# Question Answer Plugin **URL:** https://meta.discourse.org/t/question-answer-plugin/56032 **Category:** Plugin **Tags:** deprecated **Created:** [January 19, 2017, 4:43pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/question-answer-plugin/56032 "2017-01-19T16:43:47Z") **Posts on this page:** 1 **Showing post:** 301
### Author: ![pfaffman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/meta/user_avatar/meta.discourse.org/pfaffman/32/120154_2.png) [@pfaffman](https://meta.discourse.org/u/pfaffman) #### Post date: [September 30, 2022, 7:16pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/question-answer-plugin/56032/301 "2022-09-30T19:16:11Z")
Here’s the problem. A bunch of the post\_custom\_fields look like this: ```plaintext "\"[\\\"[{\\\\\\\"direction\\\\\\\":\\\\\\\"up\\\\\\\",\\\\\\\"action\\\\\\\":\\\\\\\"create\\\\\\\",\\\\\\\"user_id\\\\\\\":51,\\\\\\\"created_at\\\\\\\":\\\\\\\"2018-11-02T14:21:49.785+00:00\\\\\\\"}]\\\",{\\\"direction\\\":\\\"up\\\",\\\"action\\\":\\\"create\\\",\\\"user_id\\\":61,\\\"created_at\\\":\\\"2018-11-15T18:49:43.875+00:00\\\"}]\"", ``` rather than, maybe, this ```plaintext "[{\"direction\":\"up\",\"action\":\"create\",\"user_id\":6,\"created_at\":\"2018-07-18T16:37:42.446+00:00\"}]", ``` Some are worse: ```plaintext "\"[\\\"[\\\\\\\"[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"[{\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"direc tion\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\":\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"up\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\",\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"action\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\":\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"create\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\",\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"user_id\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\":161,\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"created_at\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\":\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"2018-11-14T01:41:18.071+00:00\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"}]\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\",{\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"direction\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\":\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"up\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\",\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"action\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\":\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"create\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\",\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"user_id\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\":21,\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"created_at\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\":\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"2018-11-15T18:41:37.215+00:00\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"}]\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\",{\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"direction\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\":\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"up\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\",\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"action\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\":\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"destroy\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\",\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"user_id\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\":21,\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"created_at\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\":\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"2018-11-15T18:41:44.680+00:00\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"}]\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\",{\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"direction\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\":\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"up\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\",\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"action\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\":\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"create\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\",\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"user_id\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\":21,\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"created_at\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\":\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"2018-11-15T18:41:52.440+00:00\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"}]\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\",{\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"direction\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\":\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"up\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\",\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"action\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\":\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"destroy\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\",\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"user_id\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\":21,\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"created_at\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\":\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"2018-11-15T18:41:56.158+00:00\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"}]\\\\\\\",{\\\\\\\"direction\\\\\\\":\\\\\\\"up\\\\\\\",\\\\\\\"action\\\\\\\":\\\\\\\"create\\\\\\\",\\\\\\\"user_id\\\\\\\":3,\\\\\\\"created_at\\\\\\\":\\\\\\\"2019-05-17T17:21:51.066+00:00\\\\\\\"}]\\\",{\\\"direction\\\":\\\"up\\\",\\\"action\\\":\\\"create\\\",\\\"user_id\\\":43,\\\"created_at\\\":\\\"2019-06-01T14:10:48.056+00:00\\\"}]\"", ``` So I guess I’d need to recursively try to un-quote these a bunch of times until it got back to the right way? I guess I’ll see if I can google the Ruby un-quotify function. . . . It looks like a real mess: ```plaintext [24] pry(main)> too.value.gsub(/\\+/,"\\").undump => "[\"[\"[\"[\"[\"[\"[{\"direction\":\"up\",\"action\":\"create\",\"user_id\":161,\"created_at\":\"2018-11-14T01:41:18.071+00:00\"}]\",{\"direction\":\"up\",\"action\":\"create\",\"user_id\":21,\"created_at\":\"2018-11-15T18:41:37.215+00:00\"}]\",{\"direction\":\"up\",\"action\":\"destroy\",\"user_id\":21,\"created_at\":\"2018-11-15T18:41:44.680+00:00\"}]\",{\"direction\":\"up\",\"action\":\"create\",\"user_id\":21,\"created_at\":\"2018-11-15T18:41:52.440+00:00\"}]\",{\"direction\":\"up\",\"action\":\"destroy\",\"user_id\":21,\"created_at\":\"2018-11-15T18:41:56.158+00:00\"}]\",{\"direction\":\"up\",\"action\":\"create\",\"user_id\":3,\"created_at\":\"2019-05-17T17:21:51.066+00:00\"}]\",{\"direction\":\"up\",\"action\":\"create\",\"user_id\":43,\"created_at\":\"2019-06-01T14:10:48.056+00:00\"}]" [25] pry(main)> one.value.gsub(/\\+/,"\\").undump => "[\"[{\"direction\":\"up\",\"action\":\"create\",\"user_id\":134,\"created_at\":\"2019-02-11T19:33:22.533+00:00\"}]\",{\"direction\":\"up\",\"action\":\"create\",\"user_id\":213,\"created_at\":\"2019-02-28T15:12:07.776+00:00\"}]" ``` I can do ```plaintext SELECT post_id, jsonb_array_elements(value::jsonb) AS value FROM post_custom_fields WHERE name = 'vote_history' and value not like '\"[%'; discourse=> SELECT post_id, jsonb_array_elements(value::jsonb) AS value FROM post_custom_fields WHERE name = 'vote_history' and value not like '\"[%'; ``` and get ~200 of ~250 entries, leaving a few that still look something like ```plaintext 1865 | "[\"[\\\"[{\\\\\\\"direction\\\\\\\":\\\\\\\"up\\\\\\\",\\\\\\\"action\\\\\\\":\\\\\\\"create\\\\\\\",\\\\\\\"user_id\\\\\\\":161,\\\\\\\"created_at\\\\\\\":\\\\\\\"2019-06-28T15:39:44.438+00:00\\\\\\\"}]\\\",{\\\"direction\\\":\\\"up\\\",\\\"action\\\":\\\"create\\\",\\\"user_id\\\":39,\\\"created_at\\\":\\\"2019-07-03T19:29:04.663+00:00\\\"}]\",{\"direction\":\"up\",\"action\":\"create\",\"user_id\":298,\"created_at\":\"2019-07-11T13:51:52.447+00:00\"}]" ``` --- _[View the full topic](https://meta.discourse.org/t/question-answer-plugin/56032)._