# A nicer syntax for generic extension methods **URL:** \ **Category:** IronRuby\ **Created:** [February 1, 2010, 8:21pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/a-nicer-syntax-for-generic-extension-methods/182715 "2010-02-01T20:21:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ryan](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/r/a8b319/32.png) [@ryan](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/ryan)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2010, 8:21pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/a-nicer-syntax-for-generic-extension-methods/182715/1 "2010-02-01T20:21:30Z")
I have been trying to figure out how to Rubify generic extension methods for use with the likes of Rx, Open XML SDK, etc. Ivan went over it a bit with me this weekend, but I’m still having difficulty including a module within a .NET type. Is that even possible? Given: names = System::Collections::Generic::List.of(System::String).new names.add ‘Ryan’ Current syntax: greetings = System::Linq::Enumerable.method(:select).of(System::String).call { |name| “Howdy, #{name}” } # compare with greetings = names.map { |name| “Howdy, #{name}” } Desired syntax: greetings = names.linq\_select { |name| “Howdy, #{name}” } Granted, you might make a case for using the Ruby Enumerable methods over Linq, but when it comes to using other libraries, the more Ruby-like syntax would be preferred. In the interest of working out the preferred syntax, I thought using System.Linq.Enumerable would be easiest. Ivan provided the following: module EnumerableExtensions def included(base) if base.respond\_to? :to\_clr\_type @klass = base.to\_clr\_type end end def linq\_select(&b) System::Linq::Enumerable.method(:select).of(@klass).call &b end end The questions I’m not able to answer are: 1. Can I somehow open up a .NET class, say System::Collections::Generic::List[T] and include the EnumerableExtensions? So far, I’m finding that’s a no. 2. How do I hook in the included(base) method above? I’m assuming that’s a one-time call, but I don’t see anywhere that it’s called when a module is included. Do I need to use a before\_filter or perform that action at the beginning of the linq\_select method? Thanks! Ryan R. Email: removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid LinkedIn: [http://www.linkedin.com/in/ryanriley](http://www.linkedin.com/in/ryanriley) Blog: [http://wizardsofsmart.net/](http://wizardsofsmart.net/) Twitter: @panesofglass Website: [http://panesofglass.org/](http://panesofglass.org/) ---
**Author:** ![ryan](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/r/a8b319/32.png) [@ryan](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/ryan)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2010, 3:56am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/a-nicer-syntax-for-generic-extension-methods/182715/2 "2010-02-02T03:56:21Z")
IIRC you can open “concrete” generics, but not “open” ones: In plain english this means you can add methods to List but not List. This is essentially because List isn’t a real type in the CLR, it’s basically some metadata that can be used to build a real type when the T is supplied. You could as an alternative add methods to the underlying non-generic IEnumerable interface, but then you’d have to do some run-time reflection to figure out that your List is actually a List… This is probably not nice. In theory when CLR4 lands and has support for co/contra variant generics, List should match List and everything else, but I don’t know if IronRuby would also work for this? Good luck ---
**Author:** ![ryan](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/r/a8b319/32.png) [@ryan](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/ryan)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2010, 8:40pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/a-nicer-syntax-for-generic-extension-methods/182715/3 "2010-02-02T20:40:10Z")
> > If you index System.Collections.Generic.List by a fixnum instead of a > > class/module you’ll get the generic definition of arity 1 Nice! I had no idea that feature existed ---
