module ActiveRecord
module AttributeMethods
module Serialization
extend ActiveSupport::Concern
module ClassMethods
# 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 <tt>SerializationTypeMismatch</tt> will be raised.
#
# Empty objects as +{}+, in the case of +Hash+, or +[]+, in the case of
# +Array+, will always be persisted as null.
#
# Keep in mind that database adapters handle certain serialization tasks
# for you. For instance: +json+ and +jsonb+ types in PostgreSQL will be
# converted between JSON object/array syntax and Ruby +Hash+ or +Array+
# objects transparently. There is no need to use +serialize+ in this
# case.
#
# For more complex cases, such as conversion to or from your application
# domain objects, consider using the ActiveRecord::Attributes API.
#
# ==== 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
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
end
end
end
end