---
title: real nice framework you got here
teaser: How configuration loading occurs in Rails.
tags: web,rails
author: Jared Carroll
published_on: 2007-08-16
---

Here's a good one I ran into in Rails the other day.

So the files under the `config/environments` directory are environment specific
config files.

`config/environment.rb` on the other hand is loaded and executed for every
environment.

What I wanted was a constant that was the same in the development and production
environments but different in the test environment.  So I naturally put the test
environment specific value in

In `config/environments/test.rb`:

```ruby
CSV_DIRECTORY = File.join RAILS_ROOT, 'test', 'csv'
```

And instead of putting the development and production specific value in their
specific config files I put it in:

In `config/environment.rb`:

```ruby
CSV_DIRECTORY = File.join RAILS_ROOT, 'lib', 'csv'
```

That way its only in one place.

Now when I run my tests or '`ruby script/console test`' I expect:

```ruby
CSV_DIRECTORY => '/path/to/my/app/test/csv'
```

But instead I get:

```ruby
CSV_DIRECTORY => '/path/to/my/app/lib/csv'
```

What's going on here?

You're telling me the generic environment config file gets executed after the
environment specific config file?

It turns out half of it does.  Everything above the following code gets executed
before the current environment's specific config file:

```ruby
Rails::Initializer.run do |config|
  # whole bunch of Rails config code
end
```

So if i defined my constant before that I'd be fine:

```ruby
CSV_DIRECTORY = File.join RAILS_ROOT, 'lib', 'csv'

Rails::Initializer.run do |config|
  # whole bunch of Rails config code
end
```

That's terrible.

I also like the fact that further down `config/environment.rb` after the call to
`Rails::Initializer#run` there's the following comment:

    # Include your application configuration below

I'm going to go use a [real man's framework](https://www.webtoolkit.eu/wt/)