Outputs a source level execution trace of a Ruby program.
It does this by registering an event handler with Kernel#set_trace_func for processing incoming events. It also provides methods for filtering unwanted trace output (see Tracer.add_filter, Tracer.on, and Tracer.off).
Consider the following Ruby script
class A def square(a) return a*a end end a = A.new a.square(5)
Running the above script using ruby -r tracer example.rb will output the following trace to STDOUT (Note you can also explicitly require 'tracer')
#0:<internal:lib/rubygems/custom_require>:38:Kernel:<: - #0:example.rb:3::-: class A #0:example.rb:3::C: class A #0:example.rb:4::-: def square(a) #0:example.rb:7::E: end #0:example.rb:9::-: a = A.new #0:example.rb:10::-: a.square(5) #0:example.rb:4:A:>: def square(a) #0:example.rb:5:A:-: return a*a #0:example.rb:6:A:<: end | | | | | | | | | ---------------------+ event | | | ------------------------+ class | | --------------------------+ line | ------------------------------------+ filename ---------------------------------------+ thread
Symbol table used for displaying incoming events:
call a C-language routine
return from a C-language routine
call a Ruby method
C
start a class or module definition
E
finish a class or module definition
-
execute code on a new line
raise an exception
return from a Ruby method
by Keiju ISHITSUKA(keiju@ishitsuka.com)
OptionParser OptionParser is a class for command-line option analysis. It is much more advanced, yet also easier to use, than GetoptLong, and is a more Ruby-oriented solution.
The argument specification and the code to handle it are written in the same place.
It can output an option summary; you don’t need to maintain this string separately.
Optional and mandatory arguments are specified very gracefully.
Arguments can be automatically converted to a specified class.
Arguments can be restricted to a certain set.
All of these features are demonstrated in the examples below. See make_switch for full documentation.
require 'optparse' options = {} OptionParser.new do |opts| opts.banner = "Usage: example.rb [options]" opts.on("-v", "--[no-]verbose", "Run verbosely") do |v| options[:verbose] = v end end.parse! p options p ARGV
OptionParser can be used to automatically generate help for the commands you write:
require 'optparse' Options = Struct.new(:name) class Parser def self.parse(options) args = Options.new("world") opt_parser = OptionParser.new do |opts| opts.banner = "Usage: example.rb [options]" opts.on("-nNAME", "--name=NAME", "Name to say hello to") do |n| args.name = n end opts.on("-h", "--help", "Prints this help") do puts opts exit end end opt_parser.parse!(options) return args end end options = Parser.parse %w[--help] #=> # Usage: example.rb [options] # -n, --name=NAME Name to say hello to # -h, --help Prints this help
For options that require an argument, option specification strings may include an option name in all caps. If an option is used without the required argument, an exception will be raised.
require 'optparse' options = {} OptionParser.new do |parser| parser.on("-r", "--require LIBRARY", "Require the LIBRARY before executing your script") do |lib| puts "You required #{lib}!" end end.parse!
Used:
$ ruby optparse-test.rb -r optparse-test.rb:9:in `<main>': missing argument: -r (OptionParser::MissingArgument) $ ruby optparse-test.rb -r my-library You required my-library!
OptionParser supports the ability to coerce command line arguments into objects for us.
OptionParser comes with a few ready-to-use kinds of type coercion. They are:
Date – Anything accepted by Date.parse
DateTime – Anything accepted by DateTime.parse
Time – Anything accepted by Time.httpdate or Time.parse
URI – Anything accepted by URI.parse
Shellwords – Anything accepted by Shellwords.shellwords
String – Any non-empty string
Integer – Any integer. Will convert octal. (e.g. 124, -3, 040)
Float – Any float. (e.g. 10, 3.14, -100E+13)
Numeric – Any integer, float, or rational (1, 3.4, 1/3)
DecimalInteger – Like Integer, but no octal format.
OctalInteger – Like Integer, but no decimal format.
DecimalNumeric – Decimal integer or float.
