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Douglas G. Allen edited this page Jan 15, 2015 · 8 revisions

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=begin
Object

Object is the default root of all Ruby objects. 
Object inherits from BasicObject 
which allows creating alternate object hierarchies.
Methods on Object are available to all classes unless explicitly overridden.

Object mixes in the Kernel module, 
making the built-in kernel functions globally accessible. 
Although the instance methods of Object are defined by the Kernel module, 
we have chosen to document them here for clarity.

When referencing constants in classes inheriting from Object you do not need 
to use the full namespace. 
For example, 
referencing File inside YourClass will find the top-level File class.

In the descriptions of Object’s methods, 
the parameter symbol refers to a symbol, 
which is either a quoted string or a Symbol (such as :name).
Constants

ARGF

    ARGF is a stream designed for use in scripts that process 
files given as command-line arguments or passed in via STDIN.

    See ARGF (the class) for more details.
ARGV

    ARGV contains the command line arguments used to run ruby 
with the first value containing the name of the executable.

    A library like OptionParser can be used to process command-line arguments.
DATA

    DATA is a File that contains the data section of the executed file. 
To create a data section use __END__:

    $ cat t.rb
    puts DATA.gets
    __END__
    hello world!

    $ ruby t.rb
    hello world!

ENV

    ENV is a Hash-like accessor for environment variables.
    See ENV (the class) for more details.

FALSE

    An alias of false

NIL

    An alias of nil

RUBY_COPYRIGHT

    The copyright string for ruby

RUBY_DESCRIPTION

    The full ruby version string, like ruby -v prints’

RUBY_ENGINE

    The engine or interpreter this ruby uses.

RUBY_PATCHLEVEL

    The patchlevel for this ruby. 
If this is a development build of ruby the patchlevel will be -1

RUBY_PLATFORM

    The platform for this ruby

RUBY_RELEASE_DATE

    The date this ruby was released

RUBY_REVISION

    The SVN revision for this ruby.

RUBY_VERSION

    The running version of ruby

STDERR

    Holds the original stderr

STDIN

    Holds the original stdin

STDOUT

    Holds the original stdout

TOPLEVEL_BINDING

    The Binding of the top level scope

TRUE

    An alias of true

Public Instance Methods
obj !~ other → true or false

Returns true if two objects do not match (using the =~ method), 
otherwise false.

obj <=> other → 0 or nil

Returns 0 if obj and other are the same object or obj == other, 
otherwise nil.

The <=> is used by various methods to compare objects, 
for example Enumerable#sort, Enumerable#max etc.

Your implementation of <=> should return 
one of the following values: -1, 0, 1 or nil. 
-1 means self is smaller than other. 0 means self is equal to other. 
1 means self is bigger than other. 
Nil means the two values could not be compared.

When you define <=>, 
you can include Comparable to gain the methods <=, <, ==, >=, > and between?.

obj === other → true or false

Case Equality – For class Object, 
effectively the same as calling #==, 
but typically overridden by descendants 
to provide meaningful semantics in case statements.

obj =~ other → nil

Pattern Match—Overridden by descendants 
(notably Regexp and String) to provide meaningful pattern-match semantics.

class → class

Returns the class of obj. 
This method must always be called with an explicit receiver, 
as class is also a reserved word in Ruby.
=end
1.class      #=> Fixnum
self.class   #=> Object

=begin
clone → an_object

Produces a shallow copy of obj—the instance variables of obj are copied, 
but not the objects they reference. 
clone copies the frozen and tainted state of obj. 
See also the discussion under Object#dup.
=end
class Klass
   attr_accessor :str
end
s1 = Klass.new      #=> #<Klass:0x401b3a38>
s1.str = "Hello"    #=> "Hello"
s2 = s1.clone       #=> #<Klass:0x401b3998 @str="Hello">
s2.str[1,4] = "i"   #=> "i"
s1.inspect          #=> "#<Klass:0x401b3a38 @str=\"Hi\">"
s2.inspect          #=> "#<Klass:0x401b3998 @str=\"Hi\">"

=begin
This method may have class-specific behavior. 
If so, that behavior will be documented under the 
#initialize_copy method of the class.

define_singleton_method(symbol, method) → new_method
define_singleton_method(symbol) { block } → proc

Defines a singleton method in the receiver. 
The method parameter can be a Proc, 
a Method or an UnboundMethod object. 
If a block is specified, it is used as the method body.
=end
class A
  class << self
    def class_name
      to_s
    end
  end
end
A.define_singleton_method(:who_am_i) do
  "I am: #{class_name}"
end
A.who_am_i   # ==> "I am: A"

guy = "Bob"
guy.define_singleton_method(:hello) { "#{self}: Hello there!" }
guy.hello    #=>  "Bob: Hello there!"

