ActiveRecord changes incorrect reports integer column changed when passed a string.

An ActiveRecord object will incorrectly (IMHO) report that an integer column's value has changed if you pass it a string representing of its existing value.

Rails v2.2.2

ex:

class Match < ActiveRecord::Base
  # column 'score' defined as integer with value 5
  # No validations, accessors or anything
end

m = match.first
m.score
# 5

m.score = 5
m.score_changed?
# false

m.score = "5"
m.score_changed? 
# true
m.score
# 5

This issues comes up most for me when forms are passing values back to the controller via the params hash. Since the values in the params hash are all strings, false changes are recorded if the value of an integer column did not actually change.

Thank You, Kenny Carruthers kenny@kennyc.com