TrueClass – Accepts ‘+, yes, true, -, no, false’ and defaults as true
FalseClass – Same as TrueClass, but defaults to false
Array – Strings separated by ‘,’ (e.g. 1,2,3)
Regexp – Regular expressions. Also includes options.
We can also add our own coercions, which we will cover below.
As an example, the built-in Time conversion is used. The other built-in conversions behave in the same way. OptionParser will attempt to parse the argument as a Time. If it succeeds, that time will be passed to the handler block. Otherwise, an exception will be raised.
require 'optparse' require 'optparse/time' OptionParser.new do |parser| parser.on("-t", "--time [TIME]", Time, "Begin execution at given time") do |time| p time end end.parse!
Used:
$ ruby optparse-test.rb -t nonsense ... invalid argument: -t nonsense (OptionParser::InvalidArgument) $ ruby optparse-test.rb -t 10-11-12 2010-11-12 00:00:00 -0500 $ ruby optparse-test.rb -t 9:30 2014-08-13 09:30:00 -0400
The accept method on OptionParser may be used to create converters. It specifies which conversion block to call whenever a class is specified. The example below uses it to fetch a User object before the on handler receives it.
require 'optparse' User = Struct.new(:id, :name) def find_user id not_found = ->{ raise "No User Found for id #{id}" } [ User.new(1, "Sam"), User.new(2, "Gandalf") ].find(not_found) do |u| u.id == id end end op = OptionParser.new op.accept(User) do |user_id| find_user user_id.to_i end op.on("--user ID", User) do |user| puts user end op.parse!
Used:
$ ruby optparse-test.rb --user 1 #<struct User id=1, name="Sam"> $ ruby optparse-test.rb --user 2 #<struct User id=2, name="Gandalf"> $ ruby optparse-test.rb --user 3 optparse-test.rb:15:in `block in find_user': No User Found for id 3 (RuntimeError)
Hash The into option of order, parse and so on methods stores command line options into a Hash.
require 'optparse' params = {} OptionParser.new do |opts| opts.on('-a') opts.on('-b NUM', Integer) opts.on('-v', '--verbose') end.parse!(into: params) p params
Used:
$ ruby optparse-test.rb -a
{:a=>true}
$ ruby optparse-test.rb -a -v
{:a=>true, :verbose=>true}
$ ruby optparse-test.rb -a -b 100
{:a=>true, :b=>100}
The following example is a complete Ruby program. You can run it and see the effect of specifying various options. This is probably the best way to learn the features of optparse.
require 'optparse' require 'optparse/time' require 'ostruct' require 'pp' class OptparseExample Version = '1.0.0' CODES = %w[iso-2022-jp shift_jis euc-jp utf8 binary] CODE_ALIASES = { "jis" => "iso-2022-jp", "sjis" => "shift_jis" } class ScriptOptions attr_accessor :library, :inplace, :encoding, :transfer_type, :verbose, :extension, :delay, :time, :record_separator, :list def initialize self.library = [] self.inplace = false self.encoding = "utf8" self.transfer_type = :auto self.verbose = false end def define_options(parser) parser.banner = "Usage: example.rb [options]" parser.separator "" parser.separator "Specific options:" # add additional options perform_inplace_option(parser) delay_execution_option(parser) execute_at_time_option(parser) specify_record_separator_option(parser) list_example_option(parser) specify_encoding_option(parser) optional_option_argument_with_keyword_completion_option(parser) boolean_verbose_option(parser) parser.separator "" parser.separator "Common options:" # No argument, shows at tail. This will print an options summary. # Try it and see! parser.on_tail("-h", "--help", "Show this message") do puts parser exit end # Another typical switch to print the version. parser.on_tail("--version", "Show version") do puts Version exit end end def perform_inplace_option(parser) # Specifies an optional option argument parser.on("-i", "--inplace [EXTENSION]", "Edit ARGV files in place", "(make backup if EXTENSION supplied)") do |ext| self.inplace = true self.extension = ext || '' self.extension.sub!(/\A\.?(?=.)