=begin
display(port=$>) → nil

Prints obj on the given port (default $>). Equivalent to:
=end
def display(port=$>)
  port.write self
end

# For example:

1.display
"cat".display
[ 4, 5, 6 ].display
puts

# produces:

1cat456

=begin
dup → an_object

Produces a shallow copy of obj—the instance variables of obj are copied, 
but not the objects they reference. 
dup copies the tainted state of obj.

This method may have class-specific behavior. 
If so, that behavior will be documented under the 
#initialize_copy method of the class.
on dup vs clone¶ ↑

In general, 
clone and dup may have different semantics in descendant classes. 
While clone is used to duplicate an object, 
including its internal state, 
dup typically uses the class of the descendant object to 
create the new instance.

When using dup, 
any modules that the object has been extended with will not be copied.
=end
class Klass
  attr_accessor :str
end

module Foo
  def foo; 'foo'; end
end

s1 = Klass.new #=> #<Klass:0x401b3a38>
s1.extend(Foo) #=> #<Klass:0x401b3a38>
s1.foo #=> "foo"

s2 = s1.clone #=> #<Klass:0x401b3a38>
s2.foo #=> "foo"

s3 = s1.dup #=> #<Klass:0x401b3a38>
s3.foo #=> NoMethodError: undefined method `foo' for #<Klass:0x401b3a38>

=begin
enum_for(method = :each, *args) → enum
enum_for(method = :each, *args){|*args| block} → enum

Creates a new Enumerator which will enumerate by calling method on obj, 
passing args if any.

If a block is given, 
it will be used to calculate the size of the enumerator without the need 
to iterate it 
(see Enumerator#size).
Examples¶ ↑
=end
str = "xyz"

enum = str.enum_for(:each_byte)
enum.each { |b| puts b }
# => 120
# => 121
# => 122

# protect an array from being modified by some_method
a = [1, 2, 3]
some_method(a.to_enum)

=begin
It is typical to call #to_enum when defining methods for a generic 
Enumerable, 
in case no block is passed.

Here is such an example, 
with parameter passing and a sizing block:
=end
module Enumerable
  # a generic method to repeat the values of any enumerable
  def repeat(n)
    raise ArgumentError, "#{n} is negative!" if n < 0
    unless block_given?
      return to_enum(__method__, n) do # __method__ is :repeat here
        sz = size     # Call size and multiply by n...
        sz * n if sz  # but return nil if size itself is nil
      end
    end
    each do |*val|
      n.times { yield *val }
    end
  end
end

%[hello world].repeat(2) { |w| puts w }
  # => Prints 'hello', 'hello', 'world', 'world'
enum = (1..14).repeat(3)
  # => returns an Enumerator when called without a block
enum.first(4) # => [1, 1, 1, 2]
enum.size # => 42

=begin
obj == other → true or false
equal?(other) → true or false
eql?(other) → true or false

Equality — At the Object level, 
== returns true only if obj and other are the same object. 
Typically, 
this method is overridden in descendant classes to provide 
class-specific meaning.

Unlike ==, 
the equal? 
method should never be overridden by subclasses as it is used to 
determine object identity 
(that is, a.equal?(b) if and only if a is the same object as b):
=end
obj = "a"
other = obj.dup

obj == other      #=> true
obj.equal? other  #=> false
obj.equal? obj    #=> true

=begin
The eql? method returns true if obj and other refer to the same hash key. 
This is used by Hash to test members for equality. 
For objects of class Object, eql? is synonymous with ==. 
Subclasses normally continue this tradition by aliasing eql? to their 
overridden == method, 
but there are exceptions. Numeric types, 
for example, perform type conversion across ==, 
but not across eql?, so:
=end
1 == 1.0     #=> true
1.eql? 1.0   #=> false

