Implement marshal_dump and marshal_load on ActiveRecord::Base

Fix: https://github.com/rails/rails/issues/47704
Superseed: https://github.com/rails/rails/pull/47722

While the instance variable ordering bug will be fixed in Ruby 3.2.2,
it's not great that we're depending on such brittle implementation detail.

Additionally, Marshalling Active Record instances is currently very inefficient,
the payload include lots of redundant data that shouldn't make it into the cache.

In this new format the serialized payload only contains basic Ruby core or stdlib objects,
reducing the risk of changes in the internal representation of Rails classes.

activerecord/CHANGELOG.md

@@ -1,3 +1,9 @@
+*   Introduce a more stable and optimized Marshal serializer for Active Record models.
+
+    Can be enabled with `config.active_record.marshalling_format_version = 7.1`.
+
+    *Jean Boussier*
+
 *   Allow specifying where clauses with column-tuple syntax.
 
     Querying through `#where` now accepts a new tuple-syntax which accepts, as

activerecord/lib/active_record.rb

@@ -52,6 +52,7 @@ module ActiveRecord
   autoload :Integration
   autoload :InternalMetadata
   autoload :LogSubscriber
+  autoload :Marshalling
   autoload :Migration
   autoload :Migrator, "active_record/migration"
   autoload :ModelSchema
@@ -436,6 +437,14 @@ def self.suppress_multiple_database_warning=(value)
   singleton_class.attr_accessor :yaml_column_permitted_classes
   self.yaml_column_permitted_classes = [Symbol]
 
+  def self.marshalling_format_version
+    Marshalling.format_version
+  end
+
+  def self.marshalling_format_version=(value)
+    Marshalling.format_version = value
+  end
+
   def self.eager_load!
     super
     ActiveRecord::Locking.eager_load!

activerecord/lib/active_record/base.rb

@@ -330,6 +330,7 @@ class Base
     include SignedId
     include Suppressor
     include Normalization
+    include Marshalling::Methods
   end
 
   ActiveSupport.run_load_hooks(:active_record, Base)

activerecord/lib/active_record/marshalling.rb

@@ -0,0 +1,56 @@
+# frozen_string_literal: true
+
+module ActiveRecord
+  module Marshalling
+    @format_version = 6.1
+
+    class << self
+      attr_reader :format_version
+
+      def format_version=(version)
+        case version
+        when 6.1
+          Methods.remove_method(:marshal_dump) if Methods.method_defined?(:marshal_dump)
+        when 7.1
+          Methods.alias_method(:marshal_dump, :_marshal_dump_7_1)
+        else
+          raise ArgumentError, "Unknown marshalling format: #{version.inspect}"
+        end
+        @format_version = version
+      end
+    end
+
+    module Methods
+      def _marshal_dump_7_1
+        payload = [attributes_for_database, new_record?]
+
+        cached_associations = self.class.reflect_on_all_associations.select do |reflection|
+          association_cached?(reflection.name)
+        end
+
+        unless cached_associations.empty?
+          payload << cached_associations.map do |reflection|
+            [reflection.name, association(reflection.name).target]
+          end
+        end
+
+        payload
+      end
+
+      def marshal_load(state)
+        attributes_from_database, new_record, associations = state
+
+        attributes = self.class.attributes_builder.build_from_database(attributes_from_database)
+        init_with_attributes(attributes, new_record)
+
+        if associations
+          associations.each do |name, target|
+            association(name).target = target
+          rescue ActiveRecord::AssociationNotFoundError
+            # the association no longer exist, we can just skip it.
+          end
+        end
+      end
+    end
+  end
+end

activerecord/test/cases/marshal_serialization_test.rb

@@ -7,6 +7,14 @@
 class MarshalSerializationTest < ActiveRecord::TestCase
   fixtures :topics
 
+  setup do
+    @previous_format_version = ActiveRecord::Marshalling.format_version
+  end
+
+  teardown do
+    ActiveRecord::Marshalling.format_version = @previous_format_version
+  end
+
   def test_deserializing_rails_6_1_marshal_basic
     topic = Marshal.load(marshal_fixture("rails_6_1_topic"))
 
@@ -23,6 +31,66 @@ def test_deserializing_rails_6_1_marshal_with_loaded_association_cache
     assert_equal 1, topic.id
     assert_equal "The First Topic", topic.title
     assert_equal "Have a nice day", topic.content
+    assert_predicate topic.association(:replies), :loaded?
+    assert_predicate topic.replies.first.association(:topic), :loaded?
+    assert_same topic, topic.replies.first.topic
+  end
+
+  def test_deserializing_rails_7_1_marshal_basic
+    topic = Marshal.load(marshal_fixture("rails_7_1_topic"))
+
+    assert_not_predicate topic, :new_record?
+    assert_equal 1, topic.id
+    assert_equal "The First Topic", topic.title
+    assert_equal "Have a nice day", topic.content
+  end
+
+  def test_deserializing_rails_7_1_marshal_with_loaded_association_cache
+    topic = Marshal.load(marshal_fixture("rails_7_1_topic_associations"))
+
+    assert_not_predicate topic, :new_record?
+    assert_equal 1, topic.id
+    assert_equal "The First Topic", topic.title
+    assert_equal "Have a nice day", topic.content
+    assert_predicate topic.association(:replies), :loaded?
+    assert_predicate topic.replies.first.association(:topic), :loaded?
+    assert_same topic, topic.replies.first.topic
+  end
+
+  def test_rails_6_1_rountrip
+    topic = Topic.find(1)
+    topic.replies.to_a
+    topic = Marshal.load(Marshal.dump(topic))
+
+    assert_not_predicate topic, :new_record?
+    assert_equal 1, topic.id
+    assert_equal "The First Topic", topic.title
+    assert_equal "Have a nice day", topic.content
+    assert_predicate topic.association(:replies), :loaded?
+  end
+
+  def test_rails_7_1_rountrip
+    ActiveRecord::Marshalling.format_version = 7.1
+
+    topic = Topic.find(1)
+    topic.replies.each(&:topic)
+    assert_not_equal 0, topic.replies.size
+    topic.replies.each do |reply|
+      assert_same topic, reply.topic
+    end
+
+    topic = Marshal.load(Marshal.dump(topic))
+
+    assert_not_predicate topic, :new_record?
+    assert_equal 1, topic.id
+    assert_equal "The First Topic", topic.title
+    assert_equal "Have a nice day", topic.content
+    assert_predicate topic.association(:replies), :loaded?
+
+    assert_not_equal 0, topic.replies.size
+    topic.replies.each do |reply|
+      assert_same topic, reply.topic
+    end
   end
 
