I have an array of hashes to write a generic checker for, so I want to pass in the name of a key to be checked. The hash was defined with keys with symbols (colon prefixes). I can't figure out how to use the variable as a key properly. Even though the key exists in the hash, using the variable to access it results in nil.
In IRB I do this:
>> family = { 'husband' => "Homer", 'wife' => "Marge" }
=> {"husband"=>"Homer", "wife"=>"Marge"}
>> somevar = "husband"
=> "husband"
>> family[somevar]
=> "Homer"
>> another_family = { :husband => "Fred", :wife => "Wilma" }
=> {:husband=>"Fred", :wife=>"Wilma"}
>> another_family[somevar]
=> nil
>>
How do I access the hash key through a variable? Perhaps another way to ask is, how do I coerce the variable to a symbol?
You want to convert your string to a symbol first:
another_family[somevar.to_sym]
If you want to not have to worry about if your hash is symbol or string, simply convert it to symbolized keys
see: How do I convert a Ruby hash so that all of its keys are symbols?
You can use the Active Support gem to get access to the with_indifferent_access method:
require 'active_support/core_ext/hash/indifferent_access'
> hash = { somekey: 'somevalue' }.with_indifferent_access
=> {"somekey"=>"somevalue"}
> hash[:somekey]
=> "somevalue"
> hash['somekey']
=> "somevalue"
Since your keys are symbols, use symbols as keys.
> hash = { :husband => 'Homer', :wife => 'Marge' }
=> {:husband=>"Homer", :wife=>"Marge"}
> key_variable = :husband
=> :husband
> hash[key_variable]
=> "Homer"
If you use Rails with ActiveSupport, then do use HashWithIndifferentAccess for flexibility in accessing hash with either string or symbol.
family = HashWithIndifferentAccess.new({
'husband' => "Homer",
'wife' => "Marge"
})
somevar = "husband"
puts family[somevar]
#Homer
somevar = :husband
puts family[somevar]
#Homer
The things that you see as a variable-key in the hash are called Symbol is a structure in Ruby. They're primarily used either as hash keys or for referencing method names. They're immutable, and Only one copy of any symbol exists at a given time, so they save memory.
You can convert a string or symbol with .to_sym or a symbol to string with .to_s to illustrate this let me show this example:
strings = ["HTML", "CSS", "JavaScript", "Python", "Ruby"]
symbolArray = [:HTML, :CSS, :JavaScript, :Python, :Ruby]
# Add your code below!
symbols = Array.new
strings.each {|x|
symbols.push(x.to_sym)
}
string = Array.new
symbolArray .each {|x|
string.push(x.to_s)
}
print symbols
print string
the result would be:
[:HTML, :CSS, :JavaScript, :Python, :Ruby]
["HTML", "CSS", "JavaScript", "Python", "Ruby"]
In ruby 9.1 you would see the symbols with the colons (:) in the right instead:
movies = { peter_pan: "magic dust", need_4_speed: "hey bro", back_to_the_future: "hey Doc!" }
I just wanted to make this point a litter more didactic so who ever is reading this can used.
One last thing, this is another way to solve your problem:
movie_ratings = {
:memento => 3,
:primer => 3.5,
:the_matrix => 3,
}
# Add your code below!
movie_ratings.each_key {|k|
puts k.to_s
}
result:
memento
primer
the_matrix
Is there a better way to write this? basically I want to add an argument to a hash. if the argument is a key-val pair, then id like to add it as is. if the argument is a string i'd like to add it as a key with a nil value. the below code works, but is there a more appropriate (simple) way?
2nd question, does calling an each method on an array with two arguments |key, val| automatically convert an array to a hash as it appears to?
#some_hash = {}
def some_method(input)
if input.is_a? Hash
input.each {|key, val| #some_hash[key] = val}
else
input.split(" ").each {|key, val| #some_hash[key] = val}
end
end
some_method("key" => "val")
This gives the result as instructed in the question, but it works differently from the code OP gave (which means that the OP's code does not work as it says):
#some_hash = {}
def some_method(input)
case input
when Hash then #some_hash.merge!(input)
when String then #some_hash[input] = nil
end
end
some_method("foo" => "bar")
some_method("baz")
#some_hash # => {"foo" => "bar", "baz" => nil}
Second question
An array is never automatically converted to a hash. What you are probably mentioning is the fact that the elements of an array within an array [[:foo, :bar]] can be referred to separately in:
[[:foo, :bar]].each{|f, b| puts f; puts b}
# => foo
# => bar
That is due to destructive assignment. When necessary, Ruby takes out the elements of an array as separate things and tries to adjust the number of variables. It is the same as:
f, b = [:foo, :bar]
f # => :foo
b # => :bar
Here, you don't get f # => [:foo, :bar] and b # => nil.
I'm trying to build an API wrapper gem, and having issues with converting hash keys to a more Rubyish format from the JSON the API returns.
The JSON contains multiple layers of nesting, both Hashes and Arrays. What I want to do is to recursively convert all keys to snake_case for easier use.
Here's what I've got so far:
def convert_hash_keys(value)
return value if (not value.is_a?(Array) and not value.is_a?(Hash))
result = value.inject({}) do |new, (key, value)|
new[to_snake_case(key.to_s).to_sym] = convert_hash_keys(value)
new
end
result
end
The above calls this method to convert strings to snake_case:
def to_snake_case(string)
string.gsub(/::/, '/').
gsub(/([A-Z]+)([A-Z][a-z])/,'\1_\2').
gsub(/([a-z\d])([A-Z])/,'\1_\2').
tr("-", "_").
downcase
end
Ideally, the result would be similar to the following:
hash = {:HashKey => {:NestedHashKey => [{:Key => "value"}]}}
convert_hash_keys(hash)
# => {:hash_key => {:nested_hash_key => [{:key => "value"}]}}
I'm getting the recursion wrong, and every version of this sort of solution I've tried either doesn't convert symbols beyond the first level, or goes overboard and tries to convert the entire hash, including values.
Trying to solve all this in a helper class, rather than modifying the actual Hash and String functions, if possible.
Thank you in advance.
If you use Rails:
Example with hash: camelCase to snake_case:
hash = { camelCase: 'value1', changeMe: 'value2' }
hash.transform_keys { |key| key.to_s.underscore }
# => { "camel_case" => "value1", "change_me" => "value2" }
source:
http://apidock.com/rails/v4.0.2/Hash/transform_keys
For nested attributes use deep_transform_keys instead of transform_keys, example:
hash = { camelCase: 'value1', changeMe: { hereToo: { andMe: 'thanks' } } }
hash.deep_transform_keys { |key| key.to_s.underscore }
# => {"camel_case"=>"value1", "change_me"=>{"here_too"=>{"and_me"=>"thanks"}}}
source: http://apidock.com/rails/v4.2.7/Hash/deep_transform_keys
You need to treat Array and Hash separately. And, if you're in Rails, you can use underscore instead of your homebrew to_snake_case. First a little helper to reduce the noise:
def underscore_key(k)
k.to_s.underscore.to_sym
# Or, if you're not in Rails:
# to_snake_case(k.to_s).to_sym
end
If your Hashes will have keys that aren't Symbols or Strings then you can modify underscore_key appropriately.
If you have an Array, then you just want to recursively apply convert_hash_keys to each element of the Array; if you have a Hash, you want to fix the keys with underscore_key and apply convert_hash_keys to each of the values; if you have something else then you want to pass it through untouched:
def convert_hash_keys(value)
case value
when Array
value.map { |v| convert_hash_keys(v) }
# or `value.map(&method(:convert_hash_keys))`
when Hash
Hash[value.map { |k, v| [underscore_key(k), convert_hash_keys(v)] }]
else
value
end
end
I use this short form:
hash.transform_keys(&:underscore)
And, as #Shanaka Kuruwita pointed out, to deeply transform all the nested hashes:
hash.deep_transform_keys(&:underscore)
The accepted answer by 'mu is too short' has been converted into a gem, futurechimp's Plissken:
https://github.com/futurechimp/plissken/blob/master/lib/plissken/ext/hash/to_snake_keys.rb
This looks like it should work outside of Rails as the underscore functionality is included.
Use deep_transform_keys for recursive conversion.
transform_keys only convert it in high level
hash = { camelCase: 'value1', changeMe: {nestedMe: 'value2'} }
hash.transform_keys { |key| key.to_s.underscore }
# => { "camel_case" => "value1", "change_me" => {nestedMe: 'value2'} }
deep_transform_keys will go deeper and transform all nested hashes as well.
hash = { camelCase: 'value1', changeMe: {nestedMe: 'value2'} }
hash.deep_transform_keys { |key| key.to_s.underscore }
# => { "camel_case" => "value1", "change_me" => {nested_me: 'value2'} }
If you're using the active_support library, you can use deep_transform_keys! like so:
hash.deep_transform_keys! do |key|
k = key.to_s.snakecase rescue key
k.to_sym rescue key
end
This works both to camelCase and snake_case deep nested keys of an object, which is very useful for a JSON API:
def camelize_keys(object)
deep_transform_keys_in_object!(object) { |key| key.to_s.camelize(:lower) }
end
def snakecase_keys(object)
deep_transform_keys_in_object!(object) { |key| key.to_s.underscore.to_sym }
end
def deep_transform_keys_in_object!(object, &block)
case object
when Hash
object.keys.each do |key|
value = object.delete(key)
object[yield(key)] = deep_transform_keys_in_object!(value, &block)
end
object
when Array
object.map! { |e| deep_transform_keys_in_object!(e, &block) }
else
object
end
end
I've got an array of hashes representing objects as a response to an API call. I need to pull data from some of the hashes, and one particular key serves as an id for the hash object. I would like to convert the array into a hash with the keys as the ids, and the values as the original hash with that id.
Here's what I'm talking about:
api_response = [
{ :id => 1, :foo => 'bar' },
{ :id => 2, :foo => 'another bar' },
# ..
]
ideal_response = {
1 => { :id => 1, :foo => 'bar' },
2 => { :id => 2, :foo => 'another bar' },
# ..
}
There are two ways I could think of doing this.
Map the data to the ideal_response (below)
Use api_response.find { |x| x[:id] == i } for each record I need to access.
A method I'm unaware of, possibly involving a way of using map to build a hash, natively.
My method of mapping:
keys = data.map { |x| x[:id] }
mapped = Hash[*keys.zip(data).flatten]
I can't help but feel like there is a more performant, tidier way of doing this. Option 2 is very performant when there are a very minimal number of records that need to be accessed. Mapping excels here, but it starts to break down when there are a lot of records in the response. Thankfully, I don't expect there to be more than 50-100 records, so mapping is sufficient.
Is there a smarter, tidier, or more performant way of doing this in Ruby?
Ruby <= 2.0
> Hash[api_response.map { |r| [r[:id], r] }]
#=> {1=>{:id=>1, :foo=>"bar"}, 2=>{:id=>2, :foo=>"another bar"}}
However, Hash::[] is pretty ugly and breaks the usual left-to-right OOP flow. That's why Facets proposed Enumerable#mash:
> require 'facets'
> api_response.mash { |r| [r[:id], r] }
#=> {1=>{:id=>1, :foo=>"bar"}, 2=>{:id=>2, :foo=>"another bar"}}
This basic abstraction (convert enumerables to hashes) was asked to be included in Ruby long ago, alas, without luck.
Note that your use case is covered by Active Support: Enumerable#index_by
Ruby >= 2.1
[UPDATE] Still no love for Enumerable#mash, but now we have Array#to_h. It creates an intermediate array, but it's better than nothing:
> object = api_response.map { |r| [r[:id], r] }.to_h
Something like:
ideal_response = api_response.group_by{|i| i[:id]}
#=> {1=>[{:id=>1, :foo=>"bar"}], 2=>[{:id=>2, :foo=>"another bar"}]}
It uses Enumerable's group_by, which works on collections, returning matches for whatever key value you want. Because it expects to find multiple occurrences of matching key-value hits it appends them to arrays, so you end up with a hash of arrays of hashes. You could peel back the internal arrays if you wanted but could run a risk of overwriting content if two of your hash IDs collided. group_by avoids that with the inner array.
Accessing a particular element is easy:
ideal_response[1][0] #=> {:id=>1, :foo=>"bar"}
ideal_response[1][0][:foo] #=> "bar"
The way you show at the end of the question is another valid way of doing it. Both are reasonably fast and elegant.
For this I'd probably just go:
ideal_response = api_response.each_with_object(Hash.new) { |o, h| h[o[:id]] = o }
Not super pretty with the multiple brackets in the block but it does the trick with just a single iteration of the api_response.
What's the (fastest/cleanest/straightforward) way to convert all keys in a hash from strings to symbols in Ruby?
This would be handy when parsing YAML.
my_hash = YAML.load_file('yml')
I'd like to be able to use:
my_hash[:key]
Rather than:
my_hash['key']
In Ruby >= 2.5 (docs) you can use:
my_hash.transform_keys(&:to_sym)
Using older Ruby version? Here is a one-liner that will copy the hash into a new one with the keys symbolized:
my_hash = my_hash.inject({}){|memo,(k,v)| memo[k.to_sym] = v; memo}
With Rails you can use:
my_hash.symbolize_keys
my_hash.deep_symbolize_keys
Here's a better method, if you're using Rails:
params.symbolize_keys
The end.
If you're not, just rip off their code (it's also in the link):
myhash.keys.each do |key|
myhash[(key.to_sym rescue key) || key] = myhash.delete(key)
end
For the specific case of YAML in Ruby, if the keys begin with ':', they will be automatically interned as symbols.
require 'yaml'
require 'pp'
yaml_str = "
connections:
- host: host1.example.com
port: 10000
- host: host2.example.com
port: 20000
"
yaml_sym = "
:connections:
- :host: host1.example.com
:port: 10000
- :host: host2.example.com
:port: 20000
"
pp yaml_str = YAML.load(yaml_str)
puts yaml_str.keys.first.class
pp yaml_sym = YAML.load(yaml_sym)
puts yaml_sym.keys.first.class
Output:
# /opt/ruby-1.8.6-p287/bin/ruby ~/test.rb
{"connections"=>
[{"port"=>10000, "host"=>"host1.example.com"},
{"port"=>20000, "host"=>"host2.example.com"}]}
String
{:connections=>
[{:port=>10000, :host=>"host1.example.com"},
{:port=>20000, :host=>"host2.example.com"}]}
Symbol
if you're using Rails, it is much simpler - you can use a HashWithIndifferentAccess and access the keys both as String and as Symbols:
my_hash.with_indifferent_access
see also:
http://api.rubyonrails.org/classes/ActiveSupport/HashWithIndifferentAccess.html
Or you can use the awesome "Facets of Ruby" Gem, which contains a lot of extensions to Ruby Core and Standard Library classes.
require 'facets'
> {'some' => 'thing', 'foo' => 'bar'}.symbolize_keys
=> {:some=>"thing", :foo=>"bar}
see also:
http://rubyworks.github.io/rubyfaux/?doc=http://rubyworks.github.io/facets/docs/facets-2.9.3/core.json#api-class-Hash
Even more terse:
Hash[my_hash.map{|(k,v)| [k.to_sym,v]}]
Since Ruby 2.5.0 you can use Hash#transform_keys or Hash#transform_keys!.
{'a' => 1, 'b' => 2}.transform_keys(&:to_sym) #=> {:a => 1, :b => 2}
http://api.rubyonrails.org/classes/Hash.html#method-i-symbolize_keys
hash = { 'name' => 'Rob', 'age' => '28' }
hash.symbolize_keys
# => { name: "Rob", age: "28" }
If you are using json, and want to use it as a hash, in core Ruby you can do it:
json_obj = JSON.parse(json_str, symbolize_names: true)
symbolize_names: If set to true, returns symbols for the names (keys) in a JSON object. Otherwise strings are returned. Strings are the default.
Doc: Json#parse symbolize_names
Here's a way to deep symbolize an object
def symbolize(obj)
return obj.inject({}){|memo,(k,v)| memo[k.to_sym] = symbolize(v); memo} if obj.is_a? Hash
return obj.inject([]){|memo,v | memo << symbolize(v); memo} if obj.is_a? Array
return obj
end
I really like the Mash gem.
you can do mash['key'], or mash[:key], or mash.key
A modification to #igorsales answer
class Object
def deep_symbolize_keys
return self.inject({}){|memo,(k,v)| memo[k.to_sym] = v.deep_symbolize_keys; memo} if self.is_a? Hash
return self.inject([]){|memo,v | memo << v.deep_symbolize_keys; memo} if self.is_a? Array
return self
end
end
params.symbolize_keys will also work. This method turns hash keys into symbols and returns a new hash.
In Rails you can use:
{'g'=> 'a', 2 => {'v' => 'b', 'x' => { 'z' => 'c'}}}.deep_symbolize_keys!
Converts to:
{:g=>"a", 2=>{:v=>"b", :x=>{:z=>"c"}}}
So many answers here, but the one method rails function is hash.symbolize_keys
This is my one liner for nested hashes
def symbolize_keys(hash)
hash.each_with_object({}) { |(k, v), h| h[k.to_sym] = v.is_a?(Hash) ? symbolize_keys(v) : v }
end
In case the reason you need to do this is because your data originally came from JSON, you could skip any of this parsing by just passing in the :symbolize_names option upon ingesting JSON.
No Rails required and works with Ruby >1.9
JSON.parse(my_json, :symbolize_names => true)
You could be lazy, and wrap it in a lambda:
my_hash = YAML.load_file('yml')
my_lamb = lambda { |key| my_hash[key.to_s] }
my_lamb[:a] == my_hash['a'] #=> true
But this would only work for reading from the hash - not writing.
To do that, you could use Hash#merge
my_hash = Hash.new { |h,k| h[k] = h[k.to_s] }.merge(YAML.load_file('yml'))
The init block will convert the keys one time on demand, though if you update the value for the string version of the key after accessing the symbol version, the symbol version won't be updated.
irb> x = { 'a' => 1, 'b' => 2 }
#=> {"a"=>1, "b"=>2}
irb> y = Hash.new { |h,k| h[k] = h[k.to_s] }.merge(x)
#=> {"a"=>1, "b"=>2}
irb> y[:a] # the key :a doesn't exist for y, so the init block is called
#=> 1
irb> y
#=> {"a"=>1, :a=>1, "b"=>2}
irb> y[:a] # the key :a now exists for y, so the init block is isn't called
#=> 1
irb> y['a'] = 3
#=> 3
irb> y
#=> {"a"=>3, :a=>1, "b"=>2}
You could also have the init block not update the hash, which would protect you from that kind of error, but you'd still be vulnerable to the opposite - updating the symbol version wouldn't update the string version:
irb> q = { 'c' => 4, 'd' => 5 }
#=> {"c"=>4, "d"=>5}
irb> r = Hash.new { |h,k| h[k.to_s] }.merge(q)
#=> {"c"=>4, "d"=>5}
irb> r[:c] # init block is called
#=> 4
irb> r
#=> {"c"=>4, "d"=>5}
irb> r[:c] # init block is called again, since this key still isn't in r
#=> 4
irb> r[:c] = 7
#=> 7
irb> r
#=> {:c=>7, "c"=>4, "d"=>5}
So the thing to be careful of with these is switching between the two key forms. Stick with one.
Would something like the following work?
new_hash = Hash.new
my_hash.each { |k, v| new_hash[k.to_sym] = v }
It'll copy the hash, but you won't care about that most of the time. There's probably a way to do it without copying all the data.
a shorter one-liner fwiw:
my_hash.inject({}){|h,(k,v)| h.merge({ k.to_sym => v}) }
How about this:
my_hash = HashWithIndifferentAccess.new(YAML.load_file('yml'))
# my_hash['key'] => "val"
# my_hash[:key] => "val"
This is for people who uses mruby and do not have any symbolize_keys method defined:
class Hash
def symbolize_keys!
self.keys.each do |k|
if self[k].is_a? Hash
self[k].symbolize_keys!
end
if k.is_a? String
raise RuntimeError, "Symbolizing key '#{k}' means overwrite some data (key :#{k} exists)" if self[k.to_sym]
self[k.to_sym] = self[k]
self.delete(k)
end
end
return self
end
end
The method:
symbolizes only keys that are String
if symbolize a string means to lose some informations (overwrite part of hash) raise a RuntimeError
symbolize also recursively contained hashes
return the symbolized hash
works in place!
The array we want to change.
strings = ["HTML", "CSS", "JavaScript", "Python", "Ruby"]
Make a new variable as an empty array so we can ".push" the symbols in.
symbols = [ ]
Here's where we define a method with a block.
strings.each {|x| symbols.push(x.intern)}
End of code.
So this is probably the most straightforward way to convert strings to symbols in your array(s) in Ruby. Make an array of strings then make a new variable and set the variable to an empty array. Then select each element in the first array you created with the ".each" method. Then use a block code to ".push" all of the elements in your new array and use ".intern or .to_sym" to convert all the elements to symbols.
Symbols are faster because they save more memory within your code and you can only use them once. Symbols are most commonly used for keys in hash which is great. I'm the not the best ruby programmer but this form of code helped me a lot.If anyone knows a better way please share and you can use this method for hash too!
If you would like vanilla ruby solution and as me do not have access to ActiveSupport here is deep symbolize solution (very similar to previous ones)
def deep_convert(element)
return element.collect { |e| deep_convert(e) } if element.is_a?(Array)
return element.inject({}) { |sh,(k,v)| sh[k.to_sym] = deep_convert(v); sh } if element.is_a?(Hash)
element
end
Starting on Psych 3.0 you can add the symbolize_names: option
Psych.load("---\n foo: bar")
# => {"foo"=>"bar"}
Psych.load("---\n foo: bar", symbolize_names: true)
# => {:foo=>"bar"}
Note: if you have a lower Psych version than 3.0 symbolize_names: will be silently ignored.
My Ubuntu 18.04 includes it out of the box with ruby 2.5.1p57
ruby-1.9.2-p180 :001 > h = {'aaa' => 1, 'bbb' => 2}
=> {"aaa"=>1, "bbb"=>2}
ruby-1.9.2-p180 :002 > Hash[h.map{|a| [a.first.to_sym, a.last]}]
=> {:aaa=>1, :bbb=>2}
This is not exactly a one-liner, but it turns all string keys into symbols, also the nested ones:
def recursive_symbolize_keys(my_hash)
case my_hash
when Hash
Hash[
my_hash.map do |key, value|
[ key.respond_to?(:to_sym) ? key.to_sym : key, recursive_symbolize_keys(value) ]
end
]
when Enumerable
my_hash.map { |value| recursive_symbolize_keys(value) }
else
my_hash
end
end
I like this one-liner, when I'm not using Rails, because then I don't have to make a second hash and hold two sets of data while I'm processing it:
my_hash = { "a" => 1, "b" => "string", "c" => true }
my_hash.keys.each { |key| my_hash[key.to_sym] = my_hash.delete(key) }
my_hash
=> {:a=>1, :b=>"string", :c=>true}
Hash#delete returns the value of the deleted key
Facets' Hash#deep_rekey is also a good option, especially:
if you find use for other sugar from facets in your project,
if you prefer code readability over cryptical one-liners.
Sample:
require 'facets/hash/deep_rekey'
my_hash = YAML.load_file('yml').deep_rekey
In ruby I find this to be the most simple and easy to understand way to turn string keys in hashes to symbols :
my_hash.keys.each { |key| my_hash[key.to_sym] = my_hash.delete(key)}
For each key in the hash we call delete on it which removes it from the hash (also delete returns the value associated with the key that was deleted) and we immediately set this equal to the symbolized key.
Similar to previous solutions but written a bit differently.
This allows for a hash that is nested and/or has arrays.
Get conversion of keys to a string as a bonus.
Code does not mutate the hash been passed in.
module HashUtils
def symbolize_keys(hash)
transformer_function = ->(key) { key.to_sym }
transform_keys(hash, transformer_function)
end
def stringify_keys(hash)
transformer_function = ->(key) { key.to_s }
transform_keys(hash, transformer_function)
end
def transform_keys(obj, transformer_function)
case obj
when Array
obj.map{|value| transform_keys(value, transformer_function)}
when Hash
obj.each_with_object({}) do |(key, value), hash|
hash[transformer_function.call(key)] = transform_keys(value, transformer_function)
end
else
obj
end
end
end