How do I extend a Ruby module in class context? - ruby

I have the following Ruby script, in which class Foo includes module Baz, module Baz has a included hook to make Bar extended by the including class (Foo). I am just wondering why:
class << klass
extend Bar #this doesn't work. Why?
end
does not work while:
klass.extend(Bar) works.
Here is my code:
#! /usr/bin/env ruby
module Baz
def inst_method
puts "dude"
end
module Bar
def cls_method
puts "Yo"
end
end
class << self
def included klass
# klass.extend(Bar) this works, but why the other approach below doesn't?
class << klass
extend Bar #this doesn't work. Why?
def hello
puts "hello"
end
end
end
end
end
class Foo
include Baz
end
foo = Foo.new
foo.inst_method
Foo.hello
Foo.cls_method

Within the body of class << klass, self refers to the singleton class of klass, not klass itself, whereas in klass.extend(Bar), the receiver is klass itself. The difference comes from there.
class A
end
class << A
p self # => #<Class:A> # This is the singleton class of A, not A itself.
end
p A # => A # This is A itself.
And since you want to apply extend to klass, doing it within the body of class << klass does not work.

What you want is invoke the extend method on the class object (klass) not the singleton class (class << klass).
Therefore the following code doesn't work because you are invoking the extend method on the singleton class:
class << klass
extend Bar # doesn't work because self refers to the the singleton class of klass
def hello
puts "hello"
end
end

Related

When to use self for Ruby Class

Can somebody help me distinguish When we create methods inside class << self block and when we define normal methods.
I saw somewhere code like this, but I don't know concisely the use cases of them
class Foo
def initialize
end
def bar
end
class << self
def foobar
end
end
end
The methods defined right inside a class block are instance methods:
class Foo
def bar
end
end
Methods defined within class << self inside a class block are class methods:
class Foo
class << self
def baz
end
end
end
Instance methods become available to any instance of a given class:
foo = Foo.new
foo.bar
Whereas class methods can be called directly on the class:
Foo.baz
Attempting to call instance methods on the class or vice versa results in an error:
Foo.bar #=> NoMethodError: undefined method `bar' for Foo:Class
foo.baz #=> NoMethodError: undefined method `baz' for #<Foo:0x00007ffe20055a20>
Another way to define class methods is by prefixing the method name with self.:
class Foo
def self.baz
end
end
You could also define them outside the class block, although this is rarely seen:
def Foo.baz
end
Or likewise:
class << Foo
def baz
end
end
Note that defining methods this way is not limited to classes. You can add methods to arbitrary objects, e.g.:
o = Object.new
def o.hello
"hello from o"
end
o.hello
#=> "hello from o"
Or via:
class << o
def hello
"hello from o"
end
end
Internally, these methods are added to the object's singleton class. It's a special purpose class to hold methods for just that instance:
o.singleton_class.instance_methods(false)
#=> [:hello]
For the Foo class above:
Foo.instance_methods(false) #=> [:bar]
Foo.singleton_class.instance_methods(false) #=> [:baz]
So technically, a class method is just an instance method defined on the class' singleton class.
You may need to read up on Ruby's instance and class methods.
But personally, I'd do
class Foo
class << self
def foobar
end
end
end
instead of
class Foo
def self.foobar
end
end
whenever I want to add some class level attributes, or make a method private etc as
class Foo
private
def self.foobar
end
end
wouldn't work the same as
class Foo
class << self
private
def foobar
end
end
end

can i initialize when inherited with ruby?

I want to self-initialize a class when it is inherited, but it seems inherited gets called before the inherited class is loaded. is this perhaps bad form?
class Foo
def self.inherited klass
klass.new
end
end
class Bar < Foo
def initialize
puts 'initialize'
end
end

Can I overwrite instance method from module?