   private

activerecord/test/models/reply.rb

@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
 require "models/topic"
 
 class Reply < Topic
-  belongs_to :topic, foreign_key: "parent_id", counter_cache: true
+  belongs_to :topic, foreign_key: "parent_id", counter_cache: true, inverse_of: :replies
   belongs_to :topic_with_primary_key, class_name: "Topic", primary_key: "title", foreign_key: "parent_title", counter_cache: "replies_count", touch: true
   has_many :replies, class_name: "SillyReply", dependent: :destroy, foreign_key: "parent_id"
   has_many :silly_unique_replies, dependent: :destroy, foreign_key: "parent_id"

activerecord/test/models/topic.rb

@@ -46,7 +46,7 @@ def two
     end
   end
 
-  has_many :replies, dependent: :destroy, foreign_key: "parent_id", autosave: true
+  has_many :replies, dependent: :destroy, foreign_key: "parent_id", autosave: true, inverse_of: :topic
   has_many :approved_replies, -> { approved }, class_name: "Reply", foreign_key: "parent_id", counter_cache: "replies_count"
   has_many :open_replies, -> { open }, class_name: "Reply", foreign_key: "parent_id"
 

guides/source/configuring.md

@@ -68,6 +68,7 @@ Below are the default values associated with each target version. In cases of co
 - [`config.active_record.belongs_to_required_validates_foreign_key`](#config-active-record-belongs-to-required-validates-foreign-key): `false`
 - [`config.active_record.default_column_serializer`](#config-active-record-default-column-serializer): `nil`
 - [`config.active_record.encryption.hash_digest_class`](#config-active-record-encryption-hash-digest-class): `OpenSSL::Digest::SHA256`
+- [`config.active_record.marshalling_format_version`](#config-active-record-marshalling-format-version): `7.1`
 - [`config.active_record.query_log_tags_format`](#config-active-record-query-log-tags-format): `:sqlcommenter`
 - [`config.active_record.raise_on_assign_to_attr_readonly`](#config-active-record-raise-on-assign-to-attr-readonly): `true`
 - [`config.active_record.run_commit_callbacks_on_first_saved_instances_in_transaction`](#config-active-record-run-commit-callbacks-on-first-saved-instances-in-transaction): `false`
@@ -1130,6 +1131,20 @@ to get the parent every time the child record was updated, even when parent has
 | (original)            | `true`               |
 | 7.1                   | `false`              |
 
+#### `config.active_record.marshalling_format`
+
+When set to `7.1`, enables a more efficient serialization of Active Record instance with `Marshal.dump`.
+
+This changes the serialization format, so models serialized this
+way cannot be read by older (< 7.1) versions of Rails. However, messages that
+use the old format can still be read, regardless of whether this optimization is
+enabled.
+
+| Starting with version | The default value is |
+| --------------------- | -------------------- |
+| (original)            | `6.1`                |
+| 7.1                   | `7.1`                |
+
 #### `config.active_record.action_on_strict_loading_violation`
 
 Enables raising or logging an exception if strict_loading is set on an

railties/lib/rails/application/configuration.rb

@@ -283,6 +283,7 @@ def load_defaults(target_version)
             active_record.before_committed_on_all_records = true
             active_record.default_column_serializer = nil
             active_record.encryption.hash_digest_class = OpenSSL::Digest::SHA256
+            active_record.marshalling_format_version = 7.1
           end
 
           if respond_to?(:action_dispatch)

railties/lib/rails/generators/rails/app/templates/config/initializers/new_framework_defaults_7_1.rb.tt

@@ -152,3 +152,12 @@
 # recommended to explicitly define the serialization method for each column
 # rather than to rely on a global default.
 # Rails.application.config.active_record.default_column_serializer = nil
+
+# Enable a performance optimization that serializes Active Record models
+# in a faster and more compact way.
+#
+# To perform a rolling deploy of a Rails 7.1 upgrade, wherein servers that have
+# not yet been upgraded must be able to read caches from upgraded servers,
+# leave this optimization off on the first deploy, then enable it on a
+# subsequent deploy.
+# Rails.application.config.active_record.marshalling_format_version = 7.1