=begin
extend(module, ...) → obj

Adds to obj the instance methods from each module given as a parameter.
=end
module Mod
  def hello
    "Hello from Mod.\n"
  end
end

class Klass
  def hello
    "Hello from Klass.\n"
  end
end

k = Klass.new
k.hello         #=> "Hello from Klass.\n"
k.extend(Mod)   #=> #<Klass:0x401b3bc8>
k.hello         #=> "Hello from Mod.\n"

=begin
freeze → obj

Prevents further modifications to obj. 
A RuntimeError will be raised if modification is attempted. 
There is no way to unfreeze a frozen object. See also Object#frozen?.

This method returns self.
=end
a = [ "a", "b", "c" ]
a.freeze
a << "z"

# produces:

#=> prog.rb:3:in `<<': can't modify frozen Array (RuntimeError)
#   from prog.rb:3

=begin
Objects of the following classes are always frozen: 
Fixnum, Bignum, Float, Symbol.
frozen? → true or false

Returns the freeze status of obj.
=end
a = [ "a", "b", "c" ]
a.freeze    #=> ["a", "b", "c"]
a.frozen?   #=> true

=begin
hash → fixnum

Generates a Fixnum hash value for this object. 
This function must have the property that a.eql?(b) implies a.hash == b.hash.

The hash value is used along with eql? 
by the Hash class to determine if two objects reference the same hash key. 
Any hash value that exceeds the capacity of a Fixnum will be 
truncated before being used.

The hash value for an object may not be identical across invocations or 
implementations of Ruby. 
If you need a stable identifier across Ruby invocations and implementations 
you will need to generate one with a custom method.

inspect → string

Returns a string containing a human-readable representation of obj. 
The default inspect shows the object’s class name, 
an encoding of the object id, 
and a list of the instance variables and their values 
(by calling inspect on each of them). 
User defined classes should override this method to provide a 
better representation of obj. 
When overriding this method, 
it should return a string whose encoding is compatible with the 
default external encoding.
=end
[ 1, 2, 3..4, 'five' ].inspect   #=> "[1, 2, 3..4, \"five\"]"
Time.new.inspect                 #=> "2008-03-08 19:43:39 +0900"

class Foo
end
Foo.new.inspect                  #=> "#<Foo:0x0300c868>"

class Bar
  def initialize
    @bar = 1
  end
end
Bar.new.inspect                  #=> "#<Bar:0x0300c868 @bar=1>"

=begin
instance_of?(class) → true or false

Returns true if obj is an instance of the given class. 
See also Object#kind_of?.
=end
class A;     end
class B < A; end
class C < B; end

b = B.new
b.instance_of? A   #=> false
b.instance_of? B   #=> true
b.instance_of? C   #=> false

=begin
instance_variable_defined?(symbol) → true or false
instance_variable_defined?(string) → true or false

Returns true if the given instance variable is defined in obj. 
String arguments are converted to symbols.
=end
class Fred
  def initialize(p1, p2)
    @a, @b = p1, p2
  end
end
fred = Fred.new('cat', 99)
fred.instance_variable_defined?(:@a)    #=> true
fred.instance_variable_defined?("@b")   #=> true
fred.instance_variable_defined?("@c")   #=> false

=begin
instance_variable_get(symbol) → obj
instance_variable_get(string) → obj

Returns the value of the given instance variable, 
or nil if the instance variable is not set. 
The @ part of the variable name should be included for 
regular instance variables. 
Throws a NameError exception if the supplied symbol is not valid 
as an instance variable name. 
String arguments are converted to symbols.
=end
class Fred
  def initialize(p1, p2)
    @a, @b = p1, p2
  end
end
fred = Fred.new('cat', 99)
fred.instance_variable_get(:@a)    #=> "cat"
fred.instance_variable_get("@b")   #=> 99

=begin
instance_variable_set(symbol, obj) → obj
instance_variable_set(string, obj) → obj

Sets the instance variable named by symbol to the given object, 
thereby frustrating the efforts of the class’s author to attempt 
to provide proper encapsulation. 
The variable does not have to exist prior to this call. 
If the instance variable name is passed as a string, 
that string is converted to a symbol.
=end
class Fred
  def initialize(p1, p2)
    @a, @b = p1, p2
  end
end
fred = Fred.new('cat', 99)
fred.instance_variable_set(:@a, 'dog')   #=> "dog"
fred.instance_variable_set(:@c, 'cat')   #=> "cat"
fred.inspect                             
#=> "#<Fred:0x401b3da8 @a=\"dog\", @b=99, @c=\"cat\">"