I know, I can overwrite class method from module this way
class Foo
class << self
def some_static_method
puts 'some_static_method'
end
end
end
module BAR
class << Foo
def some_static_method
puts 'another_static_method'
end
end
end
class Foo
include BAR
end
Foo.some_static_method # => 'another_static_method'
Is it possible for an instance method?
You can do the following:
class Foo
def self.some_static_method; puts "Hello from Foo" end
end
module Bar
def self.included(base)
base.instance_eval do
def some_static_method; puts "Hello from Bar" end
end
end
end
class Foo
include Bar
end
Foo.some_static_method
This should work
UPDATE
To override instance method use:
class Foo
def some_instance_method; puts "Hello from Foo" end
end
module Bar
def self.included(base)
base.class_eval do
def some_instance_method; puts "Hello from Bar" end
end
end
end
class Foo
include Bar
end
Foo.new.some_instance_method
Your question is actually not about method overriding. It is about what class is referred to within a class ... construction in a module body.
When you do
module Bar
class << Foo
p self
end
end
# => #<Class:Foo>
the << Foo points to the singleton class of the Foo in the main environment because class << Foo cannot define the singleton class directly of a class Foo that has not been defined in advance. So it looks up for Foo that is already defined, and such class is found in the main environment.
When you do
module Bar
class Foo
p self
end
end
# => Bar::Foo
a new class Bar::Foo is created; the Foo points to this Bar::Foo that is newly created, and it does not point to the Foo in the main environment. In order to point to it, you have to explicitly specify that with ::.
module Bar
class ::Foo
p self
end
end
# => Foo
If you are using Ruby > 2.0.0 then what you can use is Module#prepend. Instead of include you can prepend an module and that way all of the module's methods are overriding any existing class instance methods with the same name. You can see a quick example here.
Prior to Ruby 2, Rails had introduced a similar hack: #alias_method_chain
Here is a nice comparison of the two approaches.

Ruby Module Inclusion in Methods

In class Foo I'd like to include method Bar under certain conditions:
module Bar
def some_method
"orly"
end
end
class Foo
def initialize(some_condition)
if !some_condition
"bar"
else
class << self; include Bar; end
end
end
end
Is there any cleaner (and clearer) way to achieve the include in the method without having to do it inside the singleton class?
extend is the equivalent of include in a singleton class:
module Bar
def some_method
puts "orly"
end
end
class Foo
def initialize(some_condition)
extend(Bar) if some_condition
end
end
Foo.new(true).some_method # => "orly"
Foo.new(false).some_method # raises NoMethodError

Ruby methods similar to attr_reader

I'm trying to make a method similar to attr_reader but I can't seem to get the instance of the class that the method gets called in.
class Module
def modifiable_reader(*symbols)
# Right here is where it returns Klass instead of #<Klass:0x1df25e0 #readable="this">
mod = self
variables = symbols.collect { |sym| ("#" << sym.to_s).to_sym }
attr_reader *symbols
(class << ModifyMethods; self; end).instance_eval do
define_method(*symbols) do
mod.instance_variable_get(*variables)
end
end
end
end
class Object
module ModifyMethods; end
def modify(&block)
ModifyMethods.instance_eval(&block)
end
end
class Klass
modifiable_reader :readable
def initialize
#readable = "this"
end
end
my_klass = Klass.new
my_klass.modify do
puts "Readable: " << readable.to_s
end
I'm not sure what it is you're trying to do.
If it helps, the spell for attr_reader is something like this:
#!/usr/bin/ruby1.8
module Kernel
def my_attr_reader(symbol)
eval <<-EOS
def #{symbol}
##{symbol}
end
EOS
end
end
class Foo
my_attr_reader :foo
def initialize
#foo = 'foo'
end
end
p Foo.new.foo # => "foo"
What I can understand from your code is that you want to have the modify block to respond to the instance methods of Klass, that's as simple as:
class Klass
attr_reader :modifiable
alias_method :modify, :instance_eval
def initialize(m)
#modifiable = m
end
end
Klass.new('john').modify do
puts 'Readable %s' % modifiable
end
About this tidbit of code:
def modifiable_reader(*symbols)
# Right here is where it returns Klass instead of #<Klass:0x1df25e0 #readable="this">
mod = self
...
Probably this can give you a hint of what is going on:
Class.superclass # => Module
Klass.instance_of?(Class) # => true
Klass = Class.new do
def hello
'hello'
end
end
Klass.new.hello # => 'hello'
When you are adding methods to the Module class, you are also adding methods to the Class class, which will add an instance method to instances of Class (in this case your class Klass), at the end this means you are adding class methods on your Klass class

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