Typecast a value (string, integer, nil) to boolean using ActiveRecord(5.0)

cast_value_as_boolean.rb

## /config/initializers/cast_value_as_boolean.rb
##
## Typecast a value to boolean using ActiveRecord(5.0)
##
##   'whatever'.to_b    => true
##   0.to_b             => false


## Supported types:
    # Integer 
    # String
    # NilClass
    # TrueClass
    # FalseClass
      
## Truthy/Falsy values:
  #  truthy = [ true, 1, 'true', 'TRUE', '1', 'on', 'ON', 'whatever' ]
  #  falsy =  [ false, 0, nil, '', 'false', 'FALSE', '0', 'off', 'OFF' ]

## Testing  
  #  truthy.map(&:to_b)  
  #       => [true, true, true, true, true, true, true, true]
  #  falsy.map(&:to_b)   
  #       => [false, false, false, false, false, false, false, false, false]
  

class String
  def to_b
    if self.strip.length == 0
        false
    else
        ActiveRecord::Type::Boolean.new.cast(self) # Rails 5    
    end
  end
end

class Fixnum
  def to_b
    ActiveRecord::Type::Boolean.new.cast(self) # Rails 5    
  end
end

class NilClass
  def to_b
    false
  end
end

class TrueClass
  def to_b
    true
  end
end

class FalseClass
  def to_b
    false
  end
end