The auto_cast_date_and_time extension uses SQL standard type casting when literalizing date, time, and timestamp values:
DB.literal(Time.now) # => "TIMESTAMP '...'" DB.literal(Date.today) # => "DATE '...'" DB.literal(Sequel::SQLTime.create(10, 20, 30)) # => "TIME '10:20:30.000000'"
The default behavior of Sequel on adapters that do not require the SQL standard behavior is to format the date or time value without: casting
DB.literal(Sequel::SQLTime.create(10, 20, 30)) # => "'10:20:30.000000'"
However, then the database cannot determine the type of the string, and must perform some implicit casting. If implicit casting cannot be used, it will probably treat the value as a string:
DB.get(Time.now).class # Without auto_cast_date_and_time: String # With auto_cast_date_and_time: Time
Note that not all databases support this extension. PostgreSQL and MySQL support it, but SQLite and Microsoft SQL Server do not.
You can load this extension into specific datasets:
ds = DB[:table] ds = ds.extension(:auto_cast_date_and_time)
Or you can load it into all of a database’s datasets, which is probably the desired behavior if you are using this extension:
DB.extension(:auto_cast_date_and_time)
Related module: Sequel::AutoCastDateAndTime