Can't change the value of self - II

I'm still not "getting it."

Consider

- - -
class DirectoryString < String
  def initialize(arg)
    super arg
  end
  
  def convert_forward_slash_to_back_slash
    self.gsub(/\//, "\\")
  end

  def convert_forward_slash_to_back_slash!
    self.gsub!(/\//, "\\")
  end

  def remove_trailing_backslash_if_any
    self.chomp("\\")
  end

  def remove_trailing_backslash_if_any!
    self.chomp!("\\")
  end

  def append_trailing_backslash_if_needed
    remove_trailing_backslash_if_any + "\\"
  end

  def append_trailing_backslash_if_needed!
    # ??? What do I do here ??? … The following is illegal
    self = "Help!"
  end
end

- - -

The only thing I can think of is converting from the standard IS_A (Inheritance) to a HAS_A (create a member variable).

If I do the latter, above, I will have to create a ton of simple "forwarding" messages.

What's the Ruby way of doing this sort of thing?

You can use the #replace method to do that sort of thing:

    self.replace "Help! Oh, well, I'm saved!"

This method is defined in classes String, Hash, Array, and Set, and
works the same way in each one.

jeremy

···

On Wed, Aug 11, 2010 at 5:44 PM, Ralph Shnelvar <ralphs@dos32.com> wrote:

I'm still not "getting it."

Consider

- - -
class DirectoryString < String
def initialize(arg)
super arg
end

def convert_forward_slash_to_back_slash
self.gsub(/\//, "\\")
end

def convert_forward_slash_to_back_slash!
self.gsub!(/\//, "\\")
end

def remove_trailing_backslash_if_any
self.chomp("\\")
end

def remove_trailing_backslash_if_any!
self.chomp!("\\")
end

def append_trailing_backslash_if_needed
remove_trailing_backslash_if_any + "\\"
end

def append_trailing_backslash_if_needed!
# ??? What do I do here ??? ... The following is illegal
self = "Help!"
end
end

- - -

The only thing I can think of is converting from the standard IS_A (Inheritance) to a HAS_A (create a member variable).

If I do the latter, above, I will have to create a ton of simple "forwarding" messages.

What's the Ruby way of doing this sort of thing?

Wednesday, August 11, 2010, 5:52:57 PM, you wrote:

You can use the #replace method to do that sort of thing:

    self.replace "Help! Oh, well, I'm saved!"

This method is defined in classes String, Hash, Array, and Set, and
works the same way in each one.

jeremy

jeremy,

That's great and solves my particular problem.

But what if the class being derived from does not have a replace method?

Ralph

If the object has state that can be modified, then there will be (by
definition) ways to modify that state. If it doesn't, then there won't
be, and the class in question is probably a bad starting point if you
want to create objects with state that can be modified.

That's one of the advantages of using proxy objects and delegators: you
gain an extra axis along which you can make decisions about things like
object state. Even though you can't change (say) a Fixnum, you can
create objects with integer attributes that *can* be changed.

David

···

On Thu, 12 Aug 2010, Ralph Shnelvar wrote:

Wednesday, August 11, 2010, 5:52:57 PM, you wrote:

> You can use the #replace method to do that sort of thing:

> self.replace "Help! Oh, well, I'm saved!"

> This method is defined in classes String, Hash, Array, and Set, and
> works the same way in each one.

> jeremy

jeremy,

That's great and solves my particular problem.

But what if the class being derived from does not have a replace method?

--
David A. Black, Senior Developer, Cyrus Innovation Inc.

   The Ruby training with Black/Brown/McAnally
   Compleat Philadelphia, PA, October 1-2, 2010
   Rubyist http://www.compleatrubyist.com

David,

That's great and solves my particular problem.

But what if the class being derived from does not have a replace method?

If the object has state that can be modified, then there will be (by
definition) ways to modify that state. If it doesn't, then there won't
be, and the class in question is probably a bad starting point if you
want to create objects with state that can be modified.

That's one of the advantages of using proxy objects and delegators: you
gain an extra axis along which you can make decisions about things like
object state. Even though you can't change (say) a Fixnum, you can
create objects with integer attributes that *can* be changed.

Could you expand on this with an example, please?

irb(main):001:0> require 'delegate'
=> true
irb(main):002:0> class MutableFixnum < Delegator
irb(main):003:1> def initialize i
irb(main):004:2> super
irb(main):005:2> @value = i
irb(main):006:2> end
irb(main):007:1> def __getobj__
irb(main):008:2> @value
irb(main):009:2> end
irb(main):014:1> def __setobj__ value
irb(main):015:2> @value = value
irb(main):016:2> end
irb(main):017:1> def add! x
irb(main):018:2> __setobj__(__getobj__ + x)
irb(main):019:2> end
irb(main):020:1> end
=> nil
irb(main):021:0> a = MutableFixnum.new 1
=> 1
irb(main):022:0> a + 3
=> 4
irb(main):023:0> a.add! 3
=> 4
irb(main):024:0> a
=> 4

Jesus.

···

On Thu, Aug 12, 2010 at 2:38 AM, Ralph Shnelvar <ralphs@dos32.com> wrote:

David,

That's great and solves my particular problem.

But what if the class being derived from does not have a replace method?

> If the object has state that can be modified, then there will be (by
> definition) ways to modify that state. If it doesn't, then there won't
> be, and the class in question is probably a bad starting point if you
> want to create objects with state that can be modified.

> That's one of the advantages of using proxy objects and delegators: you
> gain an extra axis along which you can make decisions about things like
> object state. Even though you can't change (say) a Fixnum, you can
> create objects with integer attributes that *can* be changed.

Could you expand on this with an example, please?

Ralph Shnelvar wrote:

Could you expand on this with an example, please?

[Just to show that delegation is nothing magic, and you don't need to
use the Delegator class]

class MyCounter
  def initialize(n=0)
    @n = n
  end
  def inc!
    @n += 1
  end
  def to_int
    @n
  end
  def to_s
    @n.to_s
  end
end

c = MyCounter.new
c.inc!
c.inc!
puts "c is #{c}"

Some more work is required to make c duck-type like an Integer though.

···

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