I am trying to parse multiple XML files then output them into CSV files to list out the proper rows and columns.
I was able to do so by processing one file at a time by defining the filename, and specifically output them into a defined output file name:
File.open('H:/output/xmloutput.csv','w')
I would like to write into multiple files and make their name the same as the XML filenames without hard coding it. I tried doing it multiple ways but have had no luck so far.
Sample XML:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<record:root>
<record:Dataload_Request>
<record:name>Bob Chuck</record:name>
<record:Address_Data>
<record:Street_Address>123 Main St</record:Street_Address>
<record:Postal_Code>12345</record:Postal_Code>
</record:Address_Data>
<record:Age>45</record:Age>
</record:Dataload_Request>
</record:root>
Here is what I've tried:
require 'nokogiri'
require 'set'
files = ''
input_folder = "H:/input"
output_folder = "H:/output"
if input_folder[input_folder.length-1,1] == '/'
input_folder = input_folder[0,input_folder.length-1]
end
if output_folder[output_folder.length-1,1] != '/'
output_folder = output_folder + '/'
end
files = Dir[input_folder + '/*.xml'].sort_by{ |f| File.mtime(f)}
file = File.read(input_folder + '/' + files)
doc = Nokogiri::XML(file)
record = {} # hashes
keys = Set.new
records = [] # array
csv = ""
doc.traverse do |node|
value = node.text.gsub(/\n +/, '')
if node.name != "text" # skip these nodes: if class isnt text then skip
if value.length > 0 # skip empty nodes
key = node.name.gsub(/wd:/,'').to_sym
if key == :Dataload_Request && !record.empty?
records << record
record = {}
elsif key[/^root$|^document$/]
# neglect these keys
else
key = node.name.gsub(/wd:/,'').to_sym
# in case our value is html instead of text
record[key] = Nokogiri::HTML.parse(value).text
# add to our key set only if not already in the set
keys << key
end
end
end
end
# build our csv
File.open('H:/output/.*csv', 'w') do |file|
file.puts %Q{"#{keys.to_a.join('","')}"}
records.each do |record|
keys.each do |key|
file.write %Q{"#{record[key]}",}
end
file.write "\n"
end
print ''
print 'output files ready!'
print ''
end
I have been getting 'read memory': no implicit conversion of Array into String (TypeError) and other errors.
Here's a quick peer-review of your code, something like you'd get in a corporate environment...
Instead of writing:
input_folder = "H:/input"
input_folder[input_folder.length-1,1] == '/' # => false
Consider doing it using the -1 offset from the end of the string to access the character:
input_folder[-1] # => "t"
That simplifies your logic making it more readable because it's lacking unnecessary visual noise:
input_folder[-1] == '/' # => false
See [] and []= in the String documentation.
This looks like a bug to me:
files = Dir[input_folder + '/*.xml'].sort_by{ |f| File.mtime(f)}
file = File.read(input_folder + '/' + files)
files is an array of filenames. input_folder + '/' + files is appending an array to a string:
foo = ['1', '2'] # => ["1", "2"]
'/parent/' + foo # =>
# ~> -:9:in `+': no implicit conversion of Array into String (TypeError)
# ~> from -:9:in `<main>'
How you want to deal with that is left as an exercise for the programmer.
doc.traverse do |node|
is icky because it sidesteps the power of Nokogiri being able to search for a particular tag using accessors. Very rarely do we need to iterate over a document tag by tag, usually only when we're peeking at its structure and layout. traverse is slower so use it as a very last resort.
length is nice but isn't needed when checking whether a string has content:
value = 'foo'
value.length > 0 # => true
value > '' # => true
value = ''
value.length > 0 # => false
value > '' # => false
Programmers coming from Java like to use the accessors but I like being lazy, probably because of my C and Perl backgrounds.
Be careful with sub and gsub as they don't do what you're thinking they do. Both expect a regular expression, but will take a string which they do a escape on before beginning their scan.
