Class: Array

An array is blank if it’s empty:

[].blank?      # => true
[1,2,3].blank? # => false

Removes all blank elements from the Array in place and returns self. Uses Object#blank? for determining if an item is blank.

a = [1, "", nil, 2, " ", [], {}, false, true]
a.compact_blank!
# =>  [1, 2, true]

Returns a deep copy of array.

array = [1, [2, 3]]
dup   = array.deep_dup
dup[1][2] = 4

array[1][2] # => nil
dup[1][2]   # => 4

Returns a copy of the Array excluding the specified elements.

["David", "Rafael", "Aaron", "Todd"].excluding("Aaron", "Todd") # => ["David", "Rafael"]
[ [ 0, 1 ], [ 1, 0 ] ].excluding([ [ 1, 0 ] ]) # => [ [ 0, 1 ] ]

Note: This is an optimization of Enumerable#excluding that uses Array#- instead of Array#reject for performance reasons.

Removes and returns the elements for which the block returns a true value. If no block is given, an Enumerator is returned instead.

numbers = [0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9]
odd_numbers = numbers.extract! { |number| number.odd? } # => [1, 3, 5, 7, 9]
numbers # => [0, 2, 4, 6, 8]

Extracts options from a set of arguments. Removes and returns the last element in the array if it’s a hash, otherwise returns a blank hash.

def options(*args)
  args.extract_options!
end

options(1, 2)        # => {}
options(1, 2, a: :b) # => {:a=>:b}

Equal to self[4].

%w( a b c d e ).fifth # => "e"

Equal to self[41]. Also known as accessing “the reddit”.

(1..42).to_a.forty_two # => 42

Equal to self[3].

%w( a b c d e ).fourth # => "d"

Returns the tail of the array from position.

%w( a b c d ).from(0)  # => ["a", "b", "c", "d"]
%w( a b c d ).from(2)  # => ["c", "d"]
%w( a b c d ).from(10) # => []
%w().from(0)           # => []
%w( a b c d ).from(-2) # => ["c", "d"]
%w( a b c ).from(-10)  # => []

Splits or iterates over the array in number of groups, padding any remaining slots with fill_with unless it is false.

%w(1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10).in_groups(3) {|group| p group}
["1", "2", "3", "4"]
["5", "6", "7", nil]
["8", "9", "10", nil]

%w(1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10).in_groups(3, ' ') {|group| p group}
["1", "2", "3", "4"]
["5", "6", "7", " "]
["8", "9", "10", " "]

%w(1 2 3 4 5 6 7).in_groups(3, false) {|group| p group}
["1", "2", "3"]
["4", "5"]
["6", "7"]

Splits or iterates over the array in groups of size number, padding any remaining slots with fill_with unless it is false.

%w(1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10).in_groups_of(3) {|group| p group}
["1", "2", "3"]
["4", "5", "6"]
["7", "8", "9"]
["10", nil, nil]

%w(1 2 3 4 5).in_groups_of(2, ' ') {|group| p group}
["1", "2"]
["3", "4"]
["5", " "]

%w(1 2 3 4 5).in_groups_of(2, false) {|group| p group}
["1", "2"]
["3", "4"]
["5"]

Returns a new array that includes the passed elements.

[ 1, 2, 3 ].including(4, 5) # => [ 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 ]
[ [ 0, 1 ] ].including([ [ 1, 0 ] ]) # => [ [ 0, 1 ], [ 1, 0 ] ]

Wraps the array in an ::ActiveSupport::ArrayInquirer object, which gives a friendlier way to check its string-like contents.

pets = [:cat, :dog].inquiry

pets.cat?     # => true
pets.ferret?  # => false

pets.any?(:cat, :ferret)  # => true
pets.any?(:ferret, :alligator)  # => false

Equal to self[1].

%w( a b c d e ).second # => "b"

Equal to self[-2].

%w( a b c d e ).second_to_last # => "d"

Divides the array into one or more subarrays based on a delimiting value or the result of an optional block.

[1, 2, 3, 4, 5].split(3)              # => [[1, 2], [4, 5]]
(1..10).to_a.split { |i| i % 3 == 0 } # => [[1, 2], [4, 5], [7, 8], [10]]

Equal to self[2].

%w( a b c d e ).third # => "c"

Equal to self[-3].

%w( a b c d e ).third_to_last # => "c"

Returns the beginning of the array up to position.

