I have two files, one with module ToMix
:
module ToMix
@module_var = "modulevar"
def self.mix_function
puts "mix_function SELF: #{@module_var}"
end
def mix_function
puts "mix_function: #{@module_var}"
end
class MixClass
attr_accessor :mixclassvar
def initialize(value)
@mixclassvar = value
end
end
end
which I want to mixin to the class TestInclude
in the other file:
class TestInclude
require "ToMixFile"
include ToMix
end
Could someone explain why the instance variable @module_var
and methods self.mix_function
, mix_function
are undefined? And how would I define them?
t2 = TestInclude.new()
t2.mix_function # => error undefined (exected call to mix_function)
t2.module_var = "test set module_var" # => error undefined
TestInclude.mix_function # => error undefined (expected call to self.mix_function)
TestInclude.method_defined? :mix_function # => false
Modules add functions to things; attr_accessor
adds functions for interacting with a variable.
module ToMix
@module_var = "module_var"
attr_accessor :mixed_var
def initialize
@mixed_var = "mixed_var"
end
def mix_function
puts "mix_function: #{@mixed_var}"
end
def self.module_function
@module_var
end
end
class Mixed
include ToMix
end
Mixed.new.mixed_var
Notably,
"".extend(ToMix).mixed_var == nil # no error, but no value, interesting!
but
(a = "".extend(ToMix)).mixed_var = "interesting"
a.mixed_var == "interesting"
and
ToMix.module_function == "module_var"
https://stackoverflow.com/a/151774/171916
http://www.natontesting.com/2009/09/28/accessing-instance-variables-declared-in-ruby-modules/
How to dynamically alter inheritance in Ruby
Edit: Those wiser than I should correct me if I'm wrong, but module and class definitions are themselves objects. Defining a @var
in a module definition thus adds the var to the module object itself
Edit: Those wiser than I have corrected me: While class and module definitions sort of behave like a singleton, they are not themselves objects. You can think of def self.bacon
and @var
outside of methods as c++ static methods and variables, but they can /only/ be access like a static, even if you're in an instance.