You're passing in a regular expression, which is OK in this case, but it could cause unexpected problems if you don't remember all the rules for pattern matching and that gsub scans until the end of the string:
foo = 'wd:barwd:' # => "wd:barwd:"
key = foo.gsub(/wd:/,'') # => "bar"
In general I recommend people think a couple times before using regular expressions. I've seen some gaping holes opened up in logic written by fairly advanced programmers because they didn't know what the engine was going to do. They're wonderfully powerful, but need to be used surgically, not as a universal solution.
The same thing happens with a string, because gsub doesn't know when to quit:
key = foo.gsub('wd:','') # => "bar"
So, if you're looking to change just the first instance use sub:
key = foo.sub('wd:','') # => "barwd:"
I'd do it a little differently though.
foo = 'wd:bar'
I can check to see what the first three characters are:
foo[0,3] # => "wd:"
Or I can replace them with something else using string indexing:
foo[0,3] = ''
foo # => "bar"
There's more but I think that's enough for now.
You should use Ruby's CSV class. Also, you don't need to do any string matching or regex stuff. Use Nokogiri to target elements. If you know the node names in the XML will be consistent it should be pretty simple. I'm not exactly sure if this is the output you want, but this should get you in the right direction:
require 'nokogiri'
require 'csv'
def xml_to_csv(filename)
xml_str = File.read(filename)
xml_str.gsub!('record:','') # remove the record: namespace
doc = Nokogiri::XML xml_str
csv_filename = filename.gsub('.xml', '.csv')
CSV.open(csv_filename, 'wb' ) do |row|
row << ['name', 'street_address', 'postal_code', 'age']
row << [
doc.xpath('//name').text,
doc.xpath('//Street_Address').text,
doc.xpath('//Postal_Code').text,
doc.xpath('//Age').text,
]
end
end
# iterate over all xml files
Dir.glob('*.xml').each { |filename| xml_to_csv(filename) }
Right now I've produced the following code to sort a list of domains
domains = [
'api.test.google.com',
'dev.blue.google.com',
'dev.test.google.com',
'a.blue.google.com'
]
filtered = []
domains.each { |domain| filtered.push domain.reverse! }
domains.sort!
domains.each { |domain| filtered.push domain.reverse! }
The output of this code will be:
["a.blue.google.com", "dev.blue.google.com", "api.test.google.com", "dev.test.google.com"]
I'm trying to find a way to make this more elegant as it does not look like the most optimal solution to solve this problem but I'm having issues figuring out what is.
Thank you for your help!
Would this work for you?
domains.
map{|d| d.split(".")}.
sort_by(&:reverse).
map{|d| d.join(".") }
Edit: or indeed
domains.sort_by{|x| x.split(".").reverse}
Just to add, I think that something like this deserves to be a value object, as these are not simply strings and they have their own attributes and special behaviour (such as this sort).
For example:
class Domain
include Comparable
def initialize(string)
#string = string
end
def to_s
#string
end
def elements
#string.split(".")
end
protected def <=>(other)
elements.reverse <=> other.elements.reverse
end
def tld
elements.last
end
end
So you can then:
domains = [
Domain.new('api.test.google.com'),
Domain.new('dev.blue.google.com'),
Domain.new('dev.test.google.com'),
Domain.new('a.blue.google.com'),
]
domains.map(&:to_s)
=> ["api.test.google.com", "dev.blue.google.com", "dev.test.google.com", "a.blue.google.com"]
domains.sort.map(&:to_s)
=> ["a.blue.google.com", "dev.blue.google.com", "api.test.google.com", "dev.test.google.com"]
You can also add in any other behaviour you like, such as a method for returning the top level domain.
