to_ary

Returns a new array of objects from the collection. If the collection hasn’t been loaded, it fetches the records from the database.

class Person < ActiveRecord::Base
  has_many :pets
end

person.pets
# => [
#       #<Pet id: 4, name: "Benny", person_id: 1>,
#       #<Pet id: 5, name: "Brain", person_id: 1>,
#       #<Pet id: 6, name: "Boss",  person_id: 1>
#    ]

other_pets = person.pets.to_ary
# => [
#       #<Pet id: 4, name: "Benny", person_id: 1>,
#       #<Pet id: 5, name: "Brain", person_id: 1>,
#       #<Pet id: 6, name: "Boss",  person_id: 1>
#    ]

other_pets.replace([Pet.new(name: 'BooGoo')])

other_pets
# => [#<Pet id: nil, name: "BooGoo", person_id: 1>]

person.pets
# This is not affected by replace
# => [
#       #<Pet id: 4, name: "Benny", person_id: 1>,
#       #<Pet id: 5, name: "Brain", person_id: 1>,
#       #<Pet id: 6, name: "Boss",  person_id: 1>
#    ]