**Author:** ![ryan](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/r/a8b319/32.png) [@ryan](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/ryan)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2010, 8:45am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/a-nicer-syntax-for-generic-extension-methods/182715/4 "2010-02-02T08:45:29Z")
Actually, you can add Ruby methods to List … IronRuby type system does some magic for you :): > > > include System::Collections::Generic > > > =\> Object > > > List[Fixnum].included\_modules > > > =\> [System::Collections::Generic::List[T], > > > System::Collections::Generic::IList[Fixnum], > > > System::Collections::Generic::IList[T], > > > System::Collections::Generic::ICollection[Fixnum], > > > System::Collections::Generic::ICollection[T], > > > System::Collections::Generic::IEnumerable[Fixnum], > > > System::Collections::Generic::IEnumerable[T], > > > System::Collections::IEnumerable, Enumerable, > > > System::Collections::IList, System::Collections::ICollection, > > > System::Collections::Generic, Kernel] As you can see the List\<\> generic type definition is treated as a module that is mixed in each of its instantiations. Although there are no predefined methods on it you can open it and add some. First we need to get Ruby class for List. If you index System.Collections.Generic.List by a fixnum instead of a class/module you’ll get the generic definition of arity 1. Let’s name it ListOfT: > > > ListOfT = List[1] And then we can open it up: > > > module ListOfT > > > … def size > > > … count > > > … end > > > … end > > > =\> nil > > > l = List[Fixnum].new > > > =\> > > > l.add(1) > > > =\> nil > > > l.add(2) > > > =\> nil > > > l.size > > > =\> 2 Tomas From: [removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid](mailto:removed_email_address@domain.invalid) [[mailto:removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid](mailto:removed_email_address@domain.invalid)] On Behalf Of Orion E. Sent: Monday, February 01, 2010 6:31 PM To: [removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid](mailto:removed_email_address@domain.invalid) Subject: Re: [Ironruby-core] A nicer syntax for generic extension methods IIRC you can open “concrete” generics, but not “open” ones: In plain english this means you can add methods to List but not List. This is essentially because List isn’t a real type in the CLR, it’s basically some metadata that can be used to build a real type when the T is supplied. You could as an alternative add methods to the underlying non-generic IEnumerable interface, but then you’d have to do some run-time reflection to figure out that your List is actually a List… This is probably not nice. In theory when CLR4 lands and has support for co/contra variant generics, List should match List and everything else, but I don’t know if IronRuby would also work for this? Good luck On Tue, Feb 2, 2010 at 7:52 AM, Ryan R. \<[removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid](mailto:removed_email_address@domain.invalid)[mailto:removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid](mailto:removed_email_address@domain.invalid)\> wrote: I have been trying to figure out how to Rubify generic extension methods for use with the likes of Rx, Open XML SDK, etc. Ivan went over it a bit with me this weekend, but I’m still having difficulty including a module within a .NET type. Is that even possible? … The questions I’m not able to answer are: 1. Can I somehow open up a .NET class, say System::Collections::Generic::List[T] and include the EnumerableExtensions? So far, I’m finding that’s a no. 2. How do I hook in the included(base) method above? I’m assuming that’s a one-time call, but I don’t see anywhere that it’s called when a module is included. Do I need to use a before\_filter or perform that action at the beginning of the linq\_select method? Thanks! Ryan R. Email: [removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid](mailto:removed_email_address@domain.invalid)[mailto:removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid](mailto:removed_email_address@domain.invalid) LinkedIn: [Ryan Riley - Quorum Software | LinkedIn](http://www.linkedin.com/in/ryanriley) Blog: [http://wizardsofsmart.net/](http://wizardsofsmart.net/) Twitter: @panesofglass Website: [http://panesofglass.org/](http://panesofglass.org/) ---
**Author:** ![ryan](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/r/a8b319/32.png) [@ryan](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/ryan)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2010, 7:02am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/a-nicer-syntax-for-generic-extension-methods/182715/5 "2010-02-03T07:02:24Z")
just pass your block to the constructor of a delegate and you should be good to go ## Action.new { more\_work\_here } Met vriendelijke groeten - Best regards - Salutations Ivan Porto C. Blog: [http://flanders.co.nz](http://flanders.co.nz) Twitter: [http://twitter.com/casualjim](http://twitter.com/casualjim) Author of IronRuby in Action ([IronRuby in Action - Ivan Porto Carrero and Adam Burmister | Manning](http://manning.com/carrero)) ---
**Author:** ![ryan](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/r/a8b319/32.png) [@ryan](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/ryan)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2010, 4:24pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/a-nicer-syntax-for-generic-extension-methods/182715/6 "2010-02-03T16:24:52Z")
Thanks, Ivan. That’s awesome … that’s just like F#. I should have realized it would be that simple. I’ll post this to the Delegates section of the .NET interop page on the wiki, since it currently doesn’t exist. Also, I noticed you alluded to something similar in IronRuby in Action where you talk about LightSpeed, but I couldn’t find anything in the MEAP copy I have. If I am able to spin up a few LINQ samples (probably Rx, Pfx, and/or XLinq), I’ll shoot them your way, if you are interested. Cheers! Ryan R. Email: removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid LinkedIn: [http://www.linkedin.com/in/ryanriley](http://www.linkedin.com/in/ryanriley) Blog: [http://wizardsofsmart.net/](http://wizardsofsmart.net/) Twitter: @panesofglass Website: [http://panesofglass.org/](http://panesofglass.org/) On Tue, Feb 2, 2010 at 11:40 PM, Ivan Porto C. \< ---
**Author:** ![ryan](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/r/a8b319/32.png) [@ryan](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/ryan)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2010, 11:45pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/a-nicer-syntax-for-generic-extension-methods/182715/7 "2010-02-02T23:45:10Z")
That’s fantastic, Tomas, thanks! Is there any way to pass a block, lambda, or Proc into the slot for the delegate, or perhaps a way to create a .NET delegate (or Expression) from a block, lambda, or Proc? Thanks, Ryan R. Email: removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid LinkedIn: [http://www.linkedin.com/in/ryanriley](http://www.linkedin.com/in/ryanriley) Blog: [http://wizardsofsmart.net/](http://wizardsofsmart.net/) Twitter: @panesofglass Website: [http://panesofglass.org/](http://panesofglass.org/) On Tue, Feb 2, 2010 at 1:36 AM, Tomas M. \ **Author:** ![ryan](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/r/a8b319/32.png) [@ryan](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/ryan)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2010, 5:01pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/a-nicer-syntax-for-generic-extension-methods/182715/8 "2010-02-03T17:01:10Z") I just thought of something else. How do you deal with anonymous types in IronRuby? We don’t have the type name when writing the code. Do we have to create at least a Ruby type for everything returned from an Enumerable.Select? I suppose that’s where the module wrapper over LINQ would perhaps come in handy? Ryan R. Email: removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid LinkedIn: [http://www.linkedin.com/in/ryanriley](http://www.linkedin.com/in/ryanriley) Blog: [http://wizardsofsmart.net/](http://wizardsofsmart.net/) Twitter: @panesofglass Website: [http://panesofglass.org/](http://panesofglass.org/) ---
**Author:** ![ryan](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/r/a8b319/32.png) [@ryan](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/ryan)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2010, 5:07pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/a-nicer-syntax-for-generic-extension-methods/182715/9 "2010-02-03T17:07:36Z")
Or is that not even an issue? I suppose if you are writing a LINQ statement within IR, you won’t ever create an anonymous type; you would rather create a Ruby type, hash, etc. I suppose this would only be an issue if you had a method returning an anonymous type, which is already a documented no-no, so I will retract my previous question. 🙂 Sorry for the brain-dump. Ryan R. Email: removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid LinkedIn: [http://www.linkedin.com/in/ryanriley](http://www.linkedin.com/in/ryanriley) Blog: [http://wizardsofsmart.net/](http://wizardsofsmart.net/) Twitter: @panesofglass Website: [http://panesofglass.org/](http://panesofglass.org/) ---