If all you want to do is sort by the reversed value use sort_by:
domains = [
'api.test.google.com',
'dev.blue.google.com',
'dev.test.google.com',
'a.blue.google.com'
]
domains.sort_by { |domain| domain.reverse }
#=> ["a.blue.google.com", "dev.blue.google.com", "api.test.google.com", "dev.test.google.com"]
If you are concerned with keeping the strings between the dots in the original order you can use:
domains.sort_by { |domain| domain.split('.').reverse }
#=> ["a.blue.google.com", "dev.blue.google.com", "api.test.google.com", "dev.test.google.com"]
I am writing a program that searches from tweets and images to combine the two. I have a built in two arrays that hold MD5 hashes of the tweets used and the uri's of the images used which I check against before using results from a new search so I don't use the same thing again.
Here is the code I use to check if the tweet contains characters I don't want or isn't in the set of MD5 hashes
unless (/#/.match(tweet[0]) or /http/.match(tweet[0]) or /^#/.match(tweet[0]) or md5list.include?(Digest::MD5.hexdigest(tweet[0])))
where md5list is the set which gets populated like this
md5list << "#{Digest::MD5.hexdigest(tweet[0])}"
but md5list.include?(Digest::MD5.hexdigest(tweet[0])) seems to always return true, even when the arrays are empty
Can anyone spot where I'm messing up here?
Thanks
Edit:
The set contains a number of MD5 hashes of strings of text, I want to search this set for a hash of a random string i have and only execute code if it isn't already present in the set.
To do this I've used, essentially, unless (set.include?(Digest::MD5.hexdigest("test")
which should return true if the set does include it, and false if it does not. I have tested this in irb and it seems to work
irb(main):009:0> s = Set.new
=> #<Set: {}>
irb(main):010:0> s << Digest::MD5.hexdigest("test")
=> #<Set: {"9cdfb439c7876e703e307864c9167a15"}>
irb(main):011:0> s.include?("test")
=> false
irb(main):012:0> s.include?(Digest::MD5.hexdigest("test"))
=> true
irb(main):013:0> s.include?(Digest::MD5.hexdigest("test2"))
=> false
but in my implementation it seems to always return true.
EDIT
Some, uh more, stuff. (here is the full code, I'll try not to post to huge chunks: https://github.com/rolandshoemaker/bleak-tweets/blob/master/bleak-tweet.rb)
this is the function that is failing. it should search for an image, and only if the md5 hash of the uri isn't already in the imagemd5 set it will retreieve the image, do some stuff, then add the md5 hash of the uri to the set so that the same image won't be used again.
def imageSearch(tag, tweet, imagemd5)
Google::Search::Image.new(:query => tag).each do |image|
unless (imagemd5.include?(Digest::MD5.hexdigest(image.uri)))
filename = String.new
open(image.uri) { |f|
File.open("current", "wb") do |file|
file.puts f.read
end
img = Magick::Image::read("current").first
img.resize_to_fit!(600, 600)
drawable = Magick::Draw.new
drawable.pointsize = 18.0
#drawable.gravity = Magick::SouthEastGravity
drawable.font_weight = Magick::BoldWeight
tm = drawable.get_type_metrics(img, tweet)
drawable.fill = 'black'
#drawable.opacity(1)
xy1 = [0, (((img.rows)*6)/10)]
xy2 = [(((img.columns)*8)/10), (((img.rows)*9)/10)]
drawable.rectangle(xy1[0],xy1[1],xy2[0],xy2[1])
drawable.draw(img)
position = xy1[1]+10
wraptext(tweet, ((xy2[0]-xy1[0])-10)/10).each do |row|
drawable.annotate(img,(xy2[0]-xy1[0])-10,(xy2[1]-xy1[1])-10,10,position += 15,row) {self.fill='white'}
end
filename = "testy." << img.format
img.write(filename)
}
puts imagemd5.include?(Digest::MD5.hexdigest(image.uri)).inspect
imagemd5 << "#{Digest::MD5.hexdigest(image.uri)}"
puts imagemd5.include?(Digest::MD5.hexdigest(image.uri)).inspect
tumblrPost(tag, filename)
File.delete(filename)
File.delete("current")
break
end
end
end
this outputs an image and in the console outputs this (with an example tweet)
Damn this swollen ankle. Smh #injured #painful
false
true
the problem is that, in this case, the image that the program used was one that had already been used and yet imagemd5.include?(Digest::MD5.hexdigest(image.uri) is returning false where it should be true
From what you're saying, it seems like you're questioning why:
["#{foo}"].include?(foo)
is always true where foo is the expression MD5.hexdigest(tweet[0]). But the above expression will always be true as long as foo returns a string, which MD5.hexdigest does.
