Getting the name of arguments a method takes

ruby-talk
1

I am wondering if there is a way to programatically get the name of the
arguments a function take.

Say, I have this code:
  class MyClass
      def my_fct(a, b, c)
     end
  end

Now, I can easily get a handle to the method 'my_fct' using:
  mc = MyClass.new
  meth = mc.method(:my_fct)

But how do I get to the list of arguments of 'my_fct' ? I couldn't find
anything like:
  meth.arg_list
which would return [ :a, :b, :c ], or something like that.

Is this even possible in ruby ?

-Didier

···

--
Posted via http://www.ruby-forum.com/.

2

Didier Prophete wrote:

I am wondering if there is a way to programatically get the name of the
arguments a function take.

Say, I have this code:
  class MyClass
      def my_fct(a, b, c)
     end
  end

Now, I can easily get a handle to the method 'my_fct' using:
  mc = MyClass.new
  meth = mc.method(:my_fct)

But how do I get to the list of arguments of 'my_fct' ? I couldn't find
anything like:
  meth.arg_list
which would return [ :a, :b, :c ], or something like that.

Is this even possible in ruby ?

-Didier

i also would like to do this. anybody know if it's possible, and also
getting arg names from a proc? if so it would be very handy for
metaprogramming.

thanks

···

--
Posted via http://www.ruby-forum.com/\.

3

Guest wrote:

Didier Prophete wrote:

I am wondering if there is a way to programatically get the name of the
arguments a function take.

Say, I have this code:
  class MyClass
      def my_fct(a, b, c)
     end
  end

Now, I can easily get a handle to the method 'my_fct' using:
  mc = MyClass.new
  meth = mc.method(:my_fct)

But how do I get to the list of arguments of 'my_fct' ? I couldn't find
anything like:
  meth.arg_list
which would return [ :a, :b, :c ], or something like that.

Is this even possible in ruby ?

-Didier

i also would like to do this. anybody know if it's possible, and also
getting arg names from a proc? if so it would be very handy for
metaprogramming.

The short answer: no, it's not possible. What do you want it for?

There's always this way, though:

def method_arg_names(method_name, file)
  File.read(file)[/def #{Regexp.escape method_name}(.*(\)|$))/, 1]
end

p method_arg_names("method_arg_names", $0) #=> "(method_name, file)"

Cheers,
Dave

4

Also, this, if you're only dealing with Ruby methods and are in a
kamikaze kind of mood:

class Method
  def arg_names
    catch(:traced) do
      dummy_args = [nil]
      dummy_args *= self.arity unless self.arity < 0

      set_trace_func lambda { |event, file, line, id, bdng, cls|
        if event == 'call'
          set_trace_func nil
          throw(:traced, eval('local_variables',bdng).map { |lv| lv.intern })
        end
      }

      self.call(*dummy_args)

      # if we get here, call is bust
      set_trace_func nil
      raise "No ruby method call in block"
    end
  end
end

Doesn't work for procs, though.

···

On Tue, 2006-05-02 at 09:17 +0900, Dave Burt wrote:

Guest wrote:
> Didier Prophete wrote:
>> I am wondering if there is a way to programatically get the name of the
>> arguments a function take.
>>
>> [...snip...]
>>
>> Is this even possible in ruby ?
>
> i also would like to do this. anybody know if it's possible, and also
> getting arg names from a proc? if so it would be very handy for
> metaprogramming.

The short answer: no, it's not possible. What do you want it for?

There's always this way, though:

def method_arg_names(method_name, file)
  File.read(file)[/def #{Regexp.escape method_name}(.*(\)|$))/, 1]
end

p method_arg_names("method_arg_names", $0) #=> "(method_name, file)"

Cheers,
Dave

--
Ross Bamford - rosco@roscopeco.REMOVE.co.uk