How to push keys and values into an empty hash w/ Ruby? - ruby

Question

I have a dictionary class and want to be able to push keys (as keywords) and values (as definitions) into an empty hash with an 'add' method. I don't understand how to syntactically write that. I have included an RSPEC file too.
ruby:
class Dictionary
attr_accessor :keyword, :definition
def entries
#hash = {}
end
def add(options)
options.map do |keyword, definition|
#hash[keyword.to_sym] = definition
end
end
end
Rspec:
require 'dictionary'
describe Dictionary do
before do
#d = Dictionary.new
end
it 'can add whole entries with keyword and definition' do
#d.add('fish' => 'aquatic animal')
#d.entries.should == {'fish' => 'aquatic animal'}
#d.keywords.should == ['fish']
end
Any help is appreciated. Thank you!
UPDATE:
Thank you Dave Newton for replying. I used your code and got this error:
ERROR:
*Failure/Error: #d.keywords.should == ['fish']
NoMethodError:
undefined method `keywords' for #<Dictionary:0x007fb0c31bd458
#hash={"fish"=>"aquatic animal"}>*
I get a different error when I convert 'word' into a symbol using #hash[word.to_sym] = defintion
*Failure/Error: #d.entries.should == {'fish' => 'aquatic animal'}
expected: {"fish"=>"aquatic animal"}
got: {:fish=>"aquatic animal"} (using ==)
Diff:
## -1,2 +1,2 ##
-"fish" => "aquatic animal"
+:fish => "aquatic animal"*

Answer 1

Instantiate your hash in Dictionary's initialize:
class Dictionary
def initialize
#hash = {}
end
def add(defs)
defs.each do |word, definition|
#hash[word] = definition
end
end
end
Right now you have no hash until you call entries, which you don't.
entries should return the existing hash, not create a new one.
keywords should return the hash's keys.
You do not need accessors for keyword and definition. Such singular items are meaningless in a dictionary class. You might want something like lookup(word) that returned a definition.
Also, you convert words to symbols, but I don't know why–particularly since you use string keys in your spec. Pick one, although I'm not convinced this is a case where symbols add value.
Please consider variable naming carefully to provide as much context as possible.

Answer 2

Looking at your Rspec, It looks like you need this setup.
class Dictionary
def initialize
#hash = {}
end
def add(key_value)
key_value.each do |key, value|
#hash[key] = value
end
end
def entries
#hash
end
def keywords
#hash.keys
end
end
Do not use key.to_sym in add method, just key
To give flexibility to add method, I can return the self object to continuesly add.
def add(key_value)
key_value.each do |key, value|
#hash[key] = value
end
self
end
So, I can do this now.
#d.add("a" => "apple").add("b" => "bat")