/, ".") # Ensure extension begins with dot. end end def delay_execution_option(parser) # Cast 'delay' argument to a Float. parser.on("--delay N", Float, "Delay N seconds before executing") do |n| self.delay = n end end def execute_at_time_option(parser) # Cast 'time' argument to a Time object. parser.on("-t", "--time [TIME]", Time, "Begin execution at given time") do |time| self.time = time end end def specify_record_separator_option(parser) # Cast to octal integer. parser.on("-F", "--irs [OCTAL]", OptionParser::OctalInteger, "Specify record separator (default \\0)") do |rs| self.record_separator = rs end end def list_example_option(parser) # List of arguments. parser.on("--list x,y,z", Array, "Example 'list' of arguments") do |list| self.list = list end end def specify_encoding_option(parser) # Keyword completion. We are specifying a specific set of arguments (CODES # and CODE_ALIASES - notice the latter is a Hash), and the user may provide # the shortest unambiguous text. code_list = (CODE_ALIASES.keys + CODES).join(', ') parser.on("--code CODE", CODES, CODE_ALIASES, "Select encoding", "(#{code_list})") do |encoding| self.encoding = encoding end end def optional_option_argument_with_keyword_completion_option(parser) # Optional '--type' option argument with keyword completion. parser.on("--type [TYPE]", [:text, :binary, :auto], "Select transfer type (text, binary, auto)") do |t| self.transfer_type = t end end def boolean_verbose_option(parser) # Boolean switch. parser.on("-v", "--[no-]verbose", "Run verbosely") do |v| self.verbose = v end end end # # Return a structure describing the options. # def parse(args) # The options specified on the command line will be collected in # *options*. @options = ScriptOptions.new @args = OptionParser.new do |parser| @options.define_options(parser) parser.parse!(args) end @options end attr_reader :parser, :options end # class OptparseExample example = OptparseExample.new options = example.parse(ARGV) pp options # example.options pp ARGV
Completion For modern shells (e.g. bash, zsh, etc.), you can use shell completion for command line options.
The above examples should be enough to learn how to use this class. If you have any questions, file a ticket at bugs.ruby-lang.org.
Raised when attempting to divide an integer by 0.
42 / 0 #=> ZeroDivisionError: divided by 0
Note that only division by an exact 0 will raise the exception:
42 / 0.0 #=> Float::INFINITY 42 / -0.0 #=> -Float::INFINITY 0 / 0.0 #=> NaN
Raised when attempting to convert special float values (in particular Infinity or NaN) to numerical classes which don’t support them.
Float::INFINITY.to_r #=> FloatDomainError: Infinity
Raised when Ruby can’t yield as requested.
A typical scenario is attempting to yield when no block is given:
def call_block yield 42 end call_block
raises the exception:
LocalJumpError: no block given (yield)
A more subtle example:
def get_me_a_return Proc.new { return 42 } end get_me_a_return.call
raises the exception:
LocalJumpError: unexpected return
Raised in case of a stack overflow.
def me_myself_and_i me_myself_and_i end me_myself_and_i
raises the exception:
SystemStackError: stack level too deep
Random provides an interface to Ruby’s pseudo-random number generator, or PRNG. The PRNG produces a deterministic sequence of bits which approximate true randomness. The sequence may be represented by integers, floats, or binary strings.
The generator may be initialized with either a system-generated or user-supplied seed value by using Random.srand.
The class method Random.rand provides the base functionality of Kernel.rand along with better handling of floating point values. These are both interfaces to Random::DEFAULT, the Ruby system PRNG.
Random.new will create a new PRNG with a state independent of Random::DEFAULT, allowing multiple generators with different seed values or sequence positions to exist simultaneously. Random objects can be marshaled, allowing sequences to be saved and resumed.
PRNGs are currently implemented as a modified Mersenne Twister with a period of 2**19937-1.
