How we've migrated from globalize to hstore-translate

Description and use

Migrating translations from Globalize to hstore-translate in Rails 3.2 simplifies the schema and improves performance.

Problem

The Rails application used Globalize for translations, which required separate tables and complex migrations; the team wanted a simpler, more efficient solution.

Outcome

The migration consolidated translation storage, reduced database complexity, and improved performance while maintaining all existing translated content.

Workflow

• 1. Added the hstore extension to PostgreSQL.
• 2. Created a migration to add an hstore column to each translatable model.
• 3. Wrote a data migration script to copy existing Globalize translations into the new hstore column.
• 4. Updated the model code to use hstore-translate instead of Globalize.
• 5. Ran tests and verified data integrity.
• 6. Removed Globalize gems and tables from the project.

Evidence

We added the hstore extension to PostgreSQL, created a migration to add an hstore column to each translatable model, and wrote a data migration script to copy existing Globalize translations into the new hstore column.