def set_engine(cls, neweng):
        ''' Sets the given coralillo engine so the model uses it to communicate
        with the redis database '''
        assert isinstance(neweng, Engine), 'Provided object must be of class Engine'

        if hasattr(cls, 'Meta'):
            cls.Meta.engine = neweng
        else:
            class Meta:
                engine = neweng

            cls.Meta = Meta