I have a ruby hash like this
h = {"a" => "1", "b" => "", "c" => "2"}
Now I have a ruby function which evaluates this hash and returns true if it finds a key with an empty value. I have the following function which always returns true even if all keys in the hash are not empty
def hash_has_blank(hsh)
hsh.each do |k,v|
if v.empty?
return true
end
end
return false
end
What am I doing wrong here?
Try this:
def hash_has_blank hsh
hsh.values.any? &:empty?
end
Or:
def hash_has_blank hsh
hsh.values.any?{|i|i.empty?}
end
If you are using an old 1.8.x Ruby
I hope you're ready to learn some ruby magic here. I wouldn't define such a function globally like you did. If it's an operation on a hash, than it should be an instance method on the Hash class you can do it like this:
class Hash
def has_blank?
self.reject{|k,v| !v.nil? || v.length > 0}.size > 0
end
end
reject will return a new hash with all the empty strings, and than it will be checked how big this new hash is.
a possibly more efficient way (it shouldn't traverse the whole array):
class Hash
def has_blank?
self.values.any?{|v| v.nil? || v.length == 0}
end
end
But this will still traverse the whole hash, if there is no empty value
I've changed the empty? to !nil? || length >0 because I don't know how your empty method works.
If you just want to check if any of the values is an empty string you could do
h.has_value?('')
but your function seems to work fine.
I'd consider refactoring your model domain. Obviously the hash represents something tangible. Why not make it an object? If the item can be completely represented by a hash, you may wish to subclass Hash. If it's more complicated, the hash can be an attribute.
Secondly, the reason for which you are checking blanks can be named to better reflect your domain. You haven't told us the "why", but let's assume that your Item is only valid if it doesn't have any blank values.
class MyItem < Hash
def valid?
!invalid?
end
def invalid?
values.any?{|i| i.empty?}
end
end
The point is, if you can establish a vocabulary that makes sense in your domain, your code will be cleaner and more understandable. Using a Hash is just a means to an end and you'd be better off using more descriptive, domain-specific terms.
Using the example above, you'd be able to do:
my_item = MyItem["a" => "1", "b" => "", "c" => "2"]
my_item.valid? #=> false
Related
I want to be able to find a custom class in my set given just a string. Like so:
require 'set'
Rank = Struct.new(:name, keyword_init: true) {
def hash
name.hash
end
def eql?(other)
hash == other.hash
end
def ==(other)
hash == other.hash
end
}
one = Rank.new(name: "one")
two = Rank.new(name: "two")
set = Set[one, two]
but while one == "one" and one.eql?("one") are both true, set.include?("one") is still false. what am i missing?
thanks!
Set is built upon Hash, and Hash considers two objects the same if:
[...] their hash value is identical and the two objects are eql? to each other.
What you are missing is that eql? isn't necessarily commutative. Making Rank#eql? recognize strings doesn't change the way String#eql? works:
one.eql?('one') #=> true
'one'.eql?(one) #=> false
Therefore it depends on which object is the hash key and which is the argument to include?:
Set['one'].include?(one) #=> true
Set[one].include?('one') #=> false
In order to make two objects a and b interchangeable hash keys, 3 conditions have to be met:
a.hash == b.hash
a.eql?(b) == true
b.eql?(a) == true
But don't try to modify String#eql? – fiddling with Ruby's core classes isn't recommended and monkey-patching probably won't work anyway because Ruby usually calls the C methods directly for performance reasons.
In fact, making both hash and eql? mimic name doesn't seem like a good idea in the first place. It makes the object's identity ambiguous which can lead to very strange behavior and hard to find bugs:
h = { one => 1, 'one' => 1 }
#=> {#<struct Rank name="one">=>1, "one"=>1}
# vs
h = { 'one' => 1, one => 1 }
#=> {"one"=>1}
what am i missing?
What you are missing is that "one" isn't in your set. one is in your set, but "one" isn't.
Therefore, the answer Ruby is giving you is perfectly correct.
All that you have done with your implementation of Rank is that any two ranks with the same name are considered to be the same by a Hash, Set, or Array#uniq. But, a Rank is not the same as a String.
If you want to be able to have a set-like data structure where you can look up things by one of their attributes, you will have to write it yourself.
