compose objects without initializing objects that are not in hash - ruby

Question

I am trying to compose an object Transaction from objects TranFee and Rate.
class Transaction
attr_reader :tranfee, :rate
def initialize(hash)
#tranfee = PaymentType::TranFee.new(hash)
#rate = PaymentType::Rate.new(hash)
end
end
module PaymentType
def initialize(args = {}, regex)
args.each do |key,value|
if key =~ regex
instance_variable_set("##{key}", value) unless value.nil?
eigenclass = class << self; self; end
eigenclass.class_eval do
attr_reader key
end
end
end
end
class TranFee
include PaymentType
def initialize(args, regex = /\Atran.*/)
super(args, regex)
end
end
class Rate
include PaymentType
def initialize(args, regex = /\Arate.*/)
super(args, regex)
end
end
end
The rate and TranFee objects are created from a hash like the one below.
reg_debit = {"name" => "reg_debit", "rate_base" => 0.0005,
"tran_fee" => 0.21, "rate_basis_points" => 0.002, "tran_auth_fee" => 0.10}
I am initializing the objects based on regex because the hash will eventually contain more values and I want the program to adjust as more items/classes are added.
Additionally there will be some instances where there are no key's starting with "tran". Does anyone know how to make Transaction create only a Rate object if TranFee has no instance variables inside of it? (in otherwords, if the hash returns nothing when keys =~ /\Atran.*/)
an example would be when the hash looks like this reg_debit = {"name" => "reg_debit", "rate_base" => 0.0005, "rate_basis_points" => 0.002}, right now the output is
#<Transaction:0x007ff98c070548 #tranfee=#<PaymentType::TranFee:0x007ff98c070520>, #rate=#<PaymentType::Rate:0x007ff98c0704a8 #rate_base=0.0005, #rate_basis_points=0.002>>
So I am getting a TranFee object with nothing in it and I would like for that to drop off in this situation. not sure if there may be a better way to design this? I was trying to think of a way to use ostruct or struct, but I havnt been able to figure it out. thanks for any help here.

Answer 1

I believe your strategy is very problematic - creating attributes to a class from user input doesn't sound like a very good idea.
Furthermore, adding methods (like attr_reader) to every instances can have severe performance issues.
If all you want is a data structure to hold your data, keep using a Hash. If you want a structure you can query using a dot notation instead of bracket notation, you might want to consider a gem like hashie or hashr.
If you want some code to make the flat data-structure hierarchical, I can suggest something like this:
hierarchical_hash = hash.each_with_object({}) do |(k, v), h|
if k.match(/^([^_]+)_(.+)$/)
root_key = $1
child_key = $2
h[root_key] ||= {}
h[root_key][child_key] = v
else
h[k] = v
end
end
# => {
# => "name" => "reg_debit",
# => "rate" => {
# => "base" => 0.0005,
# => "basis_points" => 0.002
# => },
# => "tran" => {
# => "fee" => 0.21,
# => "auth_fee" => 0.1
# => }
# => }

Answer 2

Your question raises some interesting issues. I will try to explain how you can fix it, but, as #Uri mentions, there may be better ways to address your problem.
I've assumed #tranfee is to be set equal to the first value in the hash whose key begins with "tran" and that #rate is to be set equal to the first value in the hash whose key begins with "rate". If that interpretation is not correct, please let me know.
Note that I've put initialize in the PaymentType module in a class (Papa) and made TranFee and Rate subclasses. That's the only way you can use super within initialize in the subclasses of that class.
Code
class Transaction
attr_reader :tranfee, :rate
def initialize(hash={})
o = PaymentType::TranFee.new(hash)
#tranfee = o.instance_variable_get(o.instance_variables.first)
o = PaymentType::Rate.new(hash)
#rate = o.instance_variable_get(o.instance_variables.first)
end
end
.
module PaymentType
class Papa
def initialize(hash, prefix)
key, value = hash.find { |key,value| key.start_with?(prefix) && value }
(raise ArgumentError, "No key beginning with #{prefix}") unless key
instance_variable_set("##{key}", value)
self.class.singleton_class.class_eval { attr_reader key }
end
end
class TranFee < Papa
def initialize(hash)
super hash, "tran"
end
end
class Rate < Papa
def initialize(hash)
super hash, "rate"
end
end
end
I believe the method Object#singleton_class has been available since Ruby 1.9.3.
Example
reg_debit = {"name" => "reg_debit", "rate_base" => 0.0005, "tran_fee" => 0.21,
"rate_basis_points" => 0.002, "tran_auth_fee" => 0.10}
a = Transaction.new reg_debit
p Transaction.instance_methods(false) #=> [:tranfee, :rate]
p a.instance_variables #=> [:#tranfee, :#rate]
p a.tranfee #=> 0.21
p a.rate #=> 0.0005