<p>I have some constants that represent the valid options in one of my model's fields. What's the best way to handle these constants in Ruby?</p>

I put them directly in the model class, like so:
```
```
class MyClass < ActiveRecord::Base
  ACTIVE_STATUS = "active"
  INACTIVE_STATUS = "inactive"
  PENDING_STATUS = "pending"
end
```
```
Then, when using the model from another class, I reference the constants
```
```
@model.status = MyClass::ACTIVE_STATUS
@model.save
```
```