%w( a b c d ).to(0)  # => ["a"]
%w( a b c d ).to(2)  # => ["a", "b", "c"]
%w( a b c d ).to(10) # => ["a", "b", "c", "d"]
%w().to(0)           # => []
%w( a b c d ).to(-2) # => ["a", "b", "c"]
%w( a b c ).to(-10)  # => []

Alias for #to_fs.

Extends Array#to_s to convert a collection of elements into a comma separated id list if :db argument is given as the format.

This method is aliased to #to_formatted_s.

Blog.all.to_fs(:db)  # => "1,2,3"
Blog.none.to_fs(:db) # => "null"
[1,2].to_fs          # => "[1, 2]"

Calls to_param on all its elements and joins the result with slashes. This is used by url_for in Action Pack.

Converts an array into a string suitable for use as a URL query string, using the given key as the param name.

['Rails', 'coding'].to_query('hobbies') # => "hobbies%5B%5D=Rails&hobbies%5B%5D=coding"

Converts the array to a comma-separated sentence where the last element is joined by the connector word.

You can pass the following options to change the default behavior. If you pass an option key that doesn’t exist in the list below, it will raise an ArgumentError.

Options

• :words_connector - The sign or word used to join all but the last element in arrays with three or more elements (default: “, ”).

• :last_word_connector - The sign or word used to join the last element in arrays with three or more elements (default: “, and ”).

• :two_words_connector - The sign or word used to join the elements in arrays with two elements (default: “ and ”).

• :locale - If i18n is available, you can set a locale and use the connector options defined on the ‘support.array’ namespace in the corresponding dictionary file.

Examples

[].to_sentence                      # => ""
['one'].to_sentence                 # => "one"
['one', 'two'].to_sentence          # => "one and two"
['one', 'two', 'three'].to_sentence # => "one, two, and three"

['one', 'two'].to_sentence(passing: 'invalid option')
# => ArgumentError: Unknown key: :passing. Valid keys are: :words_connector, :two_words_connector, :last_word_connector, :locale

['one', 'two'].to_sentence(two_words_connector: '-')
# => "one-two"

['one', 'two', 'three'].to_sentence(words_connector: ' or ', last_word_connector: ' or at least ')
# => "one or two or at least three"

Using :locale option:

# Given this locale dictionary:
#
#   es:
#     support:
#       array:
#         words_connector: " o "
#         two_words_connector: " y "
#         last_word_connector: " o al menos "

['uno', 'dos'].to_sentence(locale: :es)
# => "uno y dos"

['uno', 'dos', 'tres'].to_sentence(locale: :es)
# => "uno o dos o al menos tres"

Returns a string that represents the array in XML by invoking to_xml on each element. Active Record collections delegate their representation in XML to this method.

All elements are expected to respond to to_xml, if any of them does not then an exception is raised.

The root node reflects the class name of the first element in plural if all elements belong to the same type and that’s not ::Hash:

customer.projects.to_xml

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<projects type="array">
  <project>
    <amount type="decimal">20000.0</amount>
    <customer-id type="integer">1567</customer-id>
    <deal-date type="date">2008-04-09</deal-date>
    #...
  </project>
  <project>
    <amount type="decimal">57230.0</amount>
    <customer-id type="integer">1567</customer-id>
    <deal-date type="date">2008-04-15</deal-date>
    #...
  </project>
</projects>

Otherwise the root element is “objects”:

[{ foo: 1, bar: 2}, { baz: 3}].to_xml

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<objects type="array">
  <object>
    <bar type="integer">2</bar>
    <foo type="integer">1</foo>
  </object>
  <object>
    <baz type="integer">3</baz>
  </object>
</objects>

If the collection is empty the root element is “nil-classes” by default:

[].to_xml

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<nil-classes type="array"/>

To ensure a meaningful root element use the :root option:

customer_with_no_projects.projects.to_xml(root: 'projects')

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<projects type="array"/>

By default name of the node for the children of root is root.singularize. You can change it with the :children option.

The options hash is passed downwards:

Message.all.to_xml(skip_types: true)

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<messages>
  <message>
    <created-at>2008-03-07T09:58:18+01:00</created-at>
    <id>1</id>
    <name>1</name>
    <updated-at>2008-03-07T09:58:18+01:00</updated-at>
    <user-id>1</user-id>
  </message>
</messages>

Alias for #excluding.