I'm generating some CSV output using Ruby's built-in CSV. Everything works fine, but the customer wants the name field in the output to have wrapping double-quotes so the output looks like the input file. For instance, the input looks something like this:
1,1.1.1.1,"Firstname Lastname",more,fields
2,2.2.2.2,"Firstname Lastname, Jr.",more,fields
CSV's output, which is correct, looks like:
1,1.1.1.1,Firstname Lastname,more,fields
2,2.2.2.2,"Firstname Lastname, Jr.",more,fields
I know CSV is doing the right thing by not double-quoting the third field just because it has embedded blanks, and wrapping the field with double-quotes when it has the embedded comma. What I'd like to do, to help the customer feel warm and fuzzy, is tell CSV to always double-quote the third field.
I tried wrapping the field in double-quotes in my to_a method, which creates a "Firstname Lastname" field being passed to CSV, but CSV laughed at my puny-human attempt and output """Firstname Lastname""". That is the correct thing to do because it's escaping the double-quotes, so that didn't work.
Then I tried setting CSV's :force_quotes => true in the open method, which output double-quotes wrapping all fields as expected, but the customer didn't like that, which I expected also. So, that didn't work either.
I've looked through the Table and Row docs and nothing appeared to give me access to the "generate a String field" method, or a way to set a "for field n always use quoting" flag.
I'm about to dive into the source to see if there's some super-secret tweaks, or if there's a way to monkey-patch CSV and bend it to do my will, but wondered if anyone had some special knowledge or had run into this before.
And, yes, I know I could roll my own CSV output, but I prefer to not reinvent well-tested wheels. And, I'm also aware of FasterCSV; That's now part of Ruby 1.9.2, which I'm using, so explicitly using FasterCSV buys me nothing special. Also, I'm not using Rails and have no intention of rewriting it in Rails, so unless you have a cute way of implementing it using a small subset of Rails, don't bother. I'll downvote any recommendations to use any of those ways just because you didn't bother to read this far.
Well, there's a way to do it but it wasn't as clean as I'd hoped the CSV code could allow.
I had to subclass CSV, then override the CSV::Row.<<= method and add another method forced_quote_fields= to make it possible to define the fields I want to force-quoting on, plus pull two lambdas from other methods. At least it works for what I want:
require 'csv'
class MyCSV < CSV
def <<(row)
# make sure headers have been assigned
if header_row? and [Array, String].include? #use_headers.class
parse_headers # won't read data for Array or String
self << #headers if #write_headers
end
# handle CSV::Row objects and Hashes
row = case row
when self.class::Row then row.fields
when Hash then #headers.map { |header| row[header] }
else row
end
#headers = row if header_row?