**Author:** ![ryan](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/r/a8b319/32.png) [@ryan](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/ryan)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2010, 4:36pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/a-nicer-syntax-for-generic-extension-methods/182715/10 "2010-02-03T16:36:35Z")
Okay, just posted a rough first stab at the topic. This is all generic delegates, too; I haven’t bothered with plain old generics. 🙂 Please let me know if you have any feedback. I will add the stuff Tomas noted above when I get a chance a little later. [http://ironruby.net/Documentation/.NET/Delegates](http://ironruby.net/Documentation/.NET/Delegates) [http://ironruby.net/Documentation/.NET/Delegates](http://ironruby.net/Documentation/.NET/Delegates) Ryan R. Email: removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid LinkedIn: [http://www.linkedin.com/in/ryanriley](http://www.linkedin.com/in/ryanriley) Blog: [http://wizardsofsmart.net/](http://wizardsofsmart.net/) Twitter: @panesofglass Website: [http://panesofglass.org/](http://panesofglass.org/) ---
**Author:** ![ryan](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/r/a8b319/32.png) [@ryan](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/ryan)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2010, 6:16pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/a-nicer-syntax-for-generic-extension-methods/182715/11 "2010-02-03T18:16:42Z")
On Wed, Feb 3, 2010 at 10:49 AM, Ivan Porto C. \< [removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid](mailto:removed_email_address@domain.invalid)\> wrote: > that may be wrong but it’s close to something like that.. I like that syntax. It reminds me of F#'s computation expressions. I was thinking something more along the lines of what arel[http://m.onkey.org/2010/1/22/active-record-query-interface?utm\_source=feedburner&utm\_medium=feed&utm\_campaign=Feed:+monkeyonrails+(m.onkey+on+rails)](http://m.onkey.org/2010/1/22/active-record-query-interface?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+monkeyonrails+(m.onkey+on+rails))is doing. Ryan ---
**Author:** ![ryan](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/r/a8b319/32.png) [@ryan](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/ryan)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2010, 6:02pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/a-nicer-syntax-for-generic-extension-methods/182715/12 "2010-02-03T18:02:03Z")
For lightspeed I wrote an internal dsl that allows you to query similarly to the regular api but no special module for linq stuff. I skipped linq altogether didn’t need it there. so what I created there is (It’s in the [asp.net](http://asp.net) mvc chapter btw) find\_all User do where a(:name).like(“ivan%”) & a(:age) \> 23 order\_by :name.desc end ## that may be wrong but it’s close to something like that.. Met vriendelijke groeten - Best regards - Salutations Ivan Porto C. Blog: [http://flanders.co.nz](http://flanders.co.nz) Twitter: [http://twitter.com/casualjim](http://twitter.com/casualjim) Author of IronRuby in Action ([IronRuby in Action - Ivan Porto Carrero and Adam Burmister | Manning](http://manning.com/carrero)) ---
**Author:** ![ryan](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/r/a8b319/32.png) [@ryan](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/ryan)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2010, 6:48pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/a-nicer-syntax-for-generic-extension-methods/182715/13 "2010-02-03T18:48:18Z")
Will that be 1.0 or after? Ryan R. On Wed, Feb 3, 2010 at 11:12 AM, Tomas M. \< ---
**Author:** ![ryan](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/r/a8b319/32.png) [@ryan](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/ryan)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2010, 6:34pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/a-nicer-syntax-for-generic-extension-methods/182715/14 "2010-02-03T18:34:50Z")
The LINQ experience should get better as soon as we improve our interaction with the type inference engine in DLR overload resolver. IronRuby currently doesn’t use its full power like IronPython does, so you need to explicitly specify more generic arguments that should be necessary. Tomas From: [removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid](mailto:removed_email_address@domain.invalid) [[mailto:removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid](mailto:removed_email_address@domain.invalid)] On Behalf Of Ivan Porto Carrero Sent: Wednesday, February 03, 2010 8:49 AM To: [removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid](mailto:removed_email_address@domain.invalid) Subject: Re: [Ironruby-core] A nicer syntax for generic extension methods For lightspeed I wrote an internal dsl that allows you to query similarly to the regular api but no special module for linq stuff. I skipped linq altogether didn’t need it there. so what I created there is (It’s in the [asp.net](http://asp.net)[http://asp.net](http://asp.net) mvc chapter