How do we copy singleton methods between different Ruby classes? - ruby

I am trying to define a class with methods, and a class lacking those methods, and then allowing an object of the latter class to 'learn' the methods from an instance of the former class.
This is my attempt (Ruby 1.9.2) - it breaks (at the line commented "BREAKS!")when I try to change the value of 'self' in the lambda binding.
If you can work out how to solve this - I'd be fascinated to find out.
class Skill
attr_accessor :name
attr_accessor :technique
def initialize(name, &technique_proc)
#name = name
#technique = lambda(&proc)
end
end
class Person
attr_accessor :name
def initialize(name)
#name = name
end
def method_missing(m, *args)
"#{#name} the #{self.class}: I don't know how to #{m}"
end
def learn_skill(skill)
puts "#{#name} the #{self.class} is learning skill: #{skill.name}"
actual_self = self
eval "self = #{actual_self}", skill.technique.binding ####### BREAKS!
define_singleton_method skill.name.to_sym, skill.technique
end
def teach_skill(skill_name)
skill = nil
if self.respond_to?(skill_name)
puts "#{#name} the #{self.class} is teaching skill: #{skill_name}"
skill_method = self.method(skill_name.to_sym)
skill_proc = skill_method.to_proc
skill_lambda = lambda(&skill_proc)
skill = Skill.new(skill_name, &skill_lambda)
end
skill
end
end
class Teacher < Person
def speak(sentence)
"#{#name} the #{self.class} is now saying \"#{sentence}\"!"
end
def jump(number_of_feet)
"#{name} the #{self.class} is now jumping #{number_of_feet} high!"
end
end
miss_mollyflop = Teacher.new("Miss Mollyflop")
little_billey = Person.new("Little Billy")
puts miss_mollyflop.speak("Good morning, children!")
puts little_billey.speak("Good morning, Miss Mollyflop!")
speak_skill = miss_mollyflop.teach_skill("speak")
little_billey.learn_skill(speak_skill)
puts little_billey.speak("Good morning, Miss Mollyflop!")
The output of this is:
Miss Mollyflop the Teacher is now saying "Good morning, children!"!
Little Billy the Person: I don't know how to speak
Miss Mollyflop the Teacher is teaching skill: speak
Little Billy the Person is learning skill: speak
test.rb:27:in `eval': (eval):1: Can't change the value of self (SyntaxError)
self = #<Person:0x1482270>
^
(eval):1: syntax error, unexpected $end
self = #<Person:0x1482270>
^
from test.rb:27:in `learn_skill'
from test.rb:64:in `<main>'

If you want to copy across methods from one class to another it's possible, but if the method modifies state it will modify state on the original object not on the object the method is subsequently bound to (this is because the method isn't really copied across instead a Proc wrapper of the method is bound to the new object as a method):
a = Object.new
def a.hello
puts "hello world from a"
end
b = Object.new
b.define_singleton_method(:hello, &a.method(:hello))
b.hello #=> "hello world from a"

Using Object2module: gem install object2module
require 'object2module'
o = Object.new
def o.speak
puts "hello from o"
end
m = Object.new
m.gen_extend o
m.speak #=> "hello from o"

