Question

I have an ActiveRecord model that I would like to convert to xml, but I do not want all the properties rendered in xml. Is there a parameter I can pass into the render method to keep a property from being rendered in xml?

Below is an example of what I am talking about.

def show   @person = Person.find(params[:id])   respond_to do |format|     format.xml { render :xml => @person }   end end 

produces the following xml

 <person>   <name>Paul</name>   <age>25</age>   <phone>555.555.5555</phone> </person> 

However, I do not want the phone property to be shown. Is there some parameter in the render method that excludes properties from being rendered in xml? Kind of like the following example

def show   @person = Person.find(params[:id])   respond_to do |format|     format.xml { render :xml => @person, :exclude_attribute => :phone }   end end 

which would render the following xml

 <person>   <name>Paul</name>   <age>25</age> </person> 

Answer 1

You can pass an array of model attribute names to the :only and :except options, so for your example it would be:

def show   @person = Person.find(params[:id])   respond_to do |format|     format.xml { render :text => @person.to_xml, :except => [:phone] }   end end 

• to_xml documentation