Something like (untested):
class RankSet < Set
def [](*args)
super(*args.map(&:name))
end
def each
return enum_for(__callee__) unless block_given?
super {|e| yield e.name }
end
end
might get you started.
Or, instead of writing your own set, you can just use the fact that any arbitrary rank with the right name can be used for lookup:
set.include?(Rank.new(name: "one"))
#=> true
# even though it is a *different* `Rank` object
Could not find a previous post that answers my question...I'm learning how to use destructive vs. non-destructive methods in Ruby. I found an answer to the exercise I'm working on (destructively adding a number to hash values), but I want to be clear on why some earlier solutions of mine did not work. Here's the answer that works:
def modify_a_hash(the_hash, number_to_add_to_each_value)
the_hash.each { |k, v| the_hash[k] = v + number_to_add_to_each_value}
end
These two solutions come back as non-destructive (since they all use "each" I cannot figure out why. To make something destructive is it the equals sign above that does the trick?):
def modify_a_hash(the_hash, number_to_add_to_each_value)
the_hash.each_value { |v| v + number_to_add_to_each_value}
end
def modify_a_hash(the_hash, number_to_add_to_each_value)
the_hash.each { |k, v| v + number_to_add_to_each_value}
end
The terms "destructive" and "non-destructive" are a bit misleading here. Better is to use the conventional "in-place modification" vs. "returns a copy" terminology.
Generally methods that modify in-place have ! at the end of their name to serve as a warning, like gsub! for String. Some methods that pre-date this convention do not have them, like push for Array.
The = performs an assignment within the loop. Your other examples don't actually do anything useful since each returns the original object being iterated over regardless of any results produced.
If you wanted to return a copy you'd do this:
def modify_a_hash(the_hash, number_to_add)
Hash[
the_hash.collect do |k, v|
[ k, v + number_to_add ]
end
]
end
That would return a copy. The inner operation collect transforms key-value pairs into new key-value pairs with the adjustment applied. No = is required since there's no assignment.
The outer method Hash[] transforms those key-value pairs into a proper Hash object. This is then returned and is independent of the original.
Generally a non-destructive or "return a copy" method needs to create a new, independent version of the thing it's manipulating for the purpose of storing the results. This applies to String, Array, Hash, or any other class or container you might be working with.
Maybe this slightly different example will be helpful.
We have a hash:
2.0.0-p481 :014 > hash
=> {1=>"ann", 2=>"mary", 3=>"silvia"}
Then we iterate over it and change all the letters to the uppercase:
2.0.0-p481 :015 > hash.each { |key, value| value.upcase! }
=> {1=>"ANN", 2=>"MARY", 3=>"SILVIA"}
The original hash has changed because we used upcase! method.
Compare to method without ! sign, that doesn't modify hash values:
2.0.0-p481 :017 > hash.each { |key, value| value.downcase }
=> {1=>"ANN", 2=>"MARY", 3=>"SILVIA"}
I am trying to write a function which returns the value of a hash key, when provided with an array of keys (and 'nil' if the key doesn't exist).
Consider the hash:
my_hash = {
font_size: 10,
font_family: "Arial",
boo: {
name: 'blah'
}
}
A stub of the method might be:
def get_value(hash, array_of_keys)
...
end
The reason being that I can access different keys in the hash which may not actually exist. So for example, I want 'blah', normally I would call my_hash[:boo][:name] however it may not already exist or it may be very deep. What I would like to do is have my function, which I could call with get_value(my_hash, [:boo, :name]) so that I can test that each key exists (so I don't get exceptions if any of them do not exist, and where it doesn't matter how 'deep' the value might be).
In my case, its not feasible to check the existence of each value I require (I might need to test existence of 10 consecutive keys) I simply need a function that I can say which value I need and get the value if it exists, and nil if it doesn't (so an exception isn't thrown trying to retrieve it).
I gave it a shot, trying to use a recursive function that 'pop's the first element in the array each time it loops but i couldn't workout how to return my value.
def get_value(val, arr)
if arr.count > 1
arr.each do |a|
get_value val[a], arr.pop
end
else
val[a]
end
end
get_value s, [:boo, :name]
This is my attempt (which doesn't work obviously) - can anyone help me solve this problem, or have an alternate solution that might be more elegant? A couple of points:
The keys are not guaranteed to exist, and I'd like to return nil in
those cases, and
The hash could potentially be very deep so it needs to handle any hash and any number of keys in the array (which is why I thought recursion might be the answer, but now I'm not so sure).