Related

Adapter Pattern in ruby: Accessing Your Instance Variables

I am studying the adapter pattern implementation in ruby. I want to access an instance variable within the adapter module definition. Take a look at the following code:
module Adapter
module Dog
def self.speak
# I want to access the #name instance variable from my Animal instance
puts "#{name} says: woof!"
end
end
module Cat
def self.speak
# I want to access the #name instance variable from my Animal instance
puts "#{name} says: meow!"
end
end
end
class Animal
attr_accessor :name
def initialize(name)
#name = name
end
def speak
self.adapter.speak
end
def adapter
return #adapter if #adapter
self.adapter = :dog
#adapter
end
def adapter=(adapter)
#adapter = Adapter.const_get(adapter.to_s.capitalize)
end
end
To test it out I did the following:
animal = Animal.new("catdog")
animal.adapter = :cat
animal.speak
I want it to return the following:
catdog says: meow!
Instead it says:
Adapter::Cat says: meow!
Any tips on how I can get access to the Animal#name instance method from the adapter module? I think the issue is that my adapter methods are class-level methods.
Thanks!
You need to use your Module as a mixin and provide a way to keep track of which module is active, the methods don't seem to be overwritten by reincluding or reextending so I took the extend and remove methods I found here.
module Adapter
module Dog
def speak
puts "#{name} says: woof!"
end
end
module Cat
def speak
puts "#{name} says: meow!"
end
end
def extend mod
#ancestors ||= {}
return if #ancestors[mod]
mod_clone = mod.clone
#ancestors[mod] = mod_clone
super mod_clone
end
def remove mod
mod_clone = #ancestors[mod]
mod_clone.instance_methods.each {|m| mod_clone.module_eval {remove_method m } }
#ancestors[mod] = nil
end
end
class Animal
include Adapter
attr_accessor :name, :adapter
def initialize(name)
#name = name
#adapter = Adapter::Dog
extend Adapter::Dog
end
def adapter=(adapter)
remove #adapter
extend Adapter::const_get(adapter.capitalize)
#adapter = Adapter.const_get(adapter.capitalize)
end
end
animal = Animal.new("catdog")
animal.speak # catdog says: woof!
animal.adapter = :cat
animal.speak # catdog says: meow!
animal.adapter = :dog
animal.speak # catdog says: woof!
This is because name inside of the module context refers to something entirely different than the name you're expecting. The Animal class and the Cat module do not share data, they have no relationship. Coincidentally you're calling Module#name which happens to return Adapter::Cat as that's the name of the module.
In order to get around this you need to do one of two things. Either make your module a mix-in (remove self, then include it as necessary) or share the necessary data by passing it in as an argument to speak.
The first method looks like this:
module Adapter
module Dog
def self.speak(name)
puts "#{name} says: woof!"
end
end
end
class Animal
attr_accessor :name
attr_reader :adapter
def initialize(name)
#name = name
self.adapter = :dog
end
def speak
self.adapter.speak(#name)
end
def adapter=(adapter)
#adapter = Adapter.const_get(adapter.to_s.capitalize)
end
end
That doesn't seem as simple as it could be as they basically live in two different worlds. A more Ruby-esque way is this:
module Adapter
module Dog
def speak
puts "#{name} says: woof!"
end
end
end
class Animal
attr_accessor :name
attr_reader :adapter
def initialize(name)
#name = name
self.adapter = :dog
end
def adapter=(adapter)
#adapter = Adapter.const_get(adapter.to_s.capitalize)
extend(#adapter)
end
end

Possible help in code refactoring

Sandi Metz says in SOLID OOPS concepts from GORUCO that presence of if..else blocks in Ruby can be considered to be a deviation from Open-Close Principle. What all methods can be used to avoid not-urgent if..else conditions? I tried the following code:
class Fun
def park(s=String.new)
puts s
end
def park(i=Fixnum.new)
i=i+2
end
end
and found out that function overloading does not work in Ruby. What are other methods through which the code can be made to obey OCP?
I could have simply gone for:
class Fun
def park(i)
i=i+2 if i.class==1.class
puts i if i.class=="asd".class
end
end
but this is in violation to OCP.
With your current example, and wanting to avoid type detection, I would use Ruby's capability to re-open classes to add functionality you need to Integer and String:
class Integer
def park
puts self + 2
end
end
class String
def park
puts self
end
end
This would work more cleanly when altering your own classes. But maybe it doesn't fit your conceptual model (it depends what Fun represents, and why it can take those two different classes in a single method).
An equivalent but keeping your Fun class might be:
class Fun
def park_fixnum i
puts i + 2
end
def park_string s
puts s
end
def park param
send("park_#{param.class.to_s.downcase}", param)
end
end
As an opinion, I am not sure you will gain much writing Ruby in this way. The principles you are learning may be good ones (I don't know), but applying them forcefully "against the grain" of the language may create less readable code, regardless of whether it meets a well-intentioned design.
So what I would probably do in practice is this:
class Fun
def park param
case param
when Integer
puts param + 2
when String
puts param
end
end
end
This does not meet your principles, but is idiomatic Ruby and slightly easier to read and maintain than an if block (where the conditions could be far more complex so take longer for a human to parse).
You could just create handled classes for Fun like so
class Fun
def park(obj)
#parker ||= Object.const_get("#{obj.class}Park").new(obj)
#parker.park
rescue NameError => e
raise ArgumentError, "expected String or Fixnum but recieved #{obj.class.name}"
end
end
class Park
def initialize(p)
#park = p
end
def park
#park
end
end
class FixnumPark < Park
def park
#park += 2
end
end
class StringPark < Park
end
Then things like this will work
f = Fun.new
f.park("string")
#=> "string"
f.instance_variable_get("#parker")
#=> #<StringPark:0x1e04b48 #park="string">
f = Fun.new
f.park(2)
#=> 4
f.instance_variable_get("#parker")
#=> #<FixnumPark:0x1e04b48 #park=4>
f.park(22)
#=> 6 because the instance is already loaded and 4 + 2 = 6
Fun.new.park(12.3)
#=> ArgumentError: expected String or Fixnum but received Float
You could do something like this:
class Parent
attr_reader :s
def initialize(s='')
#s = s
end
def park
puts s
end
end
class Child1 < Parent
attr_reader :x
def initialize(s, x)
super(s)
#x = x
end
def park
puts x
end
end
class Child2 < Parent
attr_reader :y
def initialize(s, y)
super(s)
#y = y
end
def park
puts y
end
end
objects = [
Parent.new('hello'),
Child1.new('goodbye', 1),
Child2.new('adios', 2),
]
objects.each do |obj|
obj.park
end
--output:--
hello
1
2
Or, maybe I overlooked one of your twists:
class Parent
attr_reader :x
def initialize(s='')
#x = s
end
def park
puts x
end
end
class Child1 < Parent
def initialize(x)
super
end
def park
x + 2
end
end
class Child2 < Parent
def initialize(x)
super
end
def park
x * 2
end
end
objects = [
Parent.new('hello'),
Child1.new(2),
Child2.new(100),
]
results = objects.map do |obj|
obj.park
end
p results
--output:--
hello
[nil, 4, 200]
And another example using blocks, which are like anonymous functions. You can pass in the desired behavior to park() as a function:
class Function
attr_reader :block
def initialize(&park)
#block = park
end
def park
raise "Not implemented"
end
end
class StringFunction < Function
def initialize(&park)
super
end
def park
block.call
end
end
class AdditionFunction < Function
def initialize(&park)
super
end
def park
block.call 1
end
end
class DogFunction < Function
class Dog
def bark
puts 'woof, woof'
end
end
def initialize(&park)
super
end
def park
block.call Dog.new
end
end
objects = [
StringFunction.new {puts 'hello'},
AdditionFunction.new {|i| i+2},
DogFunction.new {|dog| dog.bark},
]
results = objects.map do |obj|
obj.park
end
p results
--output:--
hello
woof, woof
[nil, 3, nil]
Look at the is_a? method
def park(i)
i.is_a?(Fixnum) ? (i + 2) : i
end
But even better not to check a type, but use duck typing:
def park(i)
i.respond_to?(:+) ? (i + 2) : i
end
UPD: After reading comments. Yes, both examples above don't solve the OCP problem. That is how I would do it:
class Fun
# The method doesn't know how to pluck data. But it knows a guy
# who knows the trick
def pluck(i)
return __pluck_string__(i) if i.is_a? String
__pluck_fixnum__(i) if i.is_a? Fixnum
end
private
# Every method is responsible for plucking data in some special way
# Only one cause of possible changes for each of them
def __pluck_string__(i)
puts i
end
def __pluck_fixnum__(i)
i + 2
end
end
I understand or equal to operation in ruby but can you explain what
you have done with:
Object.const_get("#{obj.class}Park").new(obj)
In ruby, something that starts with a capital letter is a constant. Here is a simpler example of how const_get() works:
class Dog
def bark
puts 'woof'
end
end
dog_class = Object.const_get("Dog")
dog_class.new.bark
--output:--
woof
Of course, you can also pass arguments to dog_class.new:
class Dog
attr_reader :name
def initialize(name)
#name = name
end
def bark
puts "#{name} says woof!"
end
end
dog_class = Object.const_get("Dog")
dog_class.new('Ralph').bark
--output:--
Ralph says woof!
And the following line is just a variation of the above:
Object.const_get("#{obj.class}Park").new(obj)
If obj = 'hello', the first portion:
Object.const_get("#{obj.class}Park")
is equivalent to:
Object.const_get("#{String}Park")
And when the String class object is interpolated into a string, it is simply converted to the string "String", giving you:
Object.const_get("StringPark")
And that line retrieves the StringPark class, giving you:
Object.const_get("StringPark")
|
V
StringPark
Then, adding the second portion of the original line gives you:
StringPark.new(obj)
And because obj = 'hello', that is equivalent to:
StringPark.new('hello')
Capice?

I can not use in-class assigned property of a class in Ruby

Well, I can do this:
class Person
attr_accessor :name
def greeting
"Hello #{#name}"
end
end
p = Person.new
p.name = 'Dave'
p.greeting # "Hello Dave"
but when I decide to assign the property in the class itself it doesnt work:
class Person
attr_accessor :name
#name = "Dave"
def greeting
"Hello #{#name}"
end
end
p = Person.new
p.greeting # "Hello"
This is the default behavior, albeit a confusing one (especially if you're used to other languages in the OOP region).
Instance variables in Ruby starts being available when it is assigned to and normally this happens in the initialize method of your class.
class Person
def initialize(name)
#name = name
end
end
In your examples you're using attr_accessor, this magical method produces a getter and a setter for the property name. A Person#name and Person#name=, method is created which overrides your "inline" instance variable (that's why your first example works and the second one doesn't).
So the proper way to write your expected behaviour would be with the use of a initialize method.
class Person
def initialize(name)
#name = name
end
def greeting
"Hello, #{#name}"
end
end
Edit
After a bit of searching I found this awesome answer, all rep should go to that question.
Think of a Person class as a blueprint that you can create single person instances with. As not all of these person instances will have the name "Dave", you should set this name on the instance itself.
class Person
def initialize(name)
#name = name
end
attr_accessor :name
def greeting
"Hello #{#name}"
end
end
david = Person.new("David")
p david.greeting
# => "Hello David"
mike = Person.new("Mike")
p mike.greeting
# => "Hello Mike"

how to get child class variable back into parent class in ruby

I would like to create a base class to handle all the methods. How would I achieve this using ruby in this scenario?
class Dog
def initialize
#breed = "good breed"
end
def show_dog
puts "#{self.class.first_name} of breed #{#breed}"
end
end
class Lab < Dog
attr_reader :first_name
def initialize
#first_name = "good dog"
end
end
lb = Lab.new()
lb.show_dog
The expected result would be "good dog of breed good breed"
Thank you in advance :)
self.class.first_name doesn't do what you probably wanted to do. You need to use #first_name directly.
You need to call the parent class' constructor from the child class; it's not called automatically.
This works:
class Dog
def initialize
#breed = "good breed"
end
def show_dog
puts "#{#first_name} of breed #{#breed}" ### <- Changed
end
end
class Lab < Dog
attr_reader :first_name
def initialize
super ### <- Added
#first_name = "good dog"
end
end
lb = Lab.new()
lb.show_dog
self.class.first_name means Lab.first_name, not Lab's instance lb.first_name

Calling a method when a Class name is used like a method

I'm wondering if one could define a class in Ruby to have the following sort of usage:
Class Book
def Book
puts self.to_s
end
def initialize(name)
#name = name
end
def to_s
#name.to_s
end
end
Usage:
Book "To Kill a Mocking Bird" #=>To Kill a Mocking Bird
The idea that I want is for this to behave like the following
An instance of the method is created (as a short hand).
The method Book is immediately called after this and performs a block of code.
(The intent of having the method named the same as the class is to have the call back when it is used like a method.)
Is this possible in Ruby?
How about this?
class Book
attr_accessor :name
def initialize(name)
self.name = name
end
def to_s
name
end
end
def Book(name)
Book.new(name)
end
puts Book("To Kill a Mocking Bird")
As a minor point of interest, Ruby's Kernel module uses such a technique (written in C) to implement methods named Array, String, and so on:
Array(12) #=> [12]
String(12) #=> '12'
Integer('0x12') #=> 18
Something like this ?
class Book
def show_me
puts self.to_s
end
def initialize(name)
#name = name
show_me
end
def to_s
#name.to_s
end
end
show_me will be executed but once you create a new book, the book object will be returned at the end.
>> Book.new "To Kill a Mocking Bird"
To Kill a Mocking Bird
=> #<Book:0x74f63f0 #name="To Kill a Mocking Bird">

Resources