Raised when given an invalid regexp expression.
Regexp.new("?")
raises the exception:
RegexpError: target of repeat operator is not specified: /?/
Raised when an invalid operation is attempted on a thread.
For example, when no other thread has been started:
Thread.stop
This will raises the following exception:
ThreadError: stopping only thread note: use sleep to stop forever
ConditionVariable objects augment class Mutex. Using condition variables, it is possible to suspend while in the middle of a critical section until a resource becomes available.
Example:
mutex = Mutex.new resource = ConditionVariable.new a = Thread.new { mutex.synchronize { # Thread 'a' now needs the resource resource.wait(mutex) # 'a' can now have the resource } } b = Thread.new { mutex.synchronize { # Thread 'b' has finished using the resource resource.signal } }
The exception class which will be raised when pushing into a closed Queue. See Queue#close and SizedQueue#close.
Document-class: TracePoint
A class that provides the functionality of Kernel#set_trace_func in a nice Object-Oriented API.
We can use TracePoint to gather information specifically for exceptions:
trace = TracePoint.new(:raise) do |tp| p [tp.lineno, tp.event, tp.raised_exception] end #=> #<TracePoint:disabled> trace.enable #=> false 0 / 0 #=> [5, :raise, #<ZeroDivisionError: divided by 0>]
If you don’t specify the type of events you want to listen for, TracePoint will include all available events.
Note do not depend on current event set, as this list is subject to change. Instead, it is recommended you specify the type of events you want to use.
To filter what is traced, you can pass any of the following as events:
:line
execute code on a new line
:class
start a class or module definition
:end
finish a class or module definition
:call
call a Ruby method
:return
return from a Ruby method
:c_call
call a C-language routine
:c_return
return from a C-language routine
:raise
raise an exception
:b_call
event hook at block entry
:b_return
event hook at block ending
:thread_begin
event hook at thread beginning
:thread_end
event hook at thread ending
:fiber_switch
event hook at fiber switch
:script_compiled
new Ruby code compiled (with eval, load or require)
Raised when throw is called with a tag which does not have corresponding catch block.
throw "foo", "bar"
raises the exception:
UncaughtThrowError: uncaught throw "foo"
The Enumerable mixin provides collection classes with several traversal and searching methods, and with the ability to sort. The class must provide a method each, which yields successive members of the collection. If Enumerable#max, min, or sort is used, the objects in the collection must also implement a meaningful <=> operator, as these methods rely on an ordering between members of the collection.
Ruby exception objects are subclasses of Exception. However, operating systems typically report errors using plain integers. Module Errno is created dynamically to map these operating system errors to Ruby classes, with each error number generating its own subclass of SystemCallError. As the subclass is created in module Errno, its name will start Errno::.
The names of the Errno:: classes depend on the environment in which Ruby runs. On a typical Unix or Windows platform, there are Errno classes such as Errno::EACCES, Errno::EAGAIN, Errno::EINTR, and so on.
The integer operating system error number corresponding to a particular error is available as the class constant Errno::error::Errno.
Errno::EACCES::Errno #=> 13 Errno::EAGAIN::Errno #=> 11 Errno::EINTR::Errno #=> 4
The full list of operating system errors on your particular platform are available as the constants of Errno.
Errno.constants #=> :E2BIG, :EACCES, :EADDRINUSE, :EADDRNOTAVAIL, ...
System call error module used by webrick for cross platform compatibility.
EPROTO
protocol error
ECONNRESET
remote host reset the connection request
ECONNABORTED
Client sent TCP reset (RST) before server has accepted the connection requested by client.
The Warning module contains a single method named warn, and the module extends itself, making Warning.warn available. Warning.warn is called for all warnings issued by Ruby. By default, warnings are printed to $stderr.
By overriding Warning.warn, you can change how warnings are handled by Ruby, either filtering some warnings, and/or outputting warnings somewhere other than $stderr. When Warning.warn is overridden, super can be called to get the default behavior of printing the warning to $stderr.
