Failing calls to has_bit_field should raise an exception unless explicitly configured otherwise.

lib/has-bit-field.rb

@@ -1,17 +1,32 @@
 module HasBitField
+
+  def self.silently_fail=(val)
+    @silently_fail = val
+  end
+
+  def self.silently_fail?
+    @silently_fail || false
+  end
+
   # The first arguement +bit_field_attribute+ should be a symbol,
   # the name of attribute that will hold the actual bit field
   # all following arguments should also be symbols,
   # which will be the name of each flag in the bit field
   def has_bit_field(bit_field_attribute, *args)
     unless table_exists?
+      msg = "[has_bit_field] table undefined #{table_name}"
+      raise ArgumentError.new(msg) unless HasBitField.silently_fail?
       Rails.logger.error("[has_bit_field] table undefined #{table_name}") if defined?(Rails) && Rails.respond_to?(:logger)
       return
     end
+
     if columns_hash[bit_field_attribute.to_s].blank?
-      Rails.logger.error("[has_bit_field] column undefined #{bit_field_attribute}") if defined?(Rails) && Rails.respond_to?(:logger)
+      msg = "[has_bit_field] column undefined #{bit_field_attribute} (in #{table_name})"
+      raise ArgumentError.new(msg) unless HasBitField.silently_fail?
+      Rails.logger.error(msg) if defined?(Rails) && Rails.respond_to?(:logger)
       return
     end
+
     args.each_with_index do |field,i|
       class_eval %{
         class << self

test/has-bit-field_test.rb

@@ -34,6 +34,9 @@ class Skill < ActiveRecord::Base
 end
 
 class HasBitFieldTest < Test::Unit::TestCase
+  def setup
+    HasBitField.silently_fail = false
+  end
 
   def test_bit_field
     p = Person.new
@@ -206,12 +209,20 @@ def test_ar_validations_with_default
     assert s.save
   end
 
-  def test_environment_will_not_die_on_undefined_fields
+  def test_environment_will_not_die_on_undefined_fields_with_silently_fail_set
+    HasBitField.silently_fail = true
     assert_nothing_raised do
       Person.class_eval do
         has_bit_field :not_a_happy_field, :if_only_it_existed, :but_its_not_in_the_db, :we_had_hoped_for_it_but_its_not_there, :silence
       end
     end
   end
 
+  def test_environment_will_die_on_undefined_fields_with_silently_fail_unset
+    assert_raise(ArgumentError) do
+      Person.class_eval do
+        has_bit_field :not_a_happy_field, :if_only_it_existed, :but_its_not_in_the_db, :we_had_hoped_for_it_but_its_not_there, :silence
+      end
+    end
+  end
 end