Serialist¶ ↑

Serialize anything. Why waste time migrating your table for yet another dumb attribute you won’t search on? Add one serialization field in your table, and let serialist do the rest : validate and mass_assign all your serialized stuff, transparently. Now in version 1.0.0, fully tested.

Before!¶ ↑

class Article < ActiveRecord::Base
  serialize :preferences
  # impossible...
  # validates_presence_of :key
end

>> a = Article.new
>> a.preferences = {}
>> a.preferences[:key] = "value"
>> a.preferences[:key]
=> "value"
>> Article.create({:preferences => {:key => "value"}})
=> #<Article id: ##, preferences: {:key=>"value"}>

After!¶ ↑

class Article < ActiveRecord::Base
  serialist :preferences, [:key, :other_key, :yet_another_key]
  validates_presence_of :key
end

>> a = Article.new
>> a.key = "value"
>> a.key
=> "value"
>> Article.create!
=> "key cannot be blank"
>> Article.create({:key => "value"})
=> #<Article id: ##, preferences: {:key=>"value"}>

Install the gem!¶ ↑

sudo gem install serialist

Try the demo!¶ ↑

rails -m http://github.com/bbenezech/serialist/raw/master/installation-template.txt serialist-example

Or simply generate a migration for your existing rails app!¶ ↑

./script/generate serialist SerialistMigration MyModel my_serialist_attribute

Ex :

./script/generate serialist SerialistMigration Article slug
rake db:migrate

Then hook Serialist into your ActiveRecord model :

serialist :my_serialist_attribute, [:foo, :bar]
# OR
serialist :my_serialist_attribute
# See below

# Add validation as you normally would :
validates_presence_of :bar
# etc.

Serialist comes in 2 flavors!¶ ↑

Declarative, use define_method as your model load.¶ ↑

class Article
  serialist :slug, [:foo, :bar]
  validates_presence_of :foo
end

Allows you to serialize only the desired keys. ex :

./script/console
>> Article.create!
=> 'foo cannot be blank'
>> a = Article.new
=> #<Article id: nil, title: nil, created_at: nil, updated_at: nil, slug: nil>
>> a.foo?
=> false
>> a.foo
=> nil
>> a.foo = "hello"
=> "hello"
>> a.foo?
=> true
>> a.taz = "hello"
=> NoMethodError: undefined method `taz=' ...
>> a
=> #<Article id: XX, title: nil, created_at: "..", updated_at: "..", slug: {:foo=>"hello"}>

Catch-all, use define_method lazily at access time (hooked in your model method_missing)¶ ↑

class Article
  serialist :slug
  validates_presence_of :foo
end

Allows you to serialize anything. ex :

./script/console
>> Article.create!
=> 'foo cannot be blank'
>> a = Article.new
=> #<Article id: nil, title: nil, created_at: nil, updated_at: nil, slug: nil>
>> a.foo
=> nil
>> a.foo?
=> false
>> a.foo = "hello"
=> "hello"
>> a.foo?("hello")
=> true
>> a.foo?
=> true
>> a.foo
=> "hello"
>> a.baz?
=> false
>> a.baz
=> nil
>> a
=> #<Article id: XX, title: nil, created_at: "..", updated_at: "..", slug: {:foo=>"hello"}>

But be aware…¶ ↑

# Don’t use method#2 with Serialist loaded before other ActiveRecord “automagicians” plugins

# And of course don’t serialize attributes you may want to search on, or index on, or use with any other database related stuff.

# run the tests with your version of ActiveRecord (tested with rails 2.3.4) (go to the unpacked gem and simply run ‘rake’, watch for errors. Send a bug report if any, specifying you ActiveRecord or rails version, thanks)

Copyright © 2009 Benoit Bénézech, released under the MIT license