Coverage provides coverage measurement feature for Ruby. This feature is experimental, so these APIs may be changed in future.
require “coverage”
require or load Ruby source file
Coverage.result will return a hash that contains filename as key and coverage array as value. A coverage array gives, for each line, the number of line execution by the interpreter. A nil value means coverage is disabled for this line (lines like else and end).
[foo.rb] s = 0 10.times do |x| s += x end if s == 45 p :ok else p :ng end [EOF] require "coverage" Coverage.start require "foo.rb" p Coverage.result #=> {"foo.rb"=>[1, 1, 10, nil, nil, 1, 1, nil, 0, nil]}
$Id: 74ff4369ce53c7f45cfc2644ce907785104ebf6e $
Copyright © 1999-2006 Minero Aoki
This program is free software. You can distribute/modify this program under the terms of the GNU LGPL, Lesser General Public License version 2.1. For details of LGPL, see the file “COPYING”.
$Id: ebb9798ad0b211e031670a12a1ab154678c1c8f3 $
Copyright © 1999-2006 Minero Aoki
This program is free software. You can distribute/modify this program under the same terms of ruby. see the file “COPYING”.
$Id: 8ab2cb5341529fe5e35956bb1a1f42ec9b9c6f5a $
Copyright © 1999-2006 Minero Aoki
This program is free software. You can distribute/modify this program under the same terms of ruby. see the file “COPYING”.
$Id: 31aa4331c08dfd4609c06eb5f94b7ef38dc708e1 $
Copyright © 1999-2006 Minero Aoki
This program is free software. You can distribute/modify this program under the terms of the GNU LGPL, Lesser General Public License version 2.1. For details of the GNU LGPL, see the file “COPYING”.
$Id: 5e9d0a01b5d56fd9cdc3d5cb078b1a3e1bbaf779 $
Copyright © 1999-2006 Minero Aoki
This program is free software. You can distribute/modify this program under the terms of the GNU LGPL, Lesser General Public License version 2.1. For details of the GNU LGPL, see the file “COPYING”.
Racc is a LALR(1) parser generator. It is written in Ruby itself, and generates Ruby programs.
racc [-o<var>filename</var>] [--output-file=<var>filename</var>]
[-e<var>rubypath</var>] [--embedded=<var>rubypath</var>]
[-v] [--verbose]
[-O<var>filename</var>] [--log-file=<var>filename</var>]
[-g] [--debug]
[-E] [--embedded]
[-l] [--no-line-convert]
[-c] [--line-convert-all]
[-a] [--no-omit-actions]
[-C] [--check-only]
[-S] [--output-status]
[--version] [--copyright] [--help] <var>grammarfile</var>
filename
Racc grammar file. Any extension is permitted.
outfile
A filename for output. default is <filename>.tab.rb
filename
Place logging output in file filename. Default log file name is <filename>.output.
rubypath
output executable file(mode 755). where path is the Ruby interpreter.
verbose mode. create filename.output file, like yacc’s y.output file.
add debug code to parser class. To display debuggin information, use this ‘-g’ option and set @yydebug true in parser class.
Output parser which doesn’t need runtime files (racc/parser.rb).
Check syntax of racc grammar file and quit.
Print messages time to time while compiling.
turns off line number converting.
Convert line number of actions, inner, header and footer.
Call all actions, even if an action is empty.
print Racc version and quit.
Print copyright and quit.
Print usage and quit.
Parser Using Racc To compile Racc grammar file, simply type:
$ racc parse.y
This creates Ruby script file “parse.tab.y”. The -o option can change the output filename.
Racc Grammar File If you want your own parser, you have to write a grammar file. A grammar file contains the name of your parser class, grammar for the parser, user code, and anything else. When writing a grammar file, yacc’s knowledge is helpful. If you have not used yacc before, Racc is not too difficult.
