yaml_arbitrary_serialization.rb

require 'yaml'

case RUBY_VERSION[0,3]
when "1.9"
  YAML::ENGINE.yamler = 'syck'
  yaml_engine = YAML::ENGINE.yamler
when "1.8"
  yaml_engine = 'syck'
end

puts %[
Let's see if we can serialize arbitrary objects with YAML

We're using:
  Ruby #{RUBY_VERSION}-p#{RUBY_PATCHLEVEL}
  #{yaml_engine} YAML engine

]

# Create some arbitrary object that we'll try to serialize
class Blox
  attr_accessor :colors, :height, :width, :meta
end

blox        = Blox.new
blox.colors = %w[red green blue]
blox.height = "10"
blox.width  = "10"
blox.meta   = {:owner => "John Doe", :return_to => "Central storage"}

puts "=== Begin YAML.dump ===\n\n"
puts YAML.dump(blox)

puts %[
===End YAML.dump===

If you saw the object output above, your YAML engine is capable of serializing arbitrary objects.

]

Let's see if we can serialize arbitrary objects with YAML

We're using:
  Ruby 1.8.7-p352
  syck YAML engine

=== Begin YAML.dump ===

--- !ruby/object:Blox 
colors: 
- red
- green
- blue
height: "10"
meta: 
  :owner: John Doe
  :return_to: Central storage
width: "10"

===End YAML.dump===

If you saw the object output above, your YAML engine is capable of serializing arbitrary objects.