Rails core - May 2010 - OT? Using Arel to generate table names in multiple self join query

Firstly I''m sorry if this is off-topic but I think it''s a
question
that won''t be answered without good core knowledge.

I have written a multiple self join query something like this:

Person.find :all,
  :select => ''children_people_3.*'',
  :joins => { :children => { :children => :children } },
  :conditions => {
    :people => { :name => ''tom'' },
    :children_people => { :name => ''dick'' },
    :children_people_2 => { :name => ''harry'' },
    :children_people_3 => { :name => ''charles'' }
  }

That''s fine insofar as it returns the desired result, but I am very
unhappy with the prospect of having to hardcode assumptions about what
the tables will be aliased with in the conditions and select (people,
children_people, children_people_2, etc.).

Is there some way I can write this making use of Arel so that the
table names in the conditions are not hardcoded, and so is robust to a
change in Arel''s naming algorithm?

Thanks.

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