Here’s an example Racc grammar file.
class Calcparser
rule
target: exp { print val[0] }
exp: exp '+' exp
| exp '*' exp
| '(' exp ')'
| NUMBER
end
Racc grammar files resemble yacc files. But (of course), this is Ruby code. yacc’s $$ is the ‘result’, $0, $1… is an array called ‘val’, and $-1, $-2… is an array called ‘_values’.
See the Grammar File Reference for more information on grammar files.
Parser Then you must prepare the parse entry method. There are two types of parse methods in Racc, Racc::Parser#do_parse and Racc::Parser#yyparse
Racc::Parser#do_parse is simple.
It’s yyparse() of yacc, and Racc::Parser#next_token is yylex(). This method must returns an array like [TOKENSYMBOL, ITS_VALUE]. EOF is [false, false]. (TOKENSYMBOL is a Ruby symbol (taken from String#intern) by default. If you want to change this, see the grammar reference.
Racc::Parser#yyparse is little complicated, but useful. It does not use Racc::Parser#next_token, instead it gets tokens from any iterator.
For example, yyparse(obj, :scan) causes calling +obj#scan+, and you can return tokens by yielding them from +obj#scan+.
When debugging, “-v” or/and the “-g” option is helpful.
“-v” creates verbose log file (.output). “-g” creates a “Verbose Parser”. Verbose Parser prints the internal status when parsing. But it’s not automatic. You must use -g option and set +@yydebug+ to true in order to get output. -g option only creates the verbose parser.
Racc reported syntax error. Isn’t there too many “end”? grammar of racc file is changed in v0.10.
Racc does not use ‘%’ mark, while yacc uses huge number of ‘%’ marks..
Racc reported “XXXX conflicts”. Try “racc -v xxxx.y”. It causes producing racc’s internal log file, xxxx.output.
Try “racc -g xxxx.y”. This command let racc generate “debugging parser”. Then set @yydebug=true in your parser. It produces a working log of your parser.
Racc runtime A parser, which is created by Racc, requires the Racc runtime module; racc/parser.rb.
Ruby 1.8.x comes with Racc runtime module, you need NOT distribute Racc runtime files.
If you want to include the Racc runtime module with your parser. This can be done by using ‘-E’ option:
$ racc -E -omyparser.rb myparser.y
This command creates myparser.rb which ‘includes’ Racc runtime. Only you must do is to distribute your parser file (myparser.rb).
Note: parser.rb is ruby license, but your parser is not. Your own parser is completely yours.
$Id: 3b2d89d9ada2f5fcb043837dcc5c9631856d5b70 $
Copyright © 1999-2006 Minero Aoki
This program is free software. You can distribute/modify this program under the terms of the GNU LGPL, Lesser General Public License version 2.1. For details of LGPL, see the file “COPYING”.
The Benchmark module provides methods to measure and report the time used to execute Ruby code.
Measure the time to construct the string given by the expression "a"*1_000_000_000:
require 'benchmark' puts Benchmark.measure { "a"*1_000_000_000 }
On my machine (OSX 10.8.3 on i5 1.7 GHz) this generates:
0.350000 0.400000 0.750000 ( 0.835234)
This report shows the user CPU time, system CPU time, the sum of the user and system CPU times, and the elapsed real time. The unit of time is seconds.
