let's say i have a multidimensional hash, and in one of the subhashes i have a key=>value pair which i need to retrieve by key. how can i do it?
example hashes:
h={:x=>1,:y=>2,:z=>{:a=>{:k=>"needle"}}}
h={:k=>"needle"}
key is always :k, and i need to get "needle"
i noticed that there is no "flatten" function for hashes in ruby 1.8, but if it'd be there, i imagine i'd just do
h.flatten[:k]
i imagine i need to write a recursive function for that?
thanks
You can always write your own mission-specific extension to Hash which does the dirty work for you:
class Hash
def recursive_find_by_key(key)
# Create a stack of hashes to search through for the needle which
# is initially this hash
stack = [ self ]
# So long as there are more haystacks to search...
while (to_search = stack.pop)
# ...keep searching for this particular key...
to_search.each do |k, v|
# ...and return the corresponding value if it is found.
return v if (k == key)
# If this value can be recursively searched...
if (v.respond_to?(:recursive_find_by_key))
# ...push that on to the list of places to search.
stack << v
end
end
end
end
end
You can use this quite simply:
h={:x=>1,:y=>2,:z=>{:a=>{:k=>"needle"}}}
puts h.recursive_find_by_key(:k).inspect
# => "needle"
h={:k=>"needle"}
puts h.recursive_find_by_key(:k).inspect
# => "needle"
puts h.recursive_find_by_key(:foo).inspect
# => nil
If you need simply to fetch key value, but don't know how deep the key is, use this snippet
def find_tag_val(hash, tag)
hash.map do |k, v|
return v if k.to_sym == tag
vr = find_tag_val(v, tag) if v.kind_of?(Hash)
return vr if vr
end
nil #othervice
end
h = {message: { key: 'val'}}
find_tag_val(h, :key) #=> 'val'