# Using YAML? **URL:** \ **Category:** Ruby\ **Created:** [August 10, 2006, 6:06pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/using-yaml/102095 "2006-08-10T18:06:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![bodikp](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/b/e79b87/32.png) [@bodikp](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/bodikp)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2006, 6:06pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/using-yaml/102095/1 "2006-08-10T18:06:42Z")
I have a spreadsheet with 3 columns in it, and 174 rows. I need to cross-reference the items in one column with their corresponding entry in the other column. Here is a sample with the first 3 entries in this table. File Prefix Service Code Publication Title aacmc7p AACM00 Affirmative Action Compliance Manual acm059p BACM00 BNA/ACCA Compliance Manual acm061p BACM00 BNA/ACCA Compliance Manual, Interim Index Update I need to look at filenames coming into a directory, see what their “file prefix” is, based on column 1 above, and then notate in a separate variable the contents of column 2. I’m needing to ascertain what the company accounting code is for files being sent to our printer. Should I do this with just an array, or could I use YAML? Thanks a lot, Peter ---
**Author:** ![bodikp](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/b/e79b87/32.png) [@bodikp](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/bodikp)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2006, 7:16pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/using-yaml/102095/2 "2006-08-10T19:16:34Z")
Peter B. wrote: > I have a spreadsheet with 3 columns in it, and 174 rows. I need to > cross-reference the items in one column with their corresponding entry > in the other column. Here is a sample with the first 3 entries in this > table. > > File Prefix Service Code Publication Title > aacmc7p AACM00 Affirmative Action Compliance Manual > acm059p BACM00 BNA/ACCA Compliance Manual > acm061p BACM00 BNA/ACCA Compliance Manual, Interim Index > Update > > I need to look at filenames coming into a directory, see what their > “file prefix” is, based on column 1 above, and then notate in a separate > variable the contents of column 2. I’m needing to ascertain what the > company accounting code is for files being sent to our printer. > > Should I do this with just an array, or could I use YAML? Well, YAML is a serialisation format so it is really not something you would use as runtime data storage. An Array or a Hash would certainly work. If I misunderstood you and you were looking for a file format, then YAML would work great. When you YAML.load the file, you will get your Array/Hash and you can also YAML.dump data into the file. The file format would look like this: * * * - - acmcp7p - AACM00 - Affirmative # … - - # … Or this: * * * - prefix: acmcp7p code: AACM00 title: Affirmative #… - prefix: # … # … > Thanks a lot, > Peter ---
**Author:** ![bodikp](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/b/e79b87/32.png) [@bodikp](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/bodikp)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2006, 7:20pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/using-yaml/102095/3 "2006-08-10T19:20:59Z")
Eero S. wrote: (…and forgot to add some information) > Peter B. wrote: > > > I have a spreadsheet with 3 columns in it, and 174 rows. I need to > > cross-reference the items in one column with their corresponding entry > > in the other column. Here is a sample with the first 3 entries in this > > table. > > > > File Prefix Service Code Publication Title > > aacmc7p AACM00 Affirmative Action Compliance Manual > > acm059p BACM00 BNA/ACCA Compliance Manual > > acm061p BACM00 BNA/ACCA Compliance Manual, Interim Index > > Update > > > > I need to look at filenames coming into a directory, see what their > > “file prefix” is, based on column 1 above, and then notate in a separate > > variable the contents of column 2. I’m needing to ascertain what the > > company accounting code is for files being sent to our printer. > > > > Should I do this with just an array, or could I use YAML? > > Well, YAML is a serialisation format so it is really not > something you would use as runtime data storage. An Array > or a Hash would certainly work. > > If I misunderstood you and you were looking for a file format, > then YAML would work great. When you YAML.load the file, you > will get your Array/Hash and you can also YAML.dump data into > the file. The file format would look like this: > > * * * > > - > - acmcp7p > - AACM00 > - Affirmative # … > > - > - > > # … This would give you an Array of Arrays: [[“acmcp7p”, “AACM00”, “Affirmative”], […], …] > Or this: > > * * * > > - prefix: acmcp7p > code: AACM00 > title: Affirmative #… > - prefix: # … > > # … This would give an Array of Hashes [{prefix =\> “acmcp7p”, code =\> “AACM00”, title =\> “Affirmative…”}, {…}, …] > > Thanks a lot, > > Peter ---