=begin
instance_variables → array

Returns an array of instance variable names for the receiver. 
Note that simply defining an accessor does not 
create the corresponding instance variable.
=end
class Fred
  attr_accessor :a1
  def initialize
    @iv = 3
  end
end
Fred.new.instance_variables   #=> [:@iv]

=begin
is_a?(class) → true or false

Returns true if class is the class of obj, 
or if class is one of the superclasses of obj or modules included in obj.
=end
module M;    end
class A
  include M
end
class B < A; end
class C < B; end

b = B.new
b.is_a? A          #=> true
b.is_a? B          #=> true
b.is_a? C          #=> false
b.is_a? M          #=> true

b.kind_of? A       #=> true
b.kind_of? B       #=> true
b.kind_of? C       #=> false
b.kind_of? M       #=> true

=begin
itself → an_object

Returns obj.
=end
string = 'my string' #=> "my string"
string.itself.object_id == string.object_id #=> true

=begin
kind_of?(class) → true or false

Returns true if class is the class of obj, 
or if class is one of the superclasses of obj or modules included in obj.
=end
module M;    end
class A
  include M
end
class B < A; end
class C < B; end

b = B.new
b.is_a? A          #=> true
b.is_a? B          #=> true
b.is_a? C          #=> false
b.is_a? M          #=> true

b.kind_of? A       #=> true
b.kind_of? B       #=> true
b.kind_of? C       #=> false
b.kind_of? M       #=> true

=begin
method(sym) → method

Looks up the named method as a receiver in obj, 
returning a Method object (or raising NameError). 
The Method object acts as a closure in obj’s object instance, 
so instance variables and the value of self remain available.
=end
class Demo
  def initialize(n)
    @iv = n
  end
  def hello()
    "Hello, @iv = #{@iv}"
  end
end

k = Demo.new(99)
m = k.method(:hello)
m.call   #=> "Hello, @iv = 99"

l = Demo.new('Fred')
m = l.method("hello")
m.call   #=> "Hello, @iv = Fred"

=begin
methods(regular=true) → array

Returns a list of the names of public and protected methods of obj. 
This will include all the methods accessible in obj’s ancestors. 
If the optional parameter is false, 
it returns an array of obj<i>‘s public and protected singleton methods, 
the array will not include methods in modules included in <i>obj.
=end
class Klass
  def klass_method()
  end
end
k = Klass.new
k.methods[0..9]    #=> [:klass_method, :nil?, :===,
                   #    :==~, :!, :eql?
                   #    :hash, :<=>, :class, :singleton_class]
k.methods.length   #=> 56

k.methods(false)   #=> []
def k.singleton_method; end
k.methods(false)   #=> [:singleton_method]

module M123; def m123; end end
k.extend M123
k.methods(false)   #=> [:singleton_method]

=begin
nil? → true or false

Only the object nil responds true to nil?.
=end
Object.new.nil?   #=> false
nil.nil?          #=> true

=begin
__id__ → integer
object_id → integer

Returns an integer identifier for obj.

The same number will be returned on all calls to object_id for a 
given object, 
and no two active objects will share an id.

Note: that some objects of builtin classes are reused for optimization. 
This is the case for immediate values and frozen string literals.

Immediate values are not passed by reference but are passed by value: 
nil, true, false, Fixnums, Symbols, and some Floats.
=end
Object.new.object_id  == Object.new.object_id  # => false
(21 * 2).object_id    == (21 * 2).object_id    # => true
"hello".object_id     == "hello".object_id     # => false
"hi".freeze.object_id == "hi".freeze.object_id # => true

=begin
private_methods(all=true) → array

Returns the list of private methods accessible to obj. 
If the all parameter is set to false, 
only those methods in the receiver will be listed.

protected_methods(all=true) → array

Returns the list of protected methods accessible to obj. 
If the all parameter is set to false, 
only those methods in the receiver will be listed.

public_method(sym) → method

Similar to method, searