I'm doing the SaaS Stanford class, trying to do Part 5 of this assignment
I'm having a really hard time grasping this concept, this is what I've attempted to do:
class Class
def attr_accessor_with_history(attr_name)
attr_name = attr_name.to_s
attr_reader attr_name
attr_reader attr_name + '_history'
class_eval %Q'{def #{attr_name}(a);#{attr_name}_history.push(a) ; end;}'
end
end
I'm probably doing all sorts of things wrong, read The Book Of Ruby chapter on metaprogramming and I still don't get it, can someone help me comprehend this?
This was fun!!!
class Class
def attr_accessor_with_history(attr_name)
attr_name = attr_name.to_s # make sure it's a string
attr_reader attr_name
attr_reader attr_name+"_history"
class_eval %Q"
def #{attr_name}=(value)
if !defined? @#{attr_name}_history
@#{attr_name}_history = [@#{attr_name}]
end
@#{attr_name} = value
@#{attr_name}_history << value
end
"
end
end
class Foo
attr_accessor_with_history :bar
end
class Foo2
attr_accessor_with_history :bar
def initialize()
@bar = 'init'
end
end
f = Foo.new
f.bar = 1
f.bar = nil
f.bar = '2'
f.bar = [1,nil,'2',:three]
f.bar = :three
puts "First bar:", f.bar.inspect, f.bar_history.inspect
puts "Correct?", f.bar_history == [f.class.new.bar, 1, nil, '2', [1,nil,'2',:three], :three] ? "yes" : "no"
old_bar_history = f.bar_history.inspect
f2 = Foo2.new
f2.bar = 'baz'
f2.bar = f2
puts "\nSecond bar:", f2.bar.inspect, f2.bar_history.inspect
puts "Correct?", f2.bar_history == [f2.class.new.bar, 'baz', f2] ? "yes" : "no"
puts "\nIs the old f.bar intact?", f.bar_history.inspect == old_bar_history ? "yes" : "no"
Note that the only reason you need to use strings with class_eval is so that you can refer to the value of attr_name
when defining the custom setter. Otherwise one would normally pass a block to class_eval
.
With regard to what you've done you're actually on the cusp of the solution. It's just that #{attr_name}_history
doesn't exist in your code. You will need to create an instance variable and set it to nil if it doesn't exist. What you have already should handle pushing into the array if it does exist.
There are several ways to do that. One way is if defined? @#{attr_name}_history DoStuffHere
You must notice that #{attr_name}_history
is a instance variable, so use @ before, like @foo in the class below
def #{attr_name}=value
, #{attr_name}=
is the method name, value
is parameter, same as def func parameter
def #{attr_name}=value
(!defined? @#{attr_name}_history) ? @#{attr_name}_history = [nil, value] : @#{attr_name}_history << value
end