it was too easy to pass in something dynamic (like the current time). This removes the problem because the block is evaluated at runtime. If you don't use a block you'll get this error:

Support for calling #default_scope without a block is removed. For example instead of default_scope where(color: 'red'), please use default_scope { where(color: 'red') }. (Alternatively you can just redefine self.default_scope.)

As @Dan mentions in his comment below, you can do a more rubyish syntax like this:

class Book < ActiveRecord::Base
  default_scope { order(created_at: :desc) }
end

or with multiple columns:

class Book < ActiveRecord::Base
  default_scope { order({begin_date: :desc}, :name) }
end

Thanks @Dan!