Class

Struct

Inheritance
< Object
Included Modules
Enumerable

A Struct is a convenient way to bundle a number of attributes together, using accessor methods, without having to write an explicit class.

The Struct class is a generator of specific classes, each one of which is defined to hold a set of variables and their accessors. In these examples, we‘ll call the generated class ``CustomerClass,’’ and we‘ll show an example instance of that class as ``CustomerInst.’‘

In the descriptions that follow, the parameter symbol refers to a symbol, which is either a quoted string or a Symbol (such as :name).

Methods

Class

Visibility Signature
public new (...)
public new (...)
public yaml_new ( klass, tag, val )
public yaml_tag_class_name ()
public yaml_tag_read_class ( name )

Instance

Visibility Signature
public == (p1)
public [] (p1)
public []= (p1, p2)
public each ()
public each_pair ()
public eql? (p1)
public hash ()
public inspect ()
public length ()
public members ()
public pretty_print (q)
public pretty_print_cycle (q)
public select (...)
public size ()
public to_a ()
public to_s ()
public to_yaml ( opts = {} )
public values ()
public values_at (...)

Class Method Detail

Struct.new( [aString] [, aSym]+> ) => StructClass
StructClass.new(arg, ...) => obj
StructClass[arg, ...] => obj

Creates a new class, named by aString, containing accessor methods for the given symbols. If the name aString is omitted, an anonymous structure class will be created. Otherwise, the name of this struct will appear as a constant in class Struct, so it must be unique for all Structs in the system and should start with a capital letter. Assigning a structure class to a constant effectively gives the class the name of the constant.

Struct::new returns a new Class object, which can then be used to create specific instances of the new structure. The number of actual parameters must be less than or equal to the number of attributes defined for this class; unset parameters default to \nil{}. Passing too many parameters will raise an \E{ArgumentError}.

The remaining methods listed in this section (class and instance) are defined for this generated class.

   # Create a structure with a name in Struct
   Struct.new("Customer", :name, :address)    #=> Struct::Customer
   Struct::Customer.new("Dave", "123 Main")   #=> #<Struct::Customer name="Dave", address="123 Main">

   # Create a structure named by its constant
   Customer = Struct.new(:name, :address)     #=> Customer
   Customer.new("Dave", "123 Main")           #=> #<Customer name="Dave", address="123 Main">

new(...)

yaml_new( klass, tag, val )

yaml_tag_class_name()

yaml_tag_read_class( name )

Instance Method Detail

struct == other_struct => true or false

Equality—Returns true if other_struct is equal to this one: they must be of the same class as generated by Struct::new, and the values of all instance variables must be equal (according to Object#==).

   Customer = Struct.new(:name, :address, :zip)
   joe   = Customer.new("Joe Smith", "123 Maple, Anytown NC", 12345)
   joejr = Customer.new("Joe Smith", "123 Maple, Anytown NC", 12345)
   jane  = Customer.new("Jane Doe", "456 Elm, Anytown NC", 12345)
   joe == joejr   #=> true
   joe == jane    #=> false

struct[symbol] => anObject
struct[fixnum] => anObject

Attribute Reference—Returns the value of the instance variable named by symbol, or indexed (0..length-1) by fixnum. Will raise NameError if the named variable does not exist, or IndexError if the index is out of range.

   Customer = Struct.new(:name, :address, :zip)
   joe = Customer.new("Joe Smith", "123 Maple, Anytown NC", 12345)

   joe["name"]   #=> "Joe Smith"
   joe[:name]    #=> "Joe Smith"
   joe[0]        #=> "Joe Smith"

struct[symbol] = obj => obj
struct[fixnum] = obj => obj

Attribute Assignment—Assigns to the instance variable named by symbol or fixnum the value obj and returns it. Will raise a NameError if the named variable does not exist, or an IndexError if the index is out of range.

   Customer = Struct.new(:name, :address, :zip)
   joe = Customer.new("Joe Smith", "123 Maple, Anytown NC", 12345)

   joe["name"] = "Luke"
   joe[:zip]   = "90210"

   joe.name   #=> "Luke"
   joe.zip    #=> "90210"

struct.each {|obj| block } => struct

Calls block once for each instance variable, passing the value as a parameter.

   Customer = Struct.new(:name, :address, :zip)
   joe = Customer.new("Joe Smith", "123 Maple, Anytown NC", 12345)
   joe.each {|x| puts(x) }

produces:

   Joe Smith
   123 Maple, Anytown NC
   12345

struct.each_pair {|sym, obj| block } => struct

Calls block once for each instance variable, passing the name (as a symbol) and the value as parameters.

   Customer = Struct.new(:name, :address, :zip)
   joe = Customer.new("Joe Smith", "123 Maple, Anytown NC", 12345)
   joe.each_pair {|name, value| puts("#{name} => #{value}") }

produces:

   name => Joe Smith
   address => 123 Maple, Anytown NC
   zip => 12345

eql?(p1)

code-seq:

  struct.eql?(other)   => true or false

Two structures are equal if they are the same object, or if all their fields are equal (using eql?).

struct.hash => fixnum

Return a hash value based on this struct‘s contents.

struct.to_s => string
struct.inspect => string

Describe the contents of this struct in a string.

struct.length => fixnum
struct.size => fixnum

Returns the number of instance variables.

   Customer = Struct.new(:name, :address, :zip)
   joe = Customer.new("Joe Smith", "123 Maple, Anytown NC", 12345)
   joe.length   #=> 3

struct.members => array

Returns an array of strings representing the names of the instance variables.

   Customer = Struct.new(:name, :address, :zip)
   joe = Customer.new("Joe Smith", "123 Maple, Anytown NC", 12345)
   joe.members   #=> ["name", "address", "zip"]

pretty_print(q)

pretty_print_cycle(q)

struct.select {|i| block } => array

Invokes the block passing in successive elements from struct, returning an array containing those elements for which the block returns a true value (equivalent to Enumerable#select).

   Lots = Struct.new(:a, :b, :c, :d, :e, :f)
   l = Lots.new(11, 22, 33, 44, 55, 66)
   l.select {|v| (v % 2).zero? }   #=> [22, 44, 66]

struct.length => fixnum
struct.size => fixnum

Returns the number of instance variables.

   Customer = Struct.new(:name, :address, :zip)
   joe = Customer.new("Joe Smith", "123 Maple, Anytown NC", 12345)
   joe.length   #=> 3

struct.to_a => array
struct.values => array

Returns the values for this instance as an array.

   Customer = Struct.new(:name, :address, :zip)
   joe = Customer.new("Joe Smith", "123 Maple, Anytown NC", 12345)
   joe.to_a[1]   #=> "123 Maple, Anytown NC"

struct.to_s => string
struct.inspect => string

Describe the contents of this struct in a string.

to_yaml( opts = {} )

struct.to_a => array
struct.values => array

Returns the values for this instance as an array.

   Customer = Struct.new(:name, :address, :zip)
   joe = Customer.new("Joe Smith", "123 Maple, Anytown NC", 12345)
   joe.to_a[1]   #=> "123 Maple, Anytown NC"

struct.values_at(selector,... ) => an_array

Returns an array containing the elements in self corresponding to the given selector(s). The selectors may be either integer indices or ranges. See also </code>.select<code>.

   a = %w{ a b c d e f }
   a.values_at(1, 3, 5)
   a.values_at(1, 3, 5, 7)
   a.values_at(-1, -3, -5, -7)
   a.values_at(1..3, 2...5)