I am trying to define some classes in Ruby that have an inheritance hierarchy, but I want to use one of the methods in the base class in the derived class. The twist is that I don't want to call the exact method I'm in, I want to call a different one. The following doesn't work, but it's what I want to do (basically).
class A
def foo
puts 'A::foo'
end
end
class B < A
def foo
puts 'B::foo'
end
def bar
super.foo
end
end
Probably, this is what you want?
class A
def foo
puts 'A::foo'
end
end
class B < A
alias bar :foo
def foo
puts 'B::foo'
end
end
B.new.foo # => B::foo
B.new.bar # => A::foo
A more general solution.
class A
def foo
puts "A::foo"
end
end
class B < A
def foo
puts "B::foo"
end
def bar
# slightly oddly ancestors includes the class itself
puts self.class.ancestors[1].instance_method(:foo).bind(self).call
end
end
B.new.foo # => B::foo
B.new.bar # => A::foo
Related
Two modules Foo and Baa respectively define a method with the same name name, and I did include Foo and include Baa in a particular context.
When I call name, how can I disambiguate whether to call the name method of Foo or Baa?
Only the order of modules inclusion decides which one will get called. Can't have both with the same name - the latter will override the former.
Of course, you can do any tricks, just from the top of my head:
module A
def foo
:foo_from_A
end
end
module B
def foo
:foo_from_B
end
end
class C
def initialize(from)
#from = from
end
def foo
from.instance_method(__method__).bind(self).call
end
private
attr_reader :from
end
C.new(A).foo #=> :a_from_A
C.new(B).foo #=> :a_from_B
But that's no good for real life use cases :)
Technically, there is no name collision because the method foo is redefined.
In the following exemple, A.foo is redefined and is never called
module A
def foo
raise "I'm never called"
end
end
module B
def foo
puts :foo_from_B
end
end
class C
include A
include B
end
C.new.foo
# =>
# foo_from_B
If you write A and B module, you can use super to call previous definition of foo. As if it where an inherited method.
module A
def foo
puts :foo_from_A
end
end
module B
def foo
super
puts :foo_from_B
end
end
class C
include A
include B
end
C.new.foo
# =>
# foo_from_A
# foo_from_B
There are side effects and I would not use this but this is doing the trick :
module A
def foo
puts :foo_from_A
end
end
module B
def foo
puts :foo_from_B
end
end
class C
def self.include_with_suffix(m, suffix)
m.instance_methods.each do |method_name|
define_method("#{method_name}#{suffix}", m.instance_method(method_name))
end
end
include_with_suffix A, "_from_A"
include_with_suffix B, "_from_B"
end
c= C.new
c.foo_from_A
c.foo_from_B
begin
c.foo
rescue NoMethodError
puts "foo is not defined"
end
# =>
# foo_from_A
# foo_from_B
# foo is not defined
Provided none of the methods of Foo or Baa call name (which seems a reasonable assumption), one can simply create aliases.
module Foo
def name; "Foo#name"; end
end
module Baa
def name; "Baa#name"; end
end
class C
include Foo
alias :foo_name :name
include Baa
alias :baa_name :name
undef_method :name
end
c = C.new
c.foo_name
#=> "Foo#name"
c.baa_name
#=> "Baa#name"
C.instance_methods & [:foo_name, :baa_name, :name]
#=> [:foo_name, :baa_name]
The keyword alias is documented here. One may alternatively use the method #alias_method. See this blog for a comparison of the two.
Module#undef_method is not strictly necessary. It's just to ensure that an exception is raised if name is called.
You should definetely read about method lookups.
Anyway, I would do it this way:
module Foo
def name
:foo
end
end
module Bar
def name
:bar
end
end
class MyClass
include Foo
include Bar
def foo_name
Foo.instance_method(:name).bind(self).call
end
def bar_name
Bar.instance_method(:name).bind(self).call
end
#
# or even like this: obj.name(Foo)
#
def name(mod)
mod.instance_method(:name).bind(self).call
end
end
BTW if you are using Module#instance_method and UnboundMethod#bind you don't really need to include specific module. This code works:
Foo.instance_method(:name).bind('any object (e.g. string)').call
I have a parent class:
class Base
def my_method
block_method do
# EXECUTE WHATEVER'S IN THE CHILD VERSION OF my_method
# HOW TO DO?
end
end
def block_method
original_foo = 'foo'
foo = 'CUSTOM FOO'
yield
foo = original_foo
end
end
and some child classes--currently five and there will be more:
class ChildA < Base
def my_method
puts 'apple'
puts 'aardvark'
end
end
class ChildE < Base
def my_method
puts 'eel'
puts 'elephant'
end
end
I want to change what a variable refers to just for the duration of each Child's #my_method.
My thought is to do this by wrapping the functionality of each Child's #my_method in a block. But I'd rather do that in the parent class than have to wrap each child class's #my_method in the exact same block.
Any insights on how I can do this?
If there's some opposite of super, I guess that would be one way to accomplish what I want to do.
