How to get database sql values from an active record object?

Question

My original problem is that I need to insert a lot of records to DB, so to speed up, I want to use mysqlimport which takes a file of row values and load them to specified table. So suppose I have model Book, I couldn't simply use book.attributes.values as one of the fields is a hash that is serialized to db (using serialize), so I need to know what is the format this hash will be stored in in the db. Same for time and dates fields. Any help?

Answer 1

How about using SQL insert statements instead of serialization?

book = Book.new(:title => 'Much Ado About Nothing', author: 'William Shakespeare')

sql = book.class.arel_table.create_insert
  .tap { |im| im.insert(record.send(
            :arel_attributes_with_values_for_create,
            record.attribute_names)) }
  .to_sql