# serialized_attributes

**Repository Path**: mirrors_github/serialized_attributes

## Basic Information

- **Project Name**: serialized_attributes
- **Description**: UNMAINTAINED - kind of a bridge between using AR and a full blown schema-free db
- **Primary Language**: Unknown
- **License**: MIT
- **Default Branch**: master
- **Homepage**: None
- **GVP Project**: No

## Statistics

- **Stars**: 0
- **Forks**: 0
- **Created**: 2020-08-08
- **Last Updated**: 2026-02-21

## Categories & Tags

**Categories**: Uncategorized

**Tags**: None

## README

# UNMAINTAINED

This repo is no longer being maintained as of 2015-08-25.

---

# SerializedAttributes

SerializedAttributes allows you to add an encoded hash to an ActiveRecord model.  
This is similar to the built-in ActiveRecord serialization, except that the field 
is converted to JSON, gzipped, and stored in a BLOB field.  This uses the json
gem which is much faster than YAML serialization.  However, JSON is not nearly as
flexible, so you're stuck with strings/integers/dates/etc.

Where possible, ActiveRecord compatible methods are generated so that a migration 
should be pretty simple.  See unit tests for examples.

Some of the code and most of the ideas are taken from [Heresy][Heresy], a ruby
implementation of [how FriendFeed uses MySQL for schema-free storage][schemafree].

Supports ActiveRecord 2.2 in ruby 1.8.7, and ActiveRecord 2.3-3.1 in ruby 1.9.3.
See [Travis CI][travis] to see if we support your version of
ActiveRecord and ruby.

[Heresy]: https://github.com/kabuki/heresy
[schemafree]: http://bret.appspot.com/entry/how-friendfeed-uses-mysql
[travis]: http://travis-ci.org/#!/technoweenie/serialized_attributes

## Setup

Install the plugin into your Rails app.

## Usage

```ruby
class Profile < ActiveRecord::Base
  # assumes #data serializes to raw_data blob field
  serialize_attributes do
    string  :title, :description
    integer :age
    float   :rank, :percentage
    time    :birthday
  end

  # Serializes #data to assumed raw_data blob field
  serialize_attributes :data do
    string  :title, :description
    integer :age
    float   :rank, :percentage
    time    :birthday
  end

  # set the blob field
  serialize_attributes :data, :blob => :serialized_field do
    string  :title, :description
    integer :age
    float   :rank, :percentage
    time    :birthday
  end
end
```