CODEWITHSUNDEEP
rubymethodsyamleach
zigloo99
zigloo99

Reputation: 134

Saving key string in a hash using a method

I'm utilizing yaml to create a configuration file to automate creating machine setup files. I'm have some basic ruby scripting experience but looking to start utilizing classes more to make things cleaner and get better at programming.

My YAML names config.yaml:

`machine_configurations:
  MACHINE_NAME_1:
    Settings:
  MACHINE_NAME_2:
    Settings:`

I have a class machine_builder.rb

`require 'yaml'

class MachineBuilder
  def initialize
    @config = YAML.load_file("config.yaml")
  end

  def machine_list
    @config['machine_configurations'].each do |k,v|
      k
    end
  end
end

What I'm trying to figure out how to do is to store an array of the machine configuration strings

I've testing trying to use 

test = MachineBuilder.new
machine_list = []
machine_list << test.machine_list

what I'm trying to get for a result is

machine_list = ['MACHINE_NAME_1','MACHINE_NAME_2']

but I keep getting the entire hash key and values stored in the array. 

machine_list = ['MACHINE_NAME_1 => Settings: ...',' MACHINE_NAME_2 => Settings...']

I've tried changing the method using the following but I guess I'm missing something. 

 def machine_list
    @config['machine_configurations'].each do |k,v|
      return k
    end
 end

This attempt only returns one value, and I'm assuming that this is because return exits the loop once the one value is found.

 def machine_list
    @config['machine_configurations'].each do |k,v|
      puts k
    end
 end

I guess in the end I'm also trying to figure out what is the best practice in to iterate and return values in a method or help to better understand using methods and returning values using the methods.

Upvotes: 0

Views: 105

Answers (1)

izaban
izaban

Reputation: 1023

The each method returns the original enumerable object it was called upon, this is why you keep getting the entire hash when you call the machine_list method. You can try the following code to get an array of the keys of the @config hash:

def machine_list
   @config['machine_configurations'].keys
end

and then:

test = MachineBuilder.new
machine_list = test.machine_list

this way the result will be:

machine_list = ['MACHINE_NAME_1','MACHINE_NAME_2']

Upvotes: 2

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