btw) find\_all User do where a(:name).like(“ivan%”) & a(:age) \> 23 order\_by :name.desc end ## that may be wrong but it’s close to something like that.. Met vriendelijke groeten - Best regards - Salutations Ivan Porto C. Blog: [http://flanders.co.nz](http://flanders.co.nz) Twitter: [http://twitter.com/casualjim](http://twitter.com/casualjim) Author of IronRuby in Action ([IronRuby in Action - Ivan Porto Carrero and Adam Burmister | Manning](http://manning.com/carrero)) On Wed, Feb 3, 2010 at 4:01 PM, Ryan R. \<[removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid](mailto:removed_email_address@domain.invalid)[mailto:removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid](mailto:removed_email_address@domain.invalid)\> wrote: Thanks, Ivan. That’s awesome … that’s just like F#. I should have realized it would be that simple. I’ll post this to the Delegates section of the .NET interop page on the wiki, since it currently doesn’t exist. Also, I noticed you alluded to something similar in IronRuby in Action where you talk about LightSpeed, but I couldn’t find anything in the MEAP copy I have. If I am able to spin up a few LINQ samples (probably Rx, Pfx, and/or XLinq), I’ll shoot them your way, if you are interested. Cheers! Ryan R. Email: [removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid](mailto:removed_email_address@domain.invalid)[mailto:removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid](mailto:removed_email_address@domain.invalid) LinkedIn: [Ryan Riley - Quorum Software | LinkedIn](http://www.linkedin.com/in/ryanriley) Blog: [http://wizardsofsmart.net/](http://wizardsofsmart.net/) Twitter: @panesofglass Website: [http://panesofglass.org/](http://panesofglass.org/) On Tue, Feb 2, 2010 at 11:40 PM, Ivan Porto C. \<[removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid](mailto:removed_email_address@domain.invalid)[mailto:removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid](mailto:removed_email_address@domain.invalid)\> wrote: just pass your block to the constructor of a delegate and you should be good to go ## Action.new { more\_work\_here } Met vriendelijke groeten - Best regards - Salutations Ivan Porto C. Blog: [http://flanders.co.nz](http://flanders.co.nz) Twitter: [http://twitter.com/casualjim](http://twitter.com/casualjim) Author of IronRuby in Action ([IronRuby in Action - Ivan Porto Carrero and Adam Burmister | Manning](http://manning.com/carrero)) On Tue, Feb 2, 2010 at 11:38 PM, Ryan R. \<[removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid](mailto:removed_email_address@domain.invalid)[mailto:removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid](mailto:removed_email_address@domain.invalid)\> wrote: That’s fantastic, Tomas, thanks! Is there any way to pass a block, lambda, or Proc into the slot for the delegate, or perhaps a way to create a .NET delegate (or Expression) from a block, lambda, or Proc? Thanks, Ryan R. Email: [removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid](mailto:removed_email_address@domain.invalid)[mailto:removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid](mailto:removed_email_address@domain.invalid) LinkedIn: [Ryan Riley - Quorum Software | LinkedIn](http://www.linkedin.com/in/ryanriley) Blog: [http://wizardsofsmart.net/](http://wizardsofsmart.net/) Twitter: @panesofglass Website: [http://panesofglass.org/](http://panesofglass.org/) On Tue, Feb 2, 2010 at 1:36 AM, Tomas M. \<[removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid](mailto:removed_email_address@domain.invalid)[mailto:removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid](mailto:removed_email_address@domain.invalid)\> wrote: Actually, you can add Ruby methods to List … IronRuby type system does some magic for you ☺: > > > include System::Collections::Generic > > > =\> Object > > > List[Fixnum].included\_modules > > > =\> [System::Collections::Generic::List[T], > > > System::Collections::Generic::IList[Fixnum], > > > System::Collections::Generic::IList[T], > > > System::Collections::Generic::ICollection[Fixnum], > > > System::Collections::Generic::ICollection[T], > > > System::Collections::Generic::IEnumerable[Fixnum], > > > System::Collections::Generic::IEnumerable[T], > > > System::Collections::IEnumerable, Enumerable, > > > System::Collections::IList, System::Collections::ICollection, > > > System::Collections::Generic, Kernel] As you can see the List\<\> generic type definition is treated as a module that is mixed in each of its instantiations. Although there are no predefined methods on it you can open it and add some. First we need to get Ruby class for List. If you index System.Collections.Generic.List by a fixnum instead of a class/module you’ll get the generic definition of arity 1. Let’s name it ListOfT: > > > ListOfT = List[1] And then we can open it up: > > > module ListOfT > > > … def size > > > … count > > > … end > > > … end > > > =\> nil > > > l = List[Fixnum].new > > > =\> > > > l.add(1) > > > =\> nil > > > l.add(2) > > > =\> nil > > > l.size > > > =\> 2 Tomas From: [removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid](mailto:removed_email_address@domain.invalid)[mailto:removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid](mailto:removed_email_address@domain.invalid) [[mailto:removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid](mailto:removed_email_address@domain.invalid)[mailto:removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid](mailto:removed_email_address@domain.invalid)] On Behalf Of Orion E. Sent: Monday, February 01, 2010 6:31 PM To: [removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid](mailto:removed_email_address@domain.invalid)[mailto:removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid](mailto:removed_email_address@domain.invalid) Subject: Re: [Ironruby-core] A nicer syntax for generic extension methods IIRC you can open “concrete” generics, but not “open” ones: In plain english this means you can add methods to List but not List. This is essentially because List isn’t a real type in the CLR, it’s basically some metadata that can be used to build a real type when the T is supplied. You could as an alternative add methods to the underlying non-generic IEnumerable interface, but then you’d have to do some run-time reflection to figure out that your List is actually a List… This is probably not nice. In theory when CLR4 lands and has support for co/contra variant generics, List should match List and everything else, but I don’t know if IronRuby would also work for this? Good luck On Tue, Feb 2, 2010 at 7:52 AM, Ryan R. \<[removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid](mailto:removed_email_address@domain.invalid)[mailto:removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid](mailto:removed_email_address@domain.invalid)\> wrote: I have been trying to figure out how to Rubify generic extension methods for use with the likes of Rx, Open XML SDK, etc. Ivan went over it a bit with me this weekend, but I’m still having difficulty including a module within a .NET type. Is that even possible? … The questions I’m not able to answer are: 1. Can I somehow open up a .NET class, say System::Collections::Generic::List[T] and include the EnumerableExtensions? So far, I’m finding that’s a no. 2. How do I hook in the included(base) method above? I’m assuming that’s a one-time call, but I don’t see anywhere that it’s called when a module is included. Do I need to use a before\_filter or perform that action at the beginning of the linq\_select method? Thanks! Ryan R. Email: [removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid](mailto:removed_email_address@domain.invalid)[mailto:removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid](mailto:removed_email_address@domain.invalid) LinkedIn: [Ryan Riley - Quorum Software | LinkedIn](http://www.linkedin.com/in/ryanriley) Blog: [http://wizardsofsmart.net/](http://wizardsofsmart.net/) Twitter: @panesofglass Website: [http://panesofglass.org/](http://panesofglass.org/) * * * Ironruby-core mailing list [removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid](mailto:removed_email_address@domain.invalid)[mailto:removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid](mailto:removed_email_address@domain.invalid) [http://rubyforge.org/mailman/listinfo/ironruby-core](http://rubyforge.org/mailman/listinfo/ironruby-core) * * * Ironruby-core mailing list [removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid](mailto:removed_email_address@domain.invalid)[mailto:removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid](mailto:removed_email_address@domain.invalid) [http://rubyforge.org/mailman/listinfo/ironruby-core](http://rubyforge.org/mailman/listinfo/ironruby-core) * * * Ironruby-core mailing list [removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid](mailto:removed_email_address@domain.invalid)[mailto:removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid](mailto:removed_email_address@domain.invalid) [http://rubyforge.org/mailman/listinfo/ironruby-core](http://rubyforge.org/mailman/listinfo/ironruby-core) * * * Ironruby-core mailing list [removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid](mailto:removed_email_address@domain.invalid)[mailto:removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid](mailto:removed_email_address@domain.invalid) [http://rubyforge.org/mailman/listinfo/ironruby-core](http://rubyforge.org/mailman/listinfo/ironruby-core) * * * Ironruby-core mailing list [removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid](mailto:removed_email_address@domain.invalid)[mailto:removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid](mailto:removed_email_address@domain.invalid) [http://rubyforge.org/mailman/listinfo/ironruby-core](http://rubyforge.org/mailman/listinfo/ironruby-core) ---
**Author:** ![ryan](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/r/a8b319/32.png) [@ryan](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/ryan)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2010, 7:19pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/a-nicer-syntax-for-generic-extension-methods/182715/15 "2010-02-03T19:19:54Z")
On Wed, Feb 3, 2010 at 10:59 AM, Ivan Porto C. \< [removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid](mailto:removed_email_address@domain.invalid)\> wrote: > hashes? Just an example, though perhaps not the best. 🙂 but may i ask why you’re so hell-bent on linq? > I mostly want some way to use the Reactive Extensions for asynchronous programming and OpenXML SDK for working with Office docs. In particular, I’m thinking of working with IR on top of other C# and/or F# libraries which might be using one or both of those libraries. If I were to write it in all Ruby, I’d probably look at eventmachine for an event loop processor. I’m definitely open to other solutions. > Linq is a really bad match to ruby with the expressions. it would require > some significant amount of work to get that to work correctly. AFAIK there > is no way in IronRuby to build expressions except use the raw API, but > nothing is in there yet that makes this easier to do. L2S uses expressions, but I don’t think everything uses them. If all that’s required is a delegate, that’s not so hard and can be be accomplished with a wrapping Ruby method that accepts a block and wraps the block into a Func to pass into the LINQ method. Given some of the previous posts, I think creating a general module to wrap these methods shouldn’t be too difficult. Thoughts? Anyway you can reuse anonymous types did you know that? Alex James learnt > the trick from Wes Dyer > > [Meta-Me | Microsoft Learn](http://blogs.msdn.com/alexj/archive/2007/11/22/t-castbyexample-t-object-o-t-example.aspx) Yeah, I knew about that, but I don’t really want to touch casting by example in Ruby. It might not be bad, but why bother when I can use something from Ruby? Ryan ---
**Author:** ![ryan](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/r/a8b319/32.png) [@ryan](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/ryan)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2010, 6:45pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/a-nicer-syntax-for-generic-extension-methods/182715/16 "2010-02-03T18:45:23Z")
hashes? but may i ask why you’re so hell-bent on linq? Linq is a really bad match to ruby with the expressions. it would require some significant amount of work to get that to work correctly. AFAIK there is no way in IronRuby to build expressions except use the raw API, but nothing is in there yet that makes this easier to do. Anyway you can reuse anonymous types did you know that? Alex James learnt the trick from Wes Dyer > **[Meta-Me](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/archive/blogs/alexj/)** * * * Met vriendelijke groeten - Best regards - Salutations Ivan Porto C. Blog: [http://flanders.co.nz](http://flanders.co.nz) Twitter: [http://twitter.com/casualjim](http://twitter.com/casualjim) Author of IronRuby in Action ([http://manning.com/carrero](http://manning.com/carrero)) ---
**Author:** ![ryan](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/r/a8b319/32.png) [@ryan](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/ryan)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2010, 9:39pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/a-nicer-syntax-for-generic-extension-methods/182715/17 "2010-02-03T21:39:49Z")
This might help, there’s a library in the VS directory samples/CSharpSamples.zip/LinqSamples/DynamicQuery take a look, under the covers it’s creating expressions LINQ Expressions. In C# you will just chain methods like: myCollection.Where(“property=myValue”).OrderBy(“anotherProp desc”); I think this library could be extended to “easily” create any type of expression in IR. This could be useful to consume existing libraries that already expect an expression.