You could give the idea of what you are calling "some opposite of super" using a module and prepend like so:
module MethodThing
# added to remove binding from class since
# #my_method relies on the existence of #foo and #foo=
def self.prepended(base)
base.attr_reader(:foo) unless base.method_defined?(:foo)
base.attr_writer(:foo) unless base.method_defined?(:foo=)
end
def my_method
puts "Before: #{foo}"
original_foo = foo
self.foo= 'CUSTOM FOO'
begin
super
rescue NoMethodError
warn "(skipped) #{self.class}##{__method__} not defined"
end
self.foo = original_foo
puts "After: #{foo}"
end
end
Prepend the module on inheritance
class Base
def self.inherited(child)
child.prepend(MethodThing)
end
attr_accessor :foo
def initialize
#foo = 12
end
end
class ChildA < Base
def my_method
puts 'apple'
puts "During: #{foo}"
puts 'aardvark'
end
end
class ChildE < Base
end
Output:
ChildA.new.my_method
# Before: 12
# apple
# During: CUSTOM FOO
# aardvark
# After: 12
ChildE.new.my_method
# Before: 12
# (skipped) ChildE#my_method not defined
# After: 12
There are other strange ways to accomplish this with inheritance as well such as
class Base
class << self
attr_accessor :delegate_my_method
def method_added(method_name)
if method_name.to_s == "my_method" && self.name != "Base"
warn "#{self.name}#my_method has been overwritten use delegate_my_method instead"
end
end
end
attr_accessor :foo
def my_method
puts "Before: #{foo}"
original_foo = foo
self.foo= 'CUSTOM FOO'
begin
method(self.class.delegate_my_method.to_s).()
rescue NameError, TypeError
warn "(skipped) #{self.class} method delegation not defined"
end
self.foo = original_foo
puts "After: #{foo}"
end
end
class ChildA < Base
self.delegate_my_method = :delegation_method
def delegation_method
puts 'apple'
puts "During: #{foo}"
puts 'aardvark'
end
end
I could probably keep going with stranger and stranger ways to solve this problem but I think these will get you where you need to go.
One option would be to define a private or nodoc method which the parent class can call and is defined in each of the children.
class Parent
def my_method
block_method do
my_method_behavior
end
end
def block_method
original_foo = #foo
#foo = 'CUSTOM FOO'
yield
#foo = original_foo
end
end
class Child1 < Parent
def my_method_behavior
puts #foo
end
end
class Child2 < Parent
def my_method_behavior
puts #foo
end
end
The following prints Bar twice:
class Foo
def foo
p self.class # => prints Bar
end
end
class Bar < Foo
def foo
p self.class # => prints Bar
super
end
end
b = Bar.new
b.foo
How do I get it to print
Bar
Foo
? i.e. I want to know what class each method is defined on.
To capture the context in which a method was originally defined, you can use define_method instead of def to get the appropriate closure. A simple example:
class Foo
klass = self
define_method(:foo){p klass}
end
class Bar < Foo
def foo
p self.class
super
end
end
b = Bar.new
b.foo
You could change Foo#foo like so (provided there is just one subclass level):
class Foo
def foo
if self.class == Foo
p self.class
else
p self.class.superclass
end
end
end
class Bar < Foo
def foo
p self.class
super
end
end
Foo.new.foo
Foo
Bar.new.foo
Bar
Foo
You can use
b.class.superclass <= "Foo"
The problem you are having there is that self is the instance of Bar, b.
b.class <= always going to be Bar
self.class <= always going to be Bar if you are invoking Bar.
You say that you are defining a method at runtime, and that you don't know the class name. I don't really know what you mean ... the way I would handle this would be something like
class Bar
def initialize
puts 'In BAR class'
end
def foo
p self.class.name # => prints Bar
end
end
and then
Bar.class_eval do
def brand_new_method
# do something new
p "Still in Bar, but this is dynamically added"
end
end
Maybe you are talking about dynamically adding methods to classes higher in the inheritance chain ... to "Foo" in your example ... based on some conditional happening in an instance of "Bar". If that is the case, then why don't you use a single module to define your inherited methods:
module Foo
def foo
p self.class
end
end
and then use module_eval the same way as class_eval?
I have the following code:
module A
def self.included(base)
base.extend(ClassMethods)
end
def foo
a = bar
puts a
end
def bar(str="qwe")
str
end
module ClassMethods
end
end
class B
include A
def bar(str="rty")
str
end
end
B.new.foo #=> "rty"
I wish class B to look like this:
class B
include A
bar "rty"
end
B.new.foo #=> rty
or
class B
include A
HelperOptions.bar "rty" # HelperOptions class should be in module A
end
B.new.foo #=> rty
I tried using define_method, class_eval, and initialize. How can be implemented syntax bar 'rty' or HelperOptions.bar 'rty' and what shall be done in module A?
If I got your question properly you want to define a class method A.bar that defines an instance method B#bar that returns it's argument, you can do it like this:
module A
def self.included(base)
base.extend(ClassMethods)
end
def foo
puts bar
end
module ClassMethods
def bar(str)
define_method(:bar) { str }
end
end
end
class B
include A
bar 'rty'
end
B.new.bar
# => "rty"
B.new.foo
# Output: rty
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