Object#to_data

[trans]

Facets used to have #to_data to convert an object's instance state to a hash. Looks like that became #object_state. But #object_state isn't a complete state of built-in objects b/c it doesn't include any extra instance variables, which can be added b/c of Ruby's dynamic abilities.

So we need to nail down how all this should work.

(Note: Check Psych fork to see how that handled this for YAML.)

[ioquatix]

It's actually probably impossible without using C extensions. Because if you use Struct, you don't get instance variables.

Point = Struct.new(:x, :y)
p = Point.new(10, 20)
p.instance_variables => []

I think one thing we should do for 4.0.0 is reduce the surface area of functionality, especially obscure stuff. Otherwise it makes the library hard to maintain and less useful. I'd actually vote to remove something like object_state. It can't be implemented correctly in any case. I don't even know what the use cases are. What do you think?