Initialize instance variable problem

ruby-talk
1

Why does this return nil for @city?

class Url
  def initialize(city,quary,catagory,minask,maxask)
    @city = city
    @quary = quary
    @cat = catagory
    @min = minask
    @max = maxask
  end

  puts @city

end
a = Url.new('spokane',"tires","pts","0","1000")
a

···

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

2

Because when you use @city outside a method definition, it is an
instance variable of you *class* Url [1] and not of an instance of you
class.

add

def city
  puts @city
end

and call a.city to get what you want.

Cheers,

JJ Fleck

[1] I'm not 100% sure of the naming but what is sure is that the @city
you use is *not* an instance method of your instance a.

···

2010/8/28 Cameron Vessey <cameron1inm@hotmail.com>:

Why does this return nil for @city?

3

This is basically what Jean said, but I figured it might be easier to follow
if you can actually see it.

class Url
  # self is the class Url
  puts "outside initialize 1, self is #{self.inspect}"

  def initialize(city,quary,catagory,minask,maxask)
    @city = city
    @quary = quary
    @cat = catagory
    @min = minask
    @max = maxask
    # self is an instance of Url
    puts "Inside initialize 3, self is #{self.inspect}"
  end

  # self is the class Url
  puts "outside initialize 2, self is #{self.inspect}"

  def render
    # self is an instance of Url
    puts "Inside initialize 4, self is #{self.inspect}"
    @city + @quary + @cat + @min + @max
  end
end

a = Url.new('spokane',"tires","pts","0","1000")
result = a.render
puts "result is #{result.inspect}"

···

On Sat, Aug 28, 2010 at 11:17 AM, Cameron Vessey <cameron1inm@hotmail.com>wrote:

Why does this return nil for @city?

class Url
def initialize(city,quary,catagory,minask,maxask)
   @city = city
   @quary = quary
   @cat = catagory
   @min = minask
   @max = maxask
end

puts @city

end
a = Url.new('spokane',"tires","pts","0","1000")
a
--
Posted via http://www.ruby-forum.com/\.

4

Others have identified the basic issue (your puts statement accesses a member of the class and not of the instance) but I'd like to add a few other remarks. First, the name Url might cause confusion because someone might think it is a generic URL handling class (like class URI for example).

What you basically should do is add attribute accessors for your instance variables, e.g.

class Url
   attr :city
end

Then you can do

a = Url.new ...
puts a.city

But: you can make your life much simpler by resorting to Struct:

CityUrl = Struct.new :city, :quary, :catagory, :minask, :maxask

This gives you a proper initialize, attribute accessors and a few more things for free.

irb(main):008:0> a = CityUrl.new('spokane',"tires","pts","0","1000")
=> #<struct CityUrl city="spokane", quary="tires", catagory="pts", minask="0", maxask="1000">
irb(main):009:0> a.city
=> "spokane"

Btw, from the naming and values of "minask" and "maxask" it seems these should be rather used with integer values. Even if you read them as strings from some sort of file your application logic will become much easier if you convert those strings on reading into ints and then go from there. Otherwise you will have to convert them all the time you want to use them which is inefficient, error prone (you might forget a location) and tedious to change if you need to at one point. Also, you depend on the format of the single source which might make it difficult to pull the data from other sources later. Basically it's best to always do something like

external representation -> import (load) converts into internal representation -> work with that internal representation throughout the application -> export (store) converts to external representation

Kind regards

  robert

···

On 28.08.2010 18:17, Cameron Vessey wrote:

Why does this return nil for @city?

class Url
   def initialize(city,quary,catagory,minask,maxask)
     @city = city
     @quary = quary
     @cat = catagory
     @min = minask
     @max = maxask
   end

   puts @city

end
a = Url.new('spokane',"tires","pts","0","1000")
a

--
remember.guy do |as, often| as.you_can - without end
http://blog.rubybestpractices.com/

5

I get what your saying,

But the problem I'm having is I want to build a URL string from the
intit parameters... I need to concantinate them and add some other
stuff...

So I guess I just pass them to the class and use them as parameters?..
no need to init them as instance variables?.. alright...

thanks for the reply I will mess with it.

···

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