#lineno += 1
#do_quote ||= lambda do |field|
field = String(field)
encoded_quote = #quote_char.encode(field.encoding)
encoded_quote +
field.gsub(encoded_quote, encoded_quote * 2) +
encoded_quote
end
#quotable_chars ||= encode_str("\r\n", #col_sep, #quote_char)
#forced_quote_fields ||= []
#my_quote_lambda ||= lambda do |field, index|
if field.nil? # represent +nil+ fields as empty unquoted fields
""
else
field = String(field) # Stringify fields
# represent empty fields as empty quoted fields
if (
field.empty? or
field.count(#quotable_chars).nonzero? or
#forced_quote_fields.include?(index)
)
#do_quote.call(field)
else
field # unquoted field
end
end
end
output = row.map.with_index(&#my_quote_lambda).join(#col_sep) + #row_sep # quote and separate
if (
#io.is_a?(StringIO) and
output.encoding != raw_encoding and
(compatible_encoding = Encoding.compatible?(#io.string, output))
)
#io = StringIO.new(#io.string.force_encoding(compatible_encoding))
#io.seek(0, IO::SEEK_END)
end
#io << output
self # for chaining
end
alias_method :add_row, :<<
alias_method :puts, :<<
def forced_quote_fields=(indexes=[])
#forced_quote_fields = indexes
end
end
That's the code. Calling it:
data = [
%w[1 2 3],
[ 2, 'two too', 3 ],
[ 3, 'two, too', 3 ]
]
quote_fields = [1]
puts "Ruby version: #{ RUBY_VERSION }"
puts "Quoting fields: #{ quote_fields.join(', ') }", "\n"
csv = MyCSV.generate do |_csv|
_csv.forced_quote_fields = quote_fields
data.each do |d|
_csv << d
end
end
puts csv
results in:
# >> Ruby version: 1.9.2
# >> Quoting fields: 1
# >>
# >> 1,"2",3
# >> 2,"two too",3
# >> 3,"two, too",3
This post is old, but I can't believe no one thought of this.
Why not do:
csv = CSV.generate :quote_char => "\0" do |csv|
where \0 is a null character, then just add quotes to each field where they are needed:
csv << [product.upc, "\"" + product.name + "\"" # ...
Then at the end you can do a
csv.gsub!(/\0/, '')
I doubt if this will help the customer feeling warm and fuzzy after all this time, but this seems to work:
require 'csv'
#prepare a lambda which converts field with index 2
quote_col2 = lambda do |field, fieldinfo|
# fieldinfo has a line- ,header- and index-method
if fieldinfo.index == 2 && !field.start_with?('"') then
'"' + field + '"'
else
field
end
end
# specify above lambda as one of the converters
csv = CSV.read("test1.csv", :converters => [quote_col2])
p csv
# => [["aaa", "bbb", "\"ccc\"", "ddd"], ["fff", "ggg", "\"hhh\"", "iii"]]
File.open("test1.txt","w"){|out| csv.each{|line|out.puts line.join(",")}}
CSV has a force_quotes option that will force it to quote all fields (it may not have been there when you posted this originally). I realize this isn't exactly what you were proposing, but it's less monkey patching.
2.1.0 :008 > puts CSV.generate_line [1,'1.1.1.1','Firstname Lastname','more','fields']
1,1.1.1.1,Firstname Lastname,more,fields
2.1.0 :009 > puts CSV.generate_line [1,'1.1.1.1','Firstname Lastname','more','fields'], force_quotes: true
"1","1.1.1.1","Firstname Lastname","more","fields"
The drawback is that the first integer value ends up listed as a string, which changes things when you import into Excel.
It's been a long time, but since the CSV library has been patched, this might help someone if they're now facing this issue:
require 'csv'
# puts CSV::VERSION # this should be 3.1.9+
headers = ['id', 'ip', 'name', 'foo', 'bar']
data = [
[1, '1.1.1.1','Firstname Lastname','more','fields'],
[2, '2.2.2.2','Firstname Lastname, Jr.','more','fields']
]
quoter = Proc.new do |field, field_meta|
# the index starts at zero, that's why the third field would be 2:
field = '"' + field + '"' if field_meta.index == 2 && fields_meta.index > 1
field = '"' + field + '"' if field.is_a?(String) && field.include?(',')
# ^ CSV format needs to escape fields containing comma(s): ,
field
end
file = CSV.generate(headers: true, quote_char: '', write_converters: quoter) do |csv|
csv << headers
data.each { |row| csv << row }
end
puts file
the output would be:
id,ip,name,foo,bar
1,1.1.1.1,"Firstname Lastname",more,fields
2,2.2.2.2,"Firstname Lastname, Jr.",more,fields
It doesn't look like there's any way to do this with the existing CSV implementation short of monkey-patching/rewriting it.
