type_casting.md

Type Casting support

INET and CIDR

INET and CIDR values are converted to IPAddr objects when retrieved from the database, or set as a string.

create_table :inet_examples do |t|
  t.inet :ip_address
end

class InetExample < ActiveRecord::Base
end

inetExample = InetExample.new
inetExample.ip_address = '127.0.0.0/24'
inetExample.ip_address
# => #<IPAddr: IPv4:127.0.0.0/255.255.255.0> 
inetExample.save

inet_2 = InetExample.first
inet_2.ip_address
# => #<IPAddr: IPv4:127.0.0.0/255.255.255.0> 

Arrays

Array values can be set with Array objects. Any array stored in the database will be converted to a properly casted array of values on the way out.

create_table :people do |t|
  t.integer :favorite_numbers, :array => true
end

class Person < ActiveRecord::Base
end

person = Person.new
person.favorite_numbers = [1,2,3]
person.favorite_numbers
# => [1,2,3]
person.save

person_2 = Person.first
person_2.favorite_numbers
# => [1,2,3]
person_2.favorite_numbers.first.class
# => Fixnum

Ranges

Like array objects, postgres_ext supports range types as well. Numrange, in4range, int8range, daterange, tsrange, and tstzrange are all supported, but there are some notable caveats.

Int and Date ranges

As integers and days are discrete measurements, PostgreSQL will normalize these ranges as they are store in the database. PostgreSQL will convert end-inclusive ranges to end-exclusive, meaning that 0..4 becomes 0...5. Developers should be aware of this when using integer and date ranges, since ruby will treat these ranges differently from PostgreSQL.

Timestamp with and without timezone

Ruby/Rails 3.2.x does not support datetime ranges that begin or end with infinity. Rails 4 has patched datetime and time so that infinity terminated ranges work, but currently postgres_ext has not patched the required methods.