Hash as paramerter container

Hello all,

I am looking for Ruby equivalent for this Python Code

def foo(a,b,c):
… print "a is ", a
… print "b is ", b
… print "c is ", c

h = {“c”:3, “a”:1, “b”:2}

foo
<function foo at 0x403d6f7c>

foo(**h)
a is 1
b is 2
c is 3

my first try

=> {“c”=>333, :b=>2, :a=>1}
irb(main):017:0> def foo a,b,c
irb(main):018:1> puts “a is #{a}”
irb(main):019:1> puts “b is #{b}”
irb(main):020:1> puts “c is #{c}”
irb(main):021:1> end
=> nil
irb(main):022:0> foo *h
a is c333
b is b2
c is a1
=> nil

this seem to replace (or substituate) the parameters expected by foo
in the order of hash. And since hash has no order (in both languages)
it’s a random replacement.

Is there a trick I don’t know about?

Regards, Daniel

ps:

The case of unpacking an array seem to be 1:1 mapping betweeen Python
and Ruby.

n = [1,2,3]

def bar(*args):
… for i in args:
… print i

bar(*n)
1
2
3

bar(1,2,3)
1
2
3

irb(main):065:0> def bar *args
irb(main):066:1> args.each {|i| puts i}
irb(main):067:1> end
=> nil
irb(main):068:0> n = [1,2,3]
=> [1, 2, 3]
irb(main):069:0> bar(*n)
1
2
3
=> [1, 2, 3]
irb(main):070:0> bar(1,2,3)
1
2
3
=> [1, 2, 3]
irb(main):071:0>

On Jan 9, 2006, at 7:53 AM, Schüle Daniel wrote:

foo
<function foo at 0x403d6f7c>

foo(**h)
a is 1
b is 2
c is 3

Here are some ideas:

def show( a, b, c)
puts “a is #{a}”
puts “b is #{b}”
puts “c is #{c}”
end
=> nil

params = {:a => 1, :b => 2, :c => 3}
=> {:b=>2, :c=>3, :a=>1}

show(*params.values_at(:a, :b, :c))
a is 1
b is 2
c is 3
=> nil

That’s about the closet I can get what what you posted, I think.

def show( args )
[:a, :b, :b].each { |key| puts “#{key} is #{args[key]}” }
end
=> nil

show(:a => 1, :b => 2, :c => 3)
a is 1
b is 2
b is 2
=> [:a, :b, :b]

This one is more Rubyish though, to me. It uses Ruby’s almost named
parameter syntax.

Hope that gives you some new ideas.

James Edward G. II

What about

irb(main):033:0> h = {:c=>333,:b=>2, :a=>1}
=> {:c=>333, :a=>1, :b=>2}
irb(main):034:0> def foo h
irb(main):035:1> puts “a is #{h[:a]}”
irb(main):036:1> puts “b is #{h[:b]}”
irb(main):037:1> puts “c is #{h[:c]}”
irb(main):038:1> end
=> nil
irb(main):039:0> foo h
a is 1
b is 2
c is 333
=> nil

Schüle Daniel wrote:

irb(main):017:0> def foo a,b,c

this seem to replace (or substituate) the parameters expected by foo
in the order of hash. And since hash has no order (in both languages)
it’s a random replacement.

Is there a trick I don’t know about?

I don’t know Python but I assume that foo(**h) assigns hash entries to
function arguments. Ruby cannot do this because parameter names are
lost
at runtime. Here’s what you can do:

def foo(*a)
case a.length
when 1
a[0].each {|k,v| puts “#{k} is #{v}”}
when 3
puts “a is #{a[0]}”
puts “b is #{a[1]}”
puts “c is #{a[2]}”
else
raise ArgumentError, “wrong number of arguments”
end
end

foo(1,2,3)
a is 1
b is 2
c is 3
=> nil

foo(:x=>1, :y=>32, :z=>4)
y is 32
z is 4
x is 1
=> {:y=>32, :z=>4, :x=>1}

foo(1,2,3,4)
RuntimeError: Illegal Call
from (irb):24:in `foo’
from (irb):29
from :0

But generally you would decide whether you use a hash or individual
parameters. You could go through some hoops to retrofit something on
Ruby
that will behave approximately like Python does but I won’t be fast or
elegant and I guess there would be some limitations. But Ruby 2 is will
introduce new functionality here (named parameters / arguments); it
might
then be possible to do what you know from Python.

HTH

Kind regards

robert