However, assuming you have full control over the source data, you could do this:
Append a custom string including a comma (i.e. one that would never be naturally found in the data) to the end of the field in question for each row; maybe something like "FORCE_COMMAS,".
Generate the CSV output.
Now that you have CSV output with quotes on every row for your field, remove the custom string: csv.gsub!(/FORCE_COMMAS,/, "")
Customer feels warm and fuzzy.
CSV has changed a bit in Ruby 2.1 as mentioned by #jwadsack, however here's an working version of #the-tin-man's MyCSV. Bit modified, you set the forced_quote_fields via options.
MyCSV.generate(forced_quote_fields: [1]) do |_csv|...
The modified code
require 'csv'
class MyCSV < CSV
def <<(row)
# make sure headers have been assigned
if header_row? and [Array, String].include? #use_headers.class
parse_headers # won't read data for Array or String
self << #headers if #write_headers
end
# handle CSV::Row objects and Hashes
row = case row
when self.class::Row then row.fields
when Hash then #headers.map { |header| row[header] }
else row
end
#headers = row if header_row?
#lineno += 1
output = row.map.with_index(&#quote).join(#col_sep) + #row_sep # quote and separate
if #io.is_a?(StringIO) and
output.encoding != (encoding = raw_encoding)
if #force_encoding
output = output.encode(encoding)
elsif (compatible_encoding = Encoding.compatible?(#io.string, output))
#io.set_encoding(compatible_encoding)
#io.seek(0, IO::SEEK_END)
end
end
#io << output
self # for chaining
end
def init_separators(options)
# store the selected separators
#col_sep = options.delete(:col_sep).to_s.encode(#encoding)
#row_sep = options.delete(:row_sep) # encode after resolving :auto
#quote_char = options.delete(:quote_char).to_s.encode(#encoding)
#forced_quote_fields = options.delete(:forced_quote_fields) || []
if #quote_char.length != 1
raise ArgumentError, ":quote_char has to be a single character String"
end
#
# automatically discover row separator when requested
# (not fully encoding safe)
#
if #row_sep == :auto
if [ARGF, STDIN, STDOUT, STDERR].include?(#io) or
(defined?(Zlib) and #io.class == Zlib::GzipWriter)
#row_sep = $INPUT_RECORD_SEPARATOR
else
begin
#
# remember where we were (pos() will raise an exception if #io is pipe
# or not opened for reading)
#
saved_pos = #io.pos
while #row_sep == :auto
#
# if we run out of data, it's probably a single line
# (ensure will set default value)
#
break unless sample = #io.gets(nil, 1024)
# extend sample if we're unsure of the line ending
if sample.end_with? encode_str("\r")
sample << (#io.gets(nil, 1) || "")
end
# try to find a standard separator
if sample =~ encode_re("\r\n?|\n")
#row_sep = $&
break
end
end
# tricky seek() clone to work around GzipReader's lack of seek()
#io.rewind
# reset back to the remembered position
while saved_pos > 1024 # avoid loading a lot of data into memory
#io.read(1024)
saved_pos -= 1024
end
#io.read(saved_pos) if saved_pos.nonzero?
