I'm trying to save an array of terms on each Dictionary model (I want to be able to search tags basically). So terms=["apple", "pear", "fruit"] could be one example of a term array I'm trying to save on each instance of a Dictionary model. Previously, terms was a serialized text column. I then changed it to try and take advantage of the Postgres array datatype as follows. When I try to update a model (e.g., dictionary_example1.terms = ["fruit", "pineapple"] followed by a call to save), all that is stored is an empty array []. What am I doing wrong?
Model.rb
class Dictionary < ActiveRecord::Base
serialize :terms, Array
end
schema.rb
create_table "clinical_trials", force: :cascade do |t|
t.string "terms", array: true
end
migration
class ChangeTermsToArray < ActiveRecord::Migration
def change
change_column :dictionaries, :terms, "varchar[] USING (string_to_array(terms, ','))"
end
end
