How to generate direct access keys to nested hash which contains hash and arrays as values? - ruby

Question

I want to compare two XML files where one is input and the other is output. I am converting both into a hash.
My idea is to get all the keys from the input XML converted to hash, and search each key in both the input and output hashes for their respective key/value pairs.
I have a hash:
{
"requisition_header" => {
"requested_by" => {"login" => "coupasupport"},
"department" => {"name" => "Marketing"},
"ship_to_address" => {"name" => "Address_1431693296"},
"justification" => nil,
"attachments" => [],
"requisition_lines" => [
{
"description" => "Cleaning Services for Building A",
"line_num" => 1,
"need_by_date" => 2010-09-23 07:00:00 UTC,
"source_part_num" => nil,
"supp_aux_part_num" => nil,
"unit_price" => #<BigDecimal:a60520c,'0.3E4',9(18)>,
"supplier" => {"name" => "amazon.com"},
"account" => {
"code" => "SF-Marketing-Indirect",
"account_type" => {"name" => "Ace Corporate"}
},
"currency" => {"code" => "USD"},
"payment_term" => {"code" => "Net 30"},
"shipping_term" => {"code" => "Standard"},
"commodity" => {"name" => "Marketing-Services"}
}
]
}
}
It is nested and all the values are not directly accessible.
I want a way to generate direct access to each value in the hash.
For example:
requisition_header.requested_by.login
will access "coupasupport".
requisition_header.department.name
will access "Marketing".
requisition_header.requisition_lines[0].description
will access "Cleaning Services for Building A".
requisition_header.requisition_lines[0].line_num
will access "1".
requisition_header.requisition_lines[0].need_by_date
will access "2010-09-23 07:00:00 UTC".
Each key built can be used to search for the value directly inside the hash.

Answer 1

That could be done with the following method, that translates the nested hash into nested OpenStructs:
require 'ostruct'
def deep_structify(hash)
result = {}
hash.each do |key, value|
result[key] = value.is_a?(Hash) ? deep_structify(value) : value
end if hash
OpenStruct.new(result)
end
hash = {"requisition_header"=>{"requested_by"=>{"login"=>"coupasupport"}, "department"=>{"name"=>"Marketing"}, "ship_to_address"=>{"name"=>"Address_1431693296"}, "justification"=>nil, "attachments"=>[], "requisition_lines"=>[{"description"=>"Cleaning Services for Building A", "line_num"=>1, "need_by_date"=>2010-09-23 07:00:00 UTC, "source_part_num"=>nil, "supp_aux_part_num"=>nil, "unit_price"=>#<BigDecimal:a60520c,'0.3E4',9(18)>, "supplier"=>{"name"=>"amazon.com"}, "account"=>{"code"=>"SF-Marketing-Indirect", "account_type"=>{"name"=>"Ace Corporate"}}, "currency"=>{"code"=>"USD"}, "payment_term"=>{"code"=>"Net 30"}, "shipping_term"=>{"code"=>"Standard"}, "commodity"=>{"name"=>"Marketing-Services"}}]}}
struct = deep_structify(hash)
struct.requisition_header.department.name
#=> "Marketing"

Answer 2

You can do it by overriding OpenStruct#new as well,
require 'ostruct'
class DeepStruct < OpenStruct
def initialize(hash=nil)
#table = {}
#hash_table = {}
if hash
hash.each do |k,v|
#table[k.to_sym] = (v.is_a?(Hash) ? self.class.new(v) : v)
#hash_table[k.to_sym] = v
new_ostruct_member(k)
end
end
end
def to_h
#hash_table
end
end
Now you can do:
require 'deep_struct'
hash = {"requisition_header"=>{"requested_by"=>{"login"=>"coupasupport"}, "department"=>{"name"=>"Marketing"}, "ship_to_address"=>{"name"=>"Address_1431693296"}, "justification"=>nil, "attachments"=>[], "requisition_lines"=>[{"description"=>"Cleaning Services for Building A", "line_num"=>1, "need_by_date"=>2010-09-23 07:00:00 UTC, "source_part_num"=>nil, "supp_aux_part_num"=>nil, "unit_price"=>#<BigDecimal:a60520c,'0.3E4',9(18)>, "supplier"=>{"name"=>"amazon.com"}, "account"=>{"code"=>"SF-Marketing-Indirect", "account_type"=>{"name"=>"Ace Corporate"}}, "currency"=>{"code"=>"USD"}, "payment_term"=>{"code"=>"Net 30"}, "shipping_term"=>{"code"=>"Standard"}, "commodity"=>{"name"=>"Marketing-Services"}}]}}
mystruct = DeepStruct.new hash
mystruct.requisition_header.requested_by.login # => coupasupport
mystruct.requisition_header.to_h # => {"requested_by"=>{"login"=>"coupasupport"}

Answer 3

You could use BasicObject#method_missing:
Code
class Hash
def method_missing(key,*args)
(args.empty? && key?(key)) ? self[key] : super
end
end
Example
hash = { animals: {
pets: { dog: "Diva", cat: "Boots", python: "Stretch" },
farm: { pig: "Porky", chicken: "Little", sheep: "Baa" }
},
finishes: {
tinted: { stain: "Millers", paint: "Oxford" },
clear: { lacquer: "Target", varnish: "Topcoat" }
}
}
hash.finishes.tinted.stain
#=> "Millers
hash.animals.pets.cat
#=> "Boots"
hash.animals.pets
#=> {:dog=>"Diva", :cat=>"Boots", :python=>"Stretch"}
hash.animals
#=> {:pets=>{:dog=>"Diva", :cat=>"Boots", :python=>"Stretch"},
# :farm=>{:pig=>"Porky", :chicken=>"Little", :sheep=>"Baa"}}
Reader challenge
There is a potential "gotcha" with this approach. I leave it to the reader to identify it. My example contains a clue. (Mind you, there may be other problems I haven't thought of.)