Mixins and variables

It's got nothing to do with mixins:

class TestClass
  def x=(arg)
   @x = arg
  end
  def x
   @x
  end
  def monkey(arg)
   x = arg
  end
end

irb(main):012:0> a = TestClass.new
=> #<TestClass:0x2ac6e48>
irb(main):013:0> a.monkey('aa')
=> "aa"
irb(main):014:0> a.x
=> nil

In the monkey method, x = arg is assigning to the local variable x, not
calling the method x=().

Refer to the x variable either as self.x or @x.

···

-----Original Message-----
From: Johannes Friestad [mailto:johannes.friestad@gmail.com]
Sent: Wednesday, 7 December 2005 4:07 PM
To: ruby-talk ML
Subject: Mixins and variables

Hi,
I'm new to Ruby, and trying to figure out how the
inheritance/mixin works:
I can't figure out how to set an instance variable with a mixin method
from the object's initialize().

Example:
-----------------
module TestMod
  def x
    @x
  end
  def x=(arg)
    @x=arg
  end
end

class TestClass
  include TestMod
  def initialize
    x=('alpha')
    printf("x=%s\n", x)
  end
end

irb(main)..>tmp=TestClass.new
x=alpha # x is set inside constructor
=> #<TestClass:0x37d9520>
irb(main)..>tmp.x
=> nil # x is unset on the returned object
-----------------

Does anyone know why it doesn't work? What can I do instead?

--
Johannes Friestad
johannes.friestad@gmail.com

#####################################################################################
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OK, thanks. Can I force "x=(whatever)" to mean a method call instead
of an assignment?
I thought the parantheses were supposed to do that?

jf

···

On 12/6/05, Daniel Sheppard <daniels@pronto.com.au> wrote:

It's got nothing to do with mixins:

class TestClass
  def x=(arg)
   @x = arg
  end
  def x
   @x
  end
  def monkey(arg)
   x = arg
  end
end

irb(main):012:0> a = TestClass.new
=> #<TestClass:0x2ac6e48>
irb(main):013:0> a.monkey('aa')
=> "aa"
irb(main):014:0> a.x
=> nil

In the monkey method, x = arg is assigning to the local variable x, not
calling the method x=().

Refer to the x variable either as self.x or @x.

Hi --

···

On Wed, 7 Dec 2005, Johannes Friestad wrote:

OK, thanks. Can I force "x=(whatever)" to mean a method call instead
of an assignment?

I thought the parantheses were supposed to do that?

You have to give the explicit receiver 'self'. The thing is, local
variable assignments can have things with parens on the right, so that
alone is not enough to exempt that expression from being interpreted
as a l.v. assignment.

David
--
David A. Black
dblack@wobblini.net

"Ruby for Rails", forthcoming from Manning Publications, April 2006!

It is a parsing problem. Because ruby supports zero argument methods
the parser when it sees:

  x = 4

can't decide from the syntax alone if this is a local variable assignment
or if this is a method call to the x= method for the object (with 0 arguments).
This decision needs to be made when the method is *parsed* long before
the method has actually been executed.

So the goal is to convince the parser of what you want. If you want this
to be a method call then you have the following options:

  self.x = 4 # explicit method call
  x() = 4 # also explicit but not 'rubyish'

Putting arguments around right-hand-side expression doesn't help the parser:

  x = (4) # no help here

Neither does getting rid of spaces

  x=(4) # still no help

The parser also learns as it goes along to help disambiguate other
uses of the variable. See http://dev.rubycentral.com/faq/rubyfaq-4.html
for more details (section 4.3)

···

On Dec 7, 2005, at 12:29 AM, Johannes Friestad wrote:

OK, thanks. Can I force "x=(whatever)" to mean a method call instead
of an assignment?
I thought the parantheses were supposed to do that?

Thanks.

jf

···

On 12/6/05, dblack@wobblini.net <dblack@wobblini.net> wrote:

Hi --

On Wed, 7 Dec 2005, Johannes Friestad wrote:

> OK, thanks. Can I force "x=(whatever)" to mean a method call instead
> of an assignment?
>
> I thought the parantheses were supposed to do that?

You have to give the explicit receiver 'self'. The thing is, local
variable assignments can have things with parens on the right, so that
alone is not enough to exempt that expression from being interpreted
as a l.v. assignment.

David
--
David A. Black
dblack@wobblini.net

"Ruby for Rails", forthcoming from Manning Publications, April 2006!

--
Johannes Friestad
johannes.friestad@gmail.com

gwtmp01@mac.com wrote:

    self.x = 4 # explicit method call
    x() = 4 # also explicit but not 'rubyish'

Hm, and a syntax error as well, if I'm not wrong.

My bad. I really should cut and paste into irb...

···

On Dec 7, 2005, at 9:09 AM, Florian Groß wrote:

gwtmp01@mac.com wrote:

    self.x = 4 # explicit method call
    x() = 4 # also explicit but not 'rubyish'

Hm, and a syntax error as well, if I'm not wrong.