to_json
to_json(options = nil)
public
Returns a JSON string representing the hash.
Without any options, the returned JSON string will include all the hash keys. For example:
{ :name => "Konata Izumi", 'age' => 16, 1 => 2 }.to_json # => {"name": "Konata Izumi", "1": 2, "age": 16}
The keys in the JSON string are unordered due to the nature of hashes.
The :only and :except options can be used to limit the attributes included, and will accept 1 or more hash keys to include/exclude.
{ :name => "Konata Izumi", 'age' => 16, 1 => 2 }.to_json(:only => [:name, 'age']) # => {"name": "Konata Izumi", "age": 16} { :name => "Konata Izumi", 'age' => 16, 1 => 2 }.to_json(:except => 1) # => {"name": "Konata Izumi", "age": 16}
The options also filter down to any hash values. This is particularly useful for converting hashes containing ActiveRecord objects or any object that responds to options in their to_json method. For example:
users = User.find(:all) { :users => users, :count => users.size }.to_json(:include => :posts)
would pass the :include => :posts option to users, allowing the posts association in the User model to be converted to JSON as well.