When I specify that a field is serialized in the model, but create an object of that model without the (optional) serialized field, I run into problems that seem to indicate serialized fields are required. It seems to be taking the nil value of the field and trying to unserialize it, unsuccessfully.
So, in my model: class Person < ActiveRecord::Base serialize :research_discipline, Array
When I do this: member = Member.new # Member subclasses Person assert !member.valid?
I get: ActiveRecord::SerializationTypeMismatch: research_discipline was supposed to be a Array, but was a NilClass
So can I have an optional serialized field?
Thanks, Julia