Do some experiments sequentially using the bm method:
require 'benchmark' n = 5000000 Benchmark.bm do |x| x.report { for i in 1..n; a = "1"; end } x.report { n.times do ; a = "1"; end } x.report { 1.upto(n) do ; a = "1"; end } end
The result:
user system total real 1.010000 0.000000 1.010000 ( 1.014479) 1.000000 0.000000 1.000000 ( 0.998261) 0.980000 0.000000 0.980000 ( 0.981335)
Continuing the previous example, put a label in each report:
require 'benchmark' n = 5000000 Benchmark.bm(7) do |x| x.report("for:") { for i in 1..n; a = "1"; end } x.report("times:") { n.times do ; a = "1"; end } x.report("upto:") { 1.upto(n) do ; a = "1"; end } end
The result:
user system total real for: 1.010000 0.000000 1.010000 ( 1.015688) times: 1.000000 0.000000 1.000000 ( 1.003611) upto: 1.030000 0.000000 1.030000 ( 1.028098)
The times for some benchmarks depend on the order in which items are run. These differences are due to the cost of memory allocation and garbage collection. To avoid these discrepancies, the bmbm method is provided. For example, to compare ways to sort an array of floats:
require 'benchmark' array = (1..1000000).map { rand } Benchmark.bmbm do |x| x.report("sort!") { array.dup.sort! } x.report("sort") { array.dup.sort } end
The result:
Rehearsal -----------------------------------------
sort! 1.490000 0.010000 1.500000 ( 1.490520)
sort 1.460000 0.000000 1.460000 ( 1.463025)
-------------------------------- total: 2.960000sec
user system total real
sort! 1.460000 0.000000 1.460000 ( 1.460465)
sort 1.450000 0.010000 1.460000 ( 1.448327)
Report statistics of sequential experiments with unique labels, using the benchmark method:
require 'benchmark' include Benchmark # we need the CAPTION and FORMAT constants n = 5000000 Benchmark.benchmark(CAPTION, 7, FORMAT, ">total:", ">avg:") do |x| tf = x.report("for:") { for i in 1..n; a = "1"; end } tt = x.report("times:") { n.times do ; a = "1"; end } tu = x.report("upto:") { 1.upto(n) do ; a = "1"; end } [tf+tt+tu, (tf+tt+tu)/3] end
The result:
user system total real for: 0.950000 0.000000 0.950000 ( 0.952039) times: 0.980000 0.000000 0.980000 ( 0.984938) upto: 0.950000 0.000000 0.950000 ( 0.946787) >total: 2.880000 0.000000 2.880000 ( 2.883764) >avg: 0.960000 0.000000 0.960000 ( 0.961255)
The Forwardable module provides delegation of specified methods to a designated object, using the methods def_delegator and def_delegators.
For example, say you have a class RecordCollection which contains an array @records. You could provide the lookup method record_number(), which simply calls [] on the @records array, like this:
require 'forwardable' class RecordCollection attr_accessor :records extend Forwardable def_delegator :@records, :[], :record_number end
We can use the lookup method like so:
r = RecordCollection.new r.records = [4,5,6] r.record_number(0) # => 4
Further, if you wish to provide the methods size, <<, and map, all of which delegate to @records, this is how you can do it:
class RecordCollection # re-open RecordCollection class def_delegators :@records, :size, :<<, :map end r = RecordCollection.new r.records = [1,2,3] r.record_number(0) # => 1 r.size # => 3 r << 4 # => [1, 2, 3, 4] r.map { |x| x * 2 } # => [2, 4, 6, 8]
You can even extend regular objects with Forwardable.
my_hash = Hash.new my_hash.extend Forwardable # prepare object for delegation my_hash.def_delegator "STDOUT", "puts" # add delegation for STDOUT.puts() my_hash.puts "Howdy!"
You could use Forwardable as an alternative to inheritance, when you don’t want to inherit all methods from the superclass. For instance, here is how you might add a range of Array instance methods to a new class Queue:
class Queue extend Forwardable def initialize @q = [ ] # prepare delegate object end # setup preferred interface, enq() and deq()... def_delegator :@q, :push, :enq def_delegator :@q, :shift, :deq # support some general Array methods that fit Queues well def_delegators :@q, :clear, :first, :push, :shift, :size end q = Queue.new q.enq 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 q.push 6 q.shift # => 1 while q.size > 0 puts q.deq end q.enq "Ruby", "Perl", "Python" puts q.first q.clear puts q.first
This should output:
2 3 4 5 6 Ruby nil
Be advised, RDoc will not detect delegated methods.
forwardable.rb provides single-method delegation via the def_delegator and def_delegators methods. For full-class delegation via DelegateClass, see delegate.rb.