Ruby: Calling class method from instance

Question

In Ruby, how do you call a class method from one of that class's instances? Say I have

class Truck
  def self.default_make
    # Class method.
    "mac"
  end

  def initialize
    # Instance method.
    Truck.default_make  # gets the default via the class's method.
    # But: I wish to avoid mentioning Truck. Seems I'm repeating myself.
  end
end

the line Truck.default_make retrieves the default. But is there a way of saying this without mentioning Truck? It seems like there should be.

Answer 1

To access a class method inside a instance method, do the following:

self.class.default_make

Here is an alternative solution for your problem:

class Truck

  attr_accessor :make, :year

  def self.default_make
    "Toyota"
  end

  def make
    @make || self.class.default_make
  end

  def initialize(make=nil, year=nil)
    self.year, self.make = year, make
  end
end

Now let's use our class:

t = Truck.new("Honda", 2000)
t.make
# => "Honda"
t.year
# => "2000"

t = Truck.new
t.make
# => "Toyota"
t.year
# => nil

Answer 2

You're doing it the right way. Class methods (similar to 'static' methods in C++ or Java) aren't part of the instance, so they have to be referenced directly.

On that note, in your example you'd be better served making 'default_make' a regular method:

#!/usr/bin/ruby

class Truck
    def default_make
        # Class method.
        "mac"
    end

    def initialize
        # Instance method.
        puts default_make  # gets the default via the class's method.
    end
end

myTruck = Truck.new()

Class methods are more useful for utility-type functions that use the class. For example:

#!/usr/bin/ruby

class Truck
    attr_accessor :make

    def default_make
        # Class method.
        "mac"
    end

    def self.buildTrucks(make, count)
        truckArray = []

        (1..count).each do
            truckArray << Truck.new(make)
        end

        return truckArray
    end

    def initialize(make = nil)
        if( make == nil )
            @make = default_make()
        else
            @make = make
        end
    end
end

myTrucks = Truck.buildTrucks("Yotota", 4)

myTrucks.each do |truck|
    puts truck.make
end

Answer 3

Using self.class.blah is NOT the same as using ClassName.blah when it comes to inheritance.

class Truck
  def self.default_make
    "mac"
  end

  def make1
    self.class.default_make
  end

  def make2
    Truck.default_make
  end
end


class BigTruck < Truck
  def self.default_make
    "bigmac"
  end
end

ruby-1.9.3-p0 :021 > b=BigTruck.new
 => #<BigTruck:0x0000000307f348> 
ruby-1.9.3-p0 :022 > b.make1
 => "bigmac" 
ruby-1.9.3-p0 :023 > b.make2
 => "mac"