rescue IOError # not opened for reading
# do nothing: ensure will set default
rescue NoMethodError # Zlib::GzipWriter doesn't have some IO methods
# do nothing: ensure will set default
rescue SystemCallError # pipe
# do nothing: ensure will set default
ensure
#
# set default if we failed to detect
# (stream not opened for reading, a pipe, or a single line of data)
#
#row_sep = $INPUT_RECORD_SEPARATOR if #row_sep == :auto
end
end
end
#row_sep = #row_sep.to_s.encode(#encoding)
# establish quoting rules
#force_quotes = options.delete(:force_quotes)
do_quote = lambda do |field|
field = String(field)
encoded_quote = #quote_char.encode(field.encoding)
encoded_quote +
field.gsub(encoded_quote, encoded_quote * 2) +
encoded_quote
end
quotable_chars = encode_str("\r\n", #col_sep, #quote_char)
#quote = if #force_quotes
do_quote
else
lambda do |field, index|
if field.nil? # represent +nil+ fields as empty unquoted fields
""
else
field = String(field) # Stringify fields
# represent empty fields as empty quoted fields
if field.empty? or
field.count(quotable_chars).nonzero? or
#forced_quote_fields.include?(index)
do_quote.call(field)
else
field # unquoted field
end
end
end
end
end
end
I've tried and tried, but I can't make this less ugly/more ruby-like. It seems like there just must be a better way. Help me learn.
class Df
attr_accessor :thresh
attr_reader :dfo
def initialize
#dfo = []
#df = '/opt/TWWfsw/bin/gdf'
case RUBY_PLATFORM
when /hpux/i
#fstyp = 'vxfs'
when /solaris/i
# fix: need /tmp too
#fstyp = 'ufs'
when /linux/i
#df = '/bin/df'
#fstyp = 'ext3'
end
#dfo = parsedf
end
def parsedf
ldf = []
[" "," -i"] .each do |arg|
fields = %w{device size used avail capp mount}
fields = %w{device inodes inodesused inodesavail iusep mount} if arg == ' -i'
ldf.push %x{#{#df} -P -t #{#fstyp}#{arg}}.split(/\n/)[1..-1].collect{|line| Hash[*fields.zip(line.split).flatten]}
end
out = []
# surely there must be an easier way
ldf[0].each do |x|
ldf[1].select { |y|
if y['device'] == x['device']
out.push x.merge(y)
end
}
end
out
end
end
In my machine, your ldf array after the df calls yields the following:
irb(main):011:0> ldf
=> [[{"device"=>"/dev/sda5", "size"=>"49399372", "mount"=>"/", "avail"=>"22728988", "used"=>"24161036", "capp"=>"52%"}], [{"device"=>"/dev/sda5", "inodes"=>"3137536", "mount"=>"/", "iusep"=>"13%", "inodesavail"=>"2752040", "inodesused"=>"385496"}]]
The most flexible approach to merging such a structure is probably something along these lines:
irb(main):013:0> ldf.flatten.inject {|a,b| a.merge(b)}
=> {"device"=>"/dev/sda5", "inodes"=>"3137536", "size"=>"49399372", "mount"=>"/", "avail"=>"22728988", "inodesavail"=>"2752040", "iusep"=>"13%", "used"=>"24161036", "capp"=>"52%", "inodesused"=>"385496"}
Some ruby programmers frown on this use of inject, but I like it, so your mileage may vary.
As for helping making your code more ruby like, I suggest you talk to some experienced rubyist you might know over your code to help you rewriting it in a way that follows good style and best practices. Probably that would the preferable than to just have someone rewrite it for you here.
Best of Luck!
Didn't test the code, but here goes:
ARGUMENTS = {
" " => %w{size used avail capp mount},
" -i" => %w{inodes inodesused inodesavail iusep mount}
}
def parsedf
# Store resulting info in a hash:
device_info = Hash.new do |h, dev|
h[dev] = {} # Each value will be a empty hash by default
end
ARGUMENTS.each do |arg, fields|
%x{#{#df} -P -t #{#fstyp}#{arg}}.split(/\n/)[1..-1].each do |line|
device, *data = line.split
device_info[device].merge! Hash[fields.zip(data)]
end
end
device_info
end
Notes: returns something a bit different than what you had:
{ "/dev/sda5" => {"inodes" => "...", ...},
"other device" => {...}
}
Also, I'm assuming Ruby 1.8.7 or better for Hash[key_value_pairs], otherwise you can resort to the Hash[*key_value_pairs.flatten] form you had
Depending on your needs, you should consider switch the fields from string to symbols; they are the best type of keys.