Class: Module

Encapsulates the common pattern of:

alias_method :foo_without_feature, :foo
alias_method :foo, :foo_with_feature

With this, you simply do:

alias_method_chain :foo, :feature

And both aliases are set up for you.

Query and bang methods (foo?, foo!) keep the same punctuation:

alias_method_chain :foo?, :feature

is equivalent to

alias_method :foo_without_feature?, :foo?
alias_method :foo?, :foo_with_feature?

so you can safely chain foo, foo?, foo! and/or foo= with the same feature.

Alias for #attr_internal_accessor.

Declares an attribute reader and writer backed by an internally-named instance variable.

Declares an attribute reader backed by an internally-named instance variable.

Declares an attribute writer backed by an internally-named instance variable.

Alias for #mattr_accessor.

Alias for #mattr_reader.

Alias for #mattr_writer.

Provides a delegate class method to easily expose contained objects' public methods as your own.

Options

• :to - Specifies the target object

• :prefix - Prefixes the new method with the target name or a custom prefix

• :allow_nil - if set to true, prevents a NoMethodError to be raised

The macro receives one or more method names (specified as symbols or strings) and the name of the target object via the :to option (also a symbol or string).

Delegation is particularly useful with Active Record associations:

class Greeter < ActiveRecord::Base
  def hello
    'hello'
  end

  def goodbye
    'goodbye'
  end
end

class Foo < ActiveRecord::Base
  belongs_to :greeter
  delegate :hello, to: :greeter
end

Foo.new.hello   # => "hello"
Foo.new.goodbye # => NoMethodError: undefined method `goodbye' for #<Foo:0x1af30c>

Multiple delegates to the same target are allowed:

class Foo < ActiveRecord::Base
  belongs_to :greeter
  delegate :hello, :goodbye, to: :greeter
end

Foo.new.goodbye # => "goodbye"

Methods can be delegated to instance variables, class variables, or constants by providing them as a symbols:

class Foo
  CONSTANT_ARRAY = [0,1,2,3]
  @@class_array  = [4,5,6,7]

  def initialize
    @instance_array = [8,9,10,11]
  end
  delegate :sum, to: :CONSTANT_ARRAY
  delegate :min, to: :@@class_array
  delegate :max, to: :@instance_array
end

Foo.new.sum # => 6
Foo.new.min # => 4
Foo.new.max # => 11

It's also possible to delegate a method to the class by using :class:

class Foo
  def self.hello
    "world"
  end

  delegate :hello, to: :class
end

Foo.new.hello # => "world"

Delegates can optionally be prefixed using the :prefix option. If the value is true, the delegate methods are prefixed with the name of the object being delegated to.

Person = Struct.new(:name, :address)

class Invoice < Struct.new(:client)
  delegate :name, :address, to: :client, prefix: true
end

john_doe = Person.new('John Doe', 'Vimmersvej 13')
invoice = Invoice.new(john_doe)
invoice.client_name    # => "John Doe"
invoice.client_address # => "Vimmersvej 13"

It is also possible to supply a custom prefix.

class Invoice < Struct.new(:client)
  delegate :name, :address, to: :client, prefix: :customer
end

invoice = Invoice.new(john_doe)
invoice.customer_name    # => 'John Doe'
invoice.customer_address # => 'Vimmersvej 13'

If the target is nil and does not respond to the delegated method a NoMethodError is raised, as with any other value. Sometimes, however, it makes sense to be robust to that situation and that is the purpose of the :allow_nil option: If the target is not nil, or it is and responds to the method, everything works as usual. But if it is nil and does not respond to the delegated method, nil is returned.

class User < ActiveRecord::Base
  has_one :profile
  delegate :age, to: :profile
end

User.new.age # raises NoMethodError: undefined method `age'

But if not having a profile yet is fine and should not be an error condition:

class User < ActiveRecord::Base
  has_one :profile
  delegate :age, to: :profile, allow_nil: true
end

User.new.age # nil

Note that if the target is not nil then the call is attempted regardless of the :allow_nil option, and thus an exception is still raised if said object does not respond to the method:

class Foo
  def initialize(bar)
    @bar = bar
  end

  delegate :name, to: :@bar, allow_nil: true
end

Foo.new("Bar").name # raises NoMethodError: undefined method `name'

The target method must be public, otherwise it will raise NoMethodError.

deprecate :foo

deprecate bar: 'message'
deprecate :foo, :bar, baz: 'warning!', qux: 'gone!'

