CODEWITHSUNDEEP
rubyclassmodulesingleton
NickJaremek
NickJaremek

Reputation: 265

Calling a singleton method within the singleton class in Ruby?

Consider the following Ruby code:

module MyModule
  class << self

    def process_item(item)
      item.capitalize
    end

    def foo=(item)
      @foo_ref=process_item(item)
    end

    def foo
      @foo_ref
    end

    self.foo = "initial foo"
  end
end

I want to set a default foo_ref variable inside the singleton class definition. However, the Ruby interpreter raises the following error:

singleton class': undefined method `foo=' for #(NoMethodError)

If I change self.foo = "Initial foo" to foo = "Initial foo" then I am creating a local variable within the singleton class, instead of calling the setter method.

Also, I do realize that I may have to put the process_item method in the module definition, outside the singleton class definition, so that it does not become a singleton method, but rather a helper method.

What would be the proper approach to this code (being able to call a singleton method within the singleton class definition, and having helper methods available within the singleton class definition)?

Upvotes: 1

Views: 1154

Answers (1)

fedebns
fedebns

Reputation: 494

You can define the default value as:

module MyModule
  class << self

    def process_item(item)
      item.capitalize
    end

    def foo=(item)
      @foo_ref=process_item(item)
    end

    def foo
      @foo_ref ||= "initial foo"
    end
  end
end

What you were trying to do was to set foo to the singleton class, instead of setting foo to the class.

Upvotes: 1

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