Module: ActiveRecord::AttributeMethods::Serialization::ClassMethods

Relationships & Source Files
Defined in:	activerecord/lib/active_record/attribute_methods/serialization.rb

Instance Method Summary

#serialize(attr_name, class_name_or_coder = Object)

If you have an attribute that needs to be saved to the database as an object, and retrieved as the same object, then specify the name of that attribute using this method and it will be handled automatically.
#serialized_attributes

Instance Method Details

#serialize(attr_name, class_name_or_coder = Object)

If you have an attribute that needs to be saved to the database as an object, and retrieved as the same object, then specify the name of that attribute using this method and it will be handled automatically. The serialization is done through YAML. If class_name is specified, the serialized object must be of that class on assignment and retrieval. Otherwise ::ActiveRecord::SerializationTypeMismatch will be raised.

Parameters

attr_name - The field name that should be serialized.
class_name_or_coder - Optional, a coder object, which responds to .load / .dump or a class name that the object type should be equal to.

Example

# Serialize a preferences attribute.
class User < ActiveRecord::Base
  serialize :preferences
end

# Serialize preferences using JSON as coder.
class User < ActiveRecord::Base
  serialize :preferences, JSON
end

# Serialize preferences as Hash using YAML coder.
class User < ActiveRecord::Base
  serialize :preferences, Hash
end

[ GitHub ]

# File 'activerecord/lib/active_record/attribute_methods/serialization.rb', line 38


def serialize(attr_name, class_name_or_coder = Object)
  # When ::JSON is used, force it to go through the Active Support JSON encoder
  # to ensure special objects (e.g. Active Record models) are dumped correctly
  # using the #as_json hook.
  coder = if class_name_or_coder == ::JSON
            Coders::JSON
          elsif [:load, :dump].all? { |x| class_name_or_coder.respond_to?(x) }
            class_name_or_coder
          else
            Coders::YAMLColumn.new(class_name_or_coder)
          end

  decorate_attribute_type(attr_name, :serialize) do |type|
    Type::Serialized.new(type, coder)
  end
end

#serialized_attributes

[ GitHub ]

# File 'activerecord/lib/active_record/attribute_methods/serialization.rb', line 55


def serialized_attributes
  ActiveSupport::Deprecation.warn(<<-MSG.squish)
    `serialized_attributes` is deprecated without replacement, and will
    be removed in Rails 5.0.
  MSG

  @serialized_attributes ||= Hash[
    columns.select { |t| t.cast_type.is_a?(Type::Serialized) }.map { |c|
      [c.name, c.cast_type.coder]
    }
  ]
end