**Author:** ![bodikp](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/b/e79b87/32.png) [@bodikp](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/bodikp)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2006, 7:50pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/using-yaml/102095/4 "2006-08-10T19:50:05Z")
Eero S. wrote: > Peter B. wrote: > > > I have a spreadsheet with 3 columns in it, and 174 rows. I need to > > cross-reference the items in one column with their corresponding entry > > in the other column. Here is a sample with the first 3 entries in this > > table. > > > > File Prefix Service Code Publication Title > > aacmc7p AACM00 Affirmative Action Compliance Manual > > acm059p BACM00 BNA/ACCA Compliance Manual > > acm061p BACM00 BNA/ACCA Compliance Manual, Interim Index > > Update > > > > I need to look at filenames coming into a directory, see what their > > “file prefix” is, based on column 1 above, and then notate in a separate > > variable the contents of column 2. I’m needing to ascertain what the > > company accounting code is for files being sent to our printer. > > > > Should I do this with just an array, or could I use YAML? > > Well, YAML is a serialisation format so it is really not > something you would use as runtime data storage. An Array > or a Hash would certainly work. > > If I misunderstood you and you were looking for a file format, > then YAML would work great. When you YAML.load the file, you > will get your Array/Hash and you can also YAML.dump data into > the file. The file format would look like this: > > * * * > > - > - acmcp7p > - AACM00 > - Affirmative # … > > - > - > > # … > > Or this: > > * * * > > - prefix: acmcp7p > code: AACM00 > title: Affirmative #… > - prefix: # … > > # … > > > Thanks a lot, > > Peter Thanks, Eero. No, I wasn’t looking for a file format. I just need to make an association between the items in the first column with their corresponding entry in the second column. I guess a hash makes more sense. I’d just read a bit about YAML, and, I was intrigued with the fact that it’s simply text based and I could “parse” to it in some way. At least, that’s how I understand it. I’ve got filenames coming into a directory. I need to look at the first 7 characters of those filenames and determine what the “charge” code is for the publication that’s publishing that file. This is all for our company accounting system. Thanks again. ---
**Author:** ![bodikp](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/b/e79b87/32.png) [@bodikp](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/bodikp)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2006, 1:57pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/using-yaml/102095/5 "2006-08-11T13:57:55Z")
> > > Well, YAML is a serialisation format so it is really not > > > something you would use as runtime data storage. An Array > > > or a Hash would certainly work. > > > > > > If I misunderstood you and you were looking for a file format, > > > then YAML would work great. When you YAML.load the file, you > > > will get your Array/Hash and you can also YAML.dump data into > > > the file. The file format would look like this: > > > > > > * * * > > > > > > - > > > - acmcp7p > > > - AACM00 > > > - Affirmative # … > > > > > > - > > > - > > > > > > # … > > > > > > Or this: > > > > > > * * * > > > > > > - prefix: acmcp7p > > > code: AACM00 > > > title: Affirmative #… > > > - prefix: # … > > > > > > # … > > > > > > > Thanks a lot, > > > > Peter > > > > Thanks, Eero. > > No, I wasn’t looking for a file format. I just need to make an > > association between the items in the first column with their > > corresponding entry in the second column. I guess a hash makes more > > sense. I’d just read a bit about YAML, and, I was intrigued with the > > fact that it’s simply text based and I could “parse” to it in some way. > > At least, that’s how I understand it. > > > > I’ve got filenames coming into a directory. I need to look at the first > > 7 characters of those filenames and determine what the “charge” code is > > for the publication that’s publishing that file. This is all for our > > company accounting system. > > Right, OK. Then you want a Hash of file\_prefix =\> service\_code > mappings, let us say: > > maps = {“aacmc7p” =\> “AACM00”, “acmp059p” =\> “BACM00”, …} > first\_seven = read\_first\_seven\_from filename > puts maps[first\_seven] > > That will, for a file starting with ‘aacmc7p’, produce ‘AACM00’. > > Regarding YAML, it is a serialisation format. If it helps, you > may consider it in some respects a replacement of XML and it > would be used for similar purposes. In your case, you would use > it to store the mappings (instead of using the spreadsheet you > would use YAML) and then load them into a runtime data structure > such as an Array or a Hash. The data format for it would look as > I posted above and the automated parsing of it (YAML.load/YAML.dump) > would produce the Array/Hash data structures notated in the second post. > > See [http://yaml4r.sourceforge.net](http://yaml4r.sourceforge.net) > > > Thanks again. Yes, I’ve been reading up more on hashes in my “pickax” book. I was intrigued with YAML because I thought that it would enable me to populate a simple table with simple text that could easily be updated when needed. And, because I’m talking about 174 entries here, it just seemed more graceful than a hash or an array inside a script. I thought that I could access a separate YAML table file within my script that would be accessed in the same way I’d access a hash, through an association of one entry with another entry in the same “row.” But, your suggestions are perfect. I’m going to do the hash. Thank you very much for your help, Eero. ---
**Author:** ![bodikp](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/b/e79b87/32.png) [@bodikp](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/bodikp)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2006, 8:20pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/using-yaml/102095/6 "2006-08-10T20:20:06Z")
Peter B. wrote: > Eero S. wrote: > > > Peter B. wrote: > > > > > I have a spreadsheet with 3 columns in it, and 174 rows. I need to > > > cross-reference the items in one column with their corresponding entry > > > in the other column. Here is a sample with the first 3 entries in this > > > table. > > > > > > File Prefix Service Code Publication Title > > > aacmc7p AACM00 Affirmative Action Compliance Manual > > > acm059p BACM00 BNA/ACCA Compliance Manual > > > acm061p BACM00 BNA/ACCA Compliance Manual, Interim Index > > > Update > > > > > > I need to look at filenames coming into a directory, see what their > > > “file prefix” is, based on column 1 above, and then notate in a separate > > > variable the contents of column 2. I’m needing to ascertain what the > > > company accounting code is for files being sent to our printer. > > > > > > Should I do this with just an array, or could I use YAML? > > > > Well, YAML is a serialisation format so it is really not > > something you would use as runtime data storage. An Array > > or a Hash would certainly work. > > > > If I misunderstood you and you were looking for a file format, > > then YAML would work great. When you YAML.load the file, you > > will get your Array/Hash and you can also YAML.dump data into > > the file. The file format would look like this: > > > > * * * > > > > - > > - acmcp7p > > - AACM00 > > - Affirmative # … > > > > - > > - > > > > # … > > > > Or this: > > > > * * * > > > > - prefix: acmcp7p > > code: AACM00 > > title: Affirmative #… > > - prefix: # … > > > > # … > > > > > Thanks a lot, > > > Peter > > Thanks, Eero. > No, I wasn’t looking for a file format. I just need to make an > association between the items in the first column with their > corresponding entry in the second column. I guess a hash makes more > sense. I’d just read a bit about YAML, and, I was intrigued with the > fact that it’s simply text based and I could “parse” to it in some way. > At least, that’s how I understand it. > > I’ve got filenames coming into a directory. I need to look at the first > 7 characters of those filenames and determine what the “charge” code is > for the publication that’s publishing that file. This is all for our > company accounting system. Right, OK. Then you want a Hash of file\_prefix =\> service\_code mappings, let us say: maps = {“aacmc7p” =\> “AACM00”, “acmp059p” =\> “BACM00”, …} first\_seven = read\_first\_seven\_from filename puts maps[first\_seven] That will, for a file starting with ‘aacmc7p’, produce ‘AACM00’. Regarding YAML, it is a serialisation format. If it helps, you may consider it in some respects a replacement of XML and it would be used for similar purposes. In your case, you would use it to store the mappings (instead of using the spreadsheet you would use YAML) and then load them into a runtime data structure such as an Array or a Hash. The data format for it would look as I posted above and the automated parsing of it (YAML.load/YAML.dump) would produce the Array/Hash data structures notated in the second post. See [http://yaml4r.sourceforge.net](http://yaml4r.sourceforge.net) > Thanks again.