You can also use custom deprecator instance:

deprecate :foo, deprecator: MyLib::Deprecator.new
deprecate :foo, bar: "warning!", deprecator: MyLib::Deprecator.new

Custom deprecators must respond to deprecation_warning(deprecated_method_name, message, caller_backtrace) method where you can implement your custom warning behavior.

class MyLib::Deprecator
  def deprecation_warning(deprecated_method_name, message, caller_backtrace = nil)
     message = "#{deprecated_method_name} is deprecated and will be removed from MyLibrary | #{message}"
     Kernel.warn message
  end
end

Defines both class and instance accessors for class attributes.

module HairColors
  mattr_accessor :hair_colors
end

class Person
  include HairColors
end

Person.hair_colors = [:brown, :black, :blonde, :red]
Person.hair_colors     # => [:brown, :black, :blonde, :red]
Person.new.hair_colors # => [:brown, :black, :blonde, :red]

If a subclass changes the value then that would also change the value for parent class. Similarly if parent class changes the value then that would change the value of subclasses too.

class Male < Person
end

Male.hair_colors << :blue
Person.hair_colors # => [:brown, :black, :blonde, :red, :blue]

To opt out of the instance writer method, pass instance_writer: false. To opt out of the instance reader method, pass instance_reader: false.

module HairColors
  mattr_accessor :hair_colors, instance_writer: false, instance_reader: false
end

class Person
  include HairColors
end

Person.new.hair_colors = [:brown]  # => NoMethodError
Person.new.hair_colors             # => NoMethodError

Or pass instance_accessor: false, to opt out both instance methods.

module HairColors
  mattr_accessor :hair_colors, instance_accessor: false
end

class Person
  include HairColors
end

Person.new.hair_colors = [:brown]  # => NoMethodError
Person.new.hair_colors             # => NoMethodError

Also you can pass a block to set up the attribute with a default value.

module HairColors
  mattr_accessor :hair_colors do
    [:brown, :black, :blonde, :red]
  end
end

class Person
  include HairColors
end

Person.class_variable_get("@@hair_colors") #=> [:brown, :black, :blonde, :red]

Defines a class attribute and creates a class and instance reader methods. The underlying the class variable is set to nil, if it is not previously defined.

module HairColors
  mattr_reader :hair_colors
end

HairColors.hair_colors # => nil
HairColors.class_variable_set("@@hair_colors", [:brown, :black])
HairColors.hair_colors # => [:brown, :black]

The attribute name must be a valid method name in Ruby.

module Foo
  mattr_reader :"1_Badname "
end
# => NameError: invalid attribute name

If you want to opt out the creation on the instance reader method, pass instance_reader: false or instance_accessor: false.

module HairColors
  mattr_writer :hair_colors, instance_reader: false
end

class Person
  include HairColors
end

Person.new.hair_colors # => NoMethodError

Also, you can pass a block to set up the attribute with a default value.

module HairColors
  cattr_reader :hair_colors do
    [:brown, :black, :blonde, :red]
  end
end

class Person
  include HairColors
end

Person.hair_colors # => [:brown, :black, :blonde, :red]

Defines a class attribute and creates a class and instance writer methods to allow assignment to the attribute.

module HairColors
  mattr_writer :hair_colors
end

class Person
  include HairColors
end

HairColors.hair_colors = [:brown, :black]
Person.class_variable_get("@@hair_colors") # => [:brown, :black]
Person.new.hair_colors = [:blonde, :red]
HairColors.class_variable_get("@@hair_colors") # => [:blonde, :red]

If you want to opt out the instance writer method, pass instance_writer: false or instance_accessor: false.

module HairColors
  mattr_writer :hair_colors, instance_writer: false
end

class Person
  include HairColors
end

Person.new.hair_colors = [:blonde, :red] # => NoMethodError

Also, you can pass a block to set up the attribute with a default value.

class HairColors
  mattr_writer :hair_colors do
    [:brown, :black, :blonde, :red]
  end
end

class Person
  include HairColors
end

Person.class_variable_get("@@hair_colors") # => [:brown, :black, :blonde, :red]

Returns the module which contains this one according to its name.

module M
  module N
  end
end
X = M::N

M::N.parent # => M
X.parent    # => M

The parent of top-level and anonymous modules is ::Object.

M.parent          # => Object
Module.new.parent # => Object

Returns the name of the module containing this one.

M::N.parent_name # => "M"

Returns all the parents of this module according to its name, ordered from nested outwards. The receiver is not contained within the result.

module M
  module N
  end
end
X = M::N

M.parents    # => [Object]
M::N.parents # => [M, Object]
X.parents    # => [M, Object]