MetaHash

Provides a subclass of Hash and a wrapper around Rails' serialize attribute for object-like access to hashes without validating existence of nested hashes

Examples

Access nested hashes using method / object syntax

Arand new Metadata objects act just like hashes:

h = Metadata.new
h
=> {}

Accessing nested data requires no wrapping conditions checking for existence of the rquested data:

h.outer.inner
=> {}

Possible real-word example:

if (min_numbers = h.password_rules.formats.numbers.minimum).present?
  # some code using min_numbers
else
  # data doesn't exist in h

  h.password_rules.formats.numbers.minimum = 1
  # h
  # => { password_rules: { formats: { numbers: { minimum: 1 } } } }
end

Convert an existing hash to metadata

{a: 1}.to_metadata.a
# => 1

Access to values stored in nested hashes via method call syntax

h = Metadata.new( { outer: { inner: { hash_key: "value" } } } )

h.outer.inner.hash_key
=> "value"

Set values for nested hash structures without the nested hashes having to be initially defined

h = Metadata.new
h
=> {}

h.outer.inner = 2
h
=> { outer: { inner: 2 } }

Using with ActiveRecord

In your Gemfile

gem "metahash-rb", require: "metahash"

in your ActiveRecord model

has_metadata

or

has_metadata :field_not_called_metadata

Support

This gem has been tested with Ruby 2.0, and rails 3.2, 4.1

Contributing

1. Fork the project
2. Create a new, descriptively named branch
3. Add Test(s)!
4. Commit your proposed changes
5. Submit a pull request