[:font_size].inject(my_hash){|h, k| h.to_h[k]} #=> 10
[:boo, :name].inject(my_hash){|h, k| h.to_h[k]} #=> "blah"
[:boo, :foo].inject(my_hash){|h, k| h.to_h[k]} #=> nil
class Hash
def get_value(array_of_keys)
return nil unless array_of_keys.is_a? Array
return nil if array_of_keys.empty?
return nil unless self.has_key? array_of_keys.first
if self[array_of_keys.first].is_a? Hash
self[array_of_keys.first].get_value(array_of_keys[1..-1])
else
self[array_of_keys.first]
end
end
end
my_hash = {
font_size: 10,
font_family: "Arial",
boo: {
name: 'blah'
} ,
radley: {
one: {
more: {
time: 'now'
}
}
}
}
p my_hash.get_value [:boo, :name]
p my_hash.get_value [:radley, :one, :more, :time]
p my_hash.get_value [:radley, :one, :other, :time]
Explanation
I'm adding the method directly to the Hash class so that you can call it as an instance method on existing hashes (makes for a nicer usage).
The method takes your array, returns nil if the argument is not actually an array, if the array is empty, of if the Hash doesn't contain a key matching the first element of the array.
Next, check to see if the value of that key is itself a Hash.
If so, call this very method on that Hash, with the rest of the array!
If the value is anything but a hash, return that value.
My stab at it, using recursion:
def get_value(hash, keys_array)
key = keys_array.shift
if hash.has_key? key
if hash[key].is_a?(Hash) && keys_array.size >= 1
get_value(hash[key], keys_array)
else
hash[key]
end
else
nil
end
end
I remove the first key from the keys_array
I check if that key exists in the Hash
If yes I check if the value for that key is a Hash and that we still have keys left in the array, if that's the case I call the method with that value and the array of keys left
If it's not a Hash, I just return the value
If the key does not exist, return nil
Nice problem by the way :)
I have this hash $chicken_parts, which consists of symbol/hash pairs (many more than shown here):
$chicken_parts = { :beak = > {"name"=>"Beak", "color"=>"Yellowish orange", "function"=>"Pecking"}, :claws => {"name"=>"Claws", "color"=>"Dirty", function"=>"Scratching"} }
Then I have a class Embryo which has two class-specific hashes:
class Embryo
#parts_grown = Hash.new
#currently_developing = Hash.new
Over time, new pairs from $chicken_parts will be .merge!ed into #parts_grown. At various times, #currently developing will be declared equal to one of the symbol/hash pairs from #parts_grown.
I'm creating Embryo class functions and I want to be able to access the "name", "color", and "function" values in #currently_developing, but I don't seem to be able to do it.
def grow_part(part)
#parts_grown.merge!($chicken_parts[part])
end
def develop_part(part)
#currently_developing = #parts_grown[part]
seems to populate the hashes as expected, but
puts #currently_developing["name"]
does not work. Is this whole scheme a bad idea? Should I just make the Embryo hashes into arrays of symbols from $chicken_parts, and refer to it whenever needed? That seemed like cheating to me for some reason...
There's a little bit of confusion here. When you merge! in grow_part, you aren't adding a :beak => {etc...} pair to #parts_grown. Rather, you are merging the hash that is pointed too by the part name, and adding all of the fields of that hash directly to #parts_grown. So after one grow_part, #parts_grown might look like this:
{"name"=>"Beak", "color"=>"Yellowish orange", "function"=>"Pecking"}
I don't think that's what you want. Instead, try this for grow_part:
def grow_part(part)
#parts_grown[part] = $chicken_parts[part]
end
class Embryo
#parts_grown = {a: 1, b: 2}
def show
p #parts_grown
end
def self.show
p #parts_grown
end
end
embryo = Embryo.new
embryo.show
Embryo.show
--output:--
nil
{:a=>1, :b=>2}
I've just noticed that Ruby doesn't raise an exception or even supply a warning if you supply duplicate keys to a hash:
$VERBOSE = true
key_value_pairs_with_duplicates = [[1,"a"], [1, "b"]]
# No warning produced
Hash[key_value_pairs_with_duplicates] # => {1=>"b"}
# Also no warning
hash_created_by_literal_with_duplicate_keys = {1 => "a", 1=> "b"} # => {1=>"b"}
For key_value_pairs_with_duplicates, I could detect duplicate keys by doing
keys = key_value_pairs_with_duplicates.map(&:first)
raise "Duplicate keys" unless keys.uniq == keys
Or by doing
procedurally_produced_hash = {}
key_value_pairs_with_duplicates.each do |key, value|
raise "Duplicate key" if procedurally_produced_hash.has_key?(key)
procedurally_produced_hash[key] = value
end
Or
hash = Hash[key_value_pairs_with_duplicates]
raise "Duplicate keys" unless hash.length == key_value_pairs_with_duplicates.length
But is there an idiomatic way to do it?
Hash#merge takes an optional block to define how to handle duplicate keys.
http://www.ruby-doc.org/core-1.9.3/Hash.html#method-i-merge
Taking advantage of the fact this block is only called on duplicate keys:
>> a = {a: 1, b: 2}
=> {:a=>1, :b=>2}
>> a.merge(c: 3) { |key, old, new| fail "Duplicate key: #{key}" }
=> {:a=>1, :b=>2, :c=>3}
>> a.merge(b: 10, c: 3) { |key, old, new| fail "Duplicate key: #{key}" }
RuntimeError: Duplicate key: b
I think there are two idiomatic ways to handle this:
Use one of the Hash extensions that allow multiple values per key, or
Extend Hash (or patch w/ flag method) and implement []= to throw a dupe key exception.
You could also just decorate an existing hash with the []= that throws, or alias_method--either way, it's straight-forward, and pretty Ruby-ish.
I would simply build a hash form the array, checking for a value before overwriting a key. This way it avoid creating any unnecessary temporary collections.
def make_hash(key_value_pairs_with_duplicates)
result = {}
key_value_pairs_with_duplicates.each do |pair|
key, value = pair
raise "Duplicate key" if result.has_key?(key)
result[key] = value
end
result
end
But no, I don't think there is an "idiomatic" way to doing this. It just follows the last in rule, and if you don't like that it's up to you to fix it.
In the literal form you are probably out of luck. But in the literal form why would you need to validate this? You are not getting it from a dynamic source if it's literal, so if you choose to dupe keys, it's your own fault. Just, uh... don't do that.
In other answers I've already stated my opinion that Ruby needs a standard method to build a hash from an enumerable. So, as you need your own abstraction for the task anyway, let's just take Facets' mash with the implementation you like the most (Enumerable#inject + Hash#update looks good to me) and add the check:
module Enumerable
def mash
inject({}) do |hash, item|
key, value = block_given? ? yield(item) : item
fail("Repeated key: #{key}") if hash.has_key?(key) # <- new line
hash.update(key => value)
end
end
end
I think most people here overthink the problem. To deal with duplicate keys, I'd simply do this:
arr = [ [:a,1], [:b,2], [:c,3] ]
hsh = {}
arr.each do |k,v|
raise("Whoa! I already have :#{k} key.") if hsh.has_key?(k)
x[k] = v
end
Or make a method out of this, maybe even extend a Hash class with it. Or create a child of Hash class (UniqueHash?) which would have this functionality by default.
But is it worth it? (I don't think so.) How often do we need to deal with duplicate keys in hash like this?
Latest Ruby versions do supply a warning when duplicating a key. However they still go ahead and re-assign the duplicate's value to the key, which is not always desired behaviour. IMO, the best way to deal with this is to override the construction/assignment methods. E.g. to override #[]=
class MyHash < Hash
def []=(key,val)
if self.has_key?(key)
puts("key: #{key} already has a value!")
else
super(key,val)
end
end
end
So when you run:
h = MyHash.new
h[:A] = ['red']
h[:B] = ['green']
h[:A] = ['blue']
it will output
key: A already has a value!
{:A=>["red"], :B=>["green"]}
Of course you can tailor the overridden behaviour any which way you want.
I would avoid using an array to model an hash at all. In other words, don't construct the array of pairs in the first place. I'm not being facetious or dismissive. I'm speaking as someone who has used arrays of pairs and (even worse) balanced arrays many times, and always regretted it.