module ActiveRecord::AttributeMethods::Serialization::ClassMethods

Public Instance Methods

serialize(attr_name, class_name_or_coder = Object) Show source

# 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

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 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

serialized_attributes() Show source

# File activerecord/lib/active_record/attribute_methods/serialization.rb, line 55
        def serialized_attributes
          ActiveSupport::Deprecation.warn("            `serialized_attributes` is deprecated without replacement, and will
            be removed in Rails 5.0.
".squish)

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