SerializeWith

SerializeWith is a small add-on to ActiveRecord and Mongoid which allows for storing serialization options within model classes.

Add this line to your application's Gemfile:

gem "serialize_with"

And then execute:

$ bundle

Or install it yourself as:

$ gem install serialize_with

SerializeWith works with the normal serialization options that can be passed to as_json, to_json, to_xml, or serializable_hash.

class Order < ActiveRecord::Base
  serialize_with include: [:customer, :shipment], except: :auth_token
end

Supported options are:

• include
• methods
• only
• except

Now you can execute any serialization method and the serialize_with options will be applied.

order = Order.first(customer_id: 1, shipment_id: 2, auth_token: "12345")
order.as_json #=> { customer: {...}, shipment: {...} }

When you need to apply different serialization rules depending on a context you can name the serialization options and apply them conditionally.

class Order < ActiveRecord::Base
  serialize_with include: [:customer, :shipment], except: :auth_token
  serialize_with :public, include: [:shipment], only: [:ship_date, :delivery_date]
end

order = Order.first
order.to_json(:public)

You can still use locally applied configuration in addition to the configuration specified in the model.

class Order < ActiveRecord::Base
  serialize_with include: [:customer, :shipment], except: :auth_token
end

order = Order.first
order.as_json(include: [:product], methods: :order_total)

In the case of include and methods options, local configuration will be merged with global configuration. In the above example customer, shipment, and product associations will be included.

Locally applied only or except options will override the global options.

The SerializeWith library requires no additional setup to work with ActiveRecord. Just include the gem and call serialize_with from within any model class.

To use SerializeWith in Mongoid models you'll need to include the Mongoid::SerializeWith module.

class Order
  include Mongoid::Document
  include Mongoid::SerializeWith
  field :ship_date, type: Date
  embeds_many :order_items
  belongs_to :customer
  serialize_with include: :customer
end

1. Fork it
2. Create your feature branch (git checkout -b my-new-feature)
3. Commit your changes (git commit -am 'Add some feature')
4. Push to the branch (git push origin my-new-feature)
5. Create new Pull Request

SerializeWith was made by @thegrubbsian and @koriroys at DevMynd.