# How do you save the contents of an object? **URL:** \ **Category:** Ruby\ **Created:** [October 24, 2006, 2:17am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/how-do-you-save-the-contents-of-an-object/73354 "2006-10-24T02:17:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![steveeq1](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/s/e480ec/32.png) [@steveeq1](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/steveeq1)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2006, 2:17am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/how-do-you-save-the-contents-of-an-object/73354/1 "2006-10-24T02:17:14Z")
Is there an easy way to save the contents of an object in ruby? This is hard to google, so I am posting it up. I just need a general idea (if anyoen has it), you don’t have to spell it out for me. ---
**Author:** ![steveeq1](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/s/e480ec/32.png) [@steveeq1](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/steveeq1)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2006, 2:25am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/how-do-you-save-the-contents-of-an-object/73354/2 "2006-10-24T02:25:43Z")
Yes, it’s called Marshaling. # Create a trivial object a = “Object to save” # Save it to stored\_object stored\_object = Marshal.dump(a) # Destroy “a” a = nil # Restore the object a = Marshal.load(stored\_object) You can read more about it here: [http://ruby-doc.org/core/classes/Marshal.html](http://ruby-doc.org/core/classes/Marshal.html) Ruby makes it a breeze to implement. You can also use YAML to save your Marshaled object data via YAML’s dump and load methods. See more about that here: [http://ruby-doc.org/core/classes/YAML.html](http://ruby-doc.org/core/classes/YAML.html) Hope this helps! On 10/23/06, Steve Q. [removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid](mailto:removed_email_address@domain.invalid) wrote: > Is there an easy way to save the contents of an object in ruby? > > This is hard to google, so I am posting it up. I just need a general > idea (if anyoen has it), you don’t have to spell it out for me. > > – > Posted via [http://www.ruby-forum.com/](http://www.ruby-forum.com/). – Robert W. Oliver II President, OCS Solutions, Inc. - Web Hosting and Development > **[OCS Solutions Since 1997 Providing Reliable Quality Web Services](https://www.ocssolutions.com/)** > > OCS Solutions since 1997 provides quality and affordable managed web hosting, server admin, development and more. Contact us for the best reliable services! Toll-Free Phone - 1-800-672-8415 OCS Ruby Forums - [http://www.rubyforums.com/](http://www.rubyforums.com/) My Blog - [http://www.rwoliver.com/](http://www.rwoliver.com/) ---
**Author:** ![steveeq1](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/s/e480ec/32.png) [@steveeq1](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/steveeq1)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2006, 2:27am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/how-do-you-save-the-contents-of-an-object/73354/3 "2006-10-24T02:27:44Z")
On 10/23/06, Steve Q. [removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid](mailto:removed_email_address@domain.invalid) wrote: > Is there an easy way to save the contents of an object in ruby? Check out these. [http://www.ruby-doc.org/core/classes/Marshal.html](http://www.ruby-doc.org/core/classes/Marshal.html) [http://www.ruby-doc.org/core/classes/YAML.html](http://www.ruby-doc.org/core/classes/YAML.html) This is hard to google, so I am posting it up. I just need a general > idea (if anyoen has it), you don’t have to spell it out for me. > > – > Posted via [http://www.ruby-forum.com/](http://www.ruby-forum.com/). HTH, Michael G. ---
**Author:** ![steveeq1](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/s/e480ec/32.png) [@steveeq1](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/steveeq1)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2006, 4:47pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/how-do-you-save-the-contents-of-an-object/73354/4 "2006-10-24T16:47:05Z")
Steve Q. wrote: > Is there an easy way to save the contents of an object in ruby? As a further aside to saving with yaml, yet another fantastic little goody that RoR provides is the method .to\_yaml() … ilan@iberci-pc:~/rails$ script/console Loading development environment. > > “sample”.to\_yaml > > =\> “— sample\n” ---
**Author:** ![steveeq1](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/s/e480ec/32.png) [@steveeq1](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/steveeq1)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2006, 2:27am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/how-do-you-save-the-contents-of-an-object/73354/5 "2006-10-24T02:27:43Z")
Steve Q. wrote: > Is there an easy way to save the contents of an object in ruby? > > This is hard to google, so I am posting it up. I just need a general > idea (if anyoen has it), you don’t have to spell it out for me. ri Marshal ri YAML ---
**Author:** ![steveeq1](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/s/e480ec/32.png) [@steveeq1](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/steveeq1)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2006, 5:01pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/how-do-you-save-the-contents-of-an-object/73354/6 "2006-10-24T17:01:26Z")
On 24/10/06, Ilan B. [removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid](mailto:removed_email_address@domain.invalid) wrote: > =\> “— sample\n” > You don’t need RoR for that. Merely including yaml will give objects > the to\_yaml method: ## irb(main):001:0\> require ‘yaml’ =\> true irb(main):002:0\> puts({“one”=\>1,“two”=\>2,“three”=\>3}.to\_yaml) three: 3 two: 2 one: 1 =\> nil Farrel ---
**Author:** ![steveeq1](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/s/e480ec/32.png) [@steveeq1](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/steveeq1)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2006, 5:27pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/how-do-you-save-the-contents-of-an-object/73354/7 "2006-10-24T17:27:35Z")
Steve Q. wrote: > Is there an easy way to save the contents of an object in ruby? > > This is hard to google, so I am posting it up. I just need a general > idea (if anyoen has it), you don’t have to spell it out for me. I posted an article/tutorial on marshalling objects and saving them to files last night, you may want to throw a quick look at it as it sounds applicable to your question… [http://rails.co.za/articles/2006/10/23/saving-ruby-objects-to-disc](http://rails.co.za/articles/2006/10/23/saving-ruby-objects-to-disc) Hope it helps! Gustav P. removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid ---
**Author:** ![steveeq1](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/s/e480ec/32.png) [@steveeq1](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/steveeq1)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2006, 5:27pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/how-do-you-save-the-contents-of-an-object/73354/8 "2006-10-25T17:27:54Z")
The built-in Marshal class is designed for this very thing, and anecdotal evidence says it’s faster than YAML. YAML has the advantage of being readable to the naked eye, however. Here’s a good discussion on Marshal vs. YAML: [http://blade.nagaokaut.ac.jp/cgi-bin/vframe.rb/ruby/ruby-talk/99119?99004-101444](http://blade.nagaokaut.ac.jp/cgi-bin/vframe.rb/ruby/ruby-talk/99119?99004-101444) ---
**Author:** ![steveeq1](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/s/e480ec/32.png) [@steveeq1](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/steveeq1)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2006, 12:31pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/how-do-you-save-the-contents-of-an-object/73354/9 "2006-10-25T12:31:30Z")
Use YAML you can store/load the content of a Ruby object without any difficulty. Please visit YAML.rb at [http://yaml4r.sourceforge.net/](http://yaml4r.sourceforge.net/) The codebook is of great use to give you what is going on: [http://yaml4r.sourceforge.net/cookbook/](http://yaml4r.sourceforge.net/cookbook/)