What's the model pattern for just storing an array of ints?

Maybe this question is obvious, but I’m missing the answer. I want one
of the fields in my model to be an array of int. These are not indexes
into another model. I’m cool with creating another database table if I
have to, but then do I need to do a join to access the data? Or does
Ruby have some cool trick where I can translate my array of ints into a
String, store it in a single field, and then be smart enough that when I
pull it back out I can convert it back into an array so nobody’s the
wiser? (I’m sure I can do this and be kludgy about it, I’m wondering if
there’s something already built in that might mean I can do it
invisibly).

Thanks!

On Friday, June 02, 2006, at 3:37 PM, Duane M. wrote:

Thanks!


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in your model definition, you can do this…

def model
serialize :some_array
end

Just make sure the column in the database can hold the serialized
object. Probably ‘text’ or bigger.

_Kevin

Kevin O. wrote:

serialize :some_array

Perfect! Thanks Kevin. And now that I know the word to google for I
see many obvious examples, including in the documentation for
ActiveRecord itself :slight_smile: