Ruby dot notation to nested hash keys - ruby

Question

What's the best way of converting a dot notation path (or even an array of strings) into a nested hash key-value? Ex: I need to convert 'foo.bar.baz' equal to 'qux' like this:
{
'foo' => {
'bar' => {
'baz' => 'qux'
}
}
}
I've done this in PHP, but I managed that by creating a key in the array and then setting a tmp variable to that array key's value by reference so any changes would also take place in the array.

Answer 1

Try this
f = "root/sub-1/sub-2/file"
f.split("/").reverse.inject{|a,n| {n=>a}} #=>{"root"=>{"sub-1"=>{"sub-2"=>"file"}}}

Answer 2

I'd probably use recursion. For example:
def hasherizer(arr, value)
if arr.empty?
value
else
{}.tap do |hash|
hash[arr.shift] = hasherizer(arr, value)
end
end
end
This results in:
> hasherizer 'foo.bar.baz'.split('.'), 'qux'
=> {"foo"=>{"bar"=>{"baz"=>"qux"}}}

Answer 3

I like this method below which operates on itself (or your own hash class). It'll create new hash keys or reuse/append to existing keys in a hash to add or update the value.
# set a new or existing nested key's value by a dotted-string key
def dotkey_set(dottedkey, value, deep_hash = self)
keys = dottedkey.to_s.split('.')
first = keys.first
if keys.length == 1
deep_hash[first] = value
else
# in the case that we are creating a hash from a dotted key, we'll assign a default
deep_hash[first] = (deep_hash[first] || {})
dotkey_set(keys.slice(1..-1).join('.'), value, deep_hash[first])
end
end
Usage:
hash = {}
hash.dotkey_set('how.are.you', 'good')
# => "good"
hash
# => {"how"=>{"are"=>{"you"=>"good"}}}
hash.dotkey_set('how.goes.it', 'fine')
# => "fine"
hash
# => {"how"=>{"are"=>{"you"=>"good"}, "goes"=>{"it"=>"fine"}}}

Answer 4

I did something similar when I wrote an HTTP server that had to move all the parameters passed in the request into a multiple value hash which might contain arrays or strings or hashes...
You can look at the code for the Plezi server and framework... although the code over there deals with values surrounded with []...
It could possibly be adjusted like so:
def add_param_to_hash param_name, param_value, target_hash = {}
begin
a = target_hash
p = param_name.split(/[\/\.]/)
val = param_value
# the following, somewhat complex line, runs through the existing (?) tree, making sure to preserve existing values and add values where needed.
p.each_index { |i| p[i].strip! ; n = p[i].match(/^[0-9]+$/) ? p[i].to_i : p[i].to_sym ; p[i+1] ? [ ( a[n] ||= ( p[i+1].empty? ? [] : {} ) ), ( a = a[n]) ] : ( a.is_a?(Hash) ? (a[n] ? (a[n].is_a?(Array) ? (a << val) : a[n] = [a[n], val] ) : (a[n] = val) ) : (a << val) ) }
rescue Exception => e
warn "(Silent): parameters parse error for #{param_name} ... maybe conflicts with a different set?"
target_hash[param_name] = param_value
end
end
This should preserve existing values while adding new values if they exist.
The long line looks something like this when broken down:
def add_param_to_hash param_name, param_value, target_hash = {}
begin
# a will hold the object to which we Add.
# As we walk the tree we change `a`. we start at the root...
a = target_hash
p = param_name.split(/[\/\.]/)
val = param_value
# the following, somewhat complex line, runs through the existing (?) tree, making sure to preserve existing values and add values where needed.
p.each_index do |i|
p[i].strip!
# converts the current key string to either numbers or symbols... you might want to replace this with: n=p[i]
n = p[i].match(/^[0-9]+$/) ? p[i].to_i : p[i].to_sym
if p[i+1]
a[n] ||= ( p[i+1].empty? ? [] : {} ) # is the new object we'll add to
a = a[n] # move to the next branch.
else
if a.is_a?(Hash)
if a[n]
if a[n].is_a?(Array)
a << val
else
a[n] = [a[n], val]
end
else
a[n] = val
end
else
a << val
end
end
end
rescue Exception => e
warn "(Silent): parameters parse error for #{param_name} ... maybe conflicts with a different set?"
target_hash[param_name] = param_value
end
end
Brrr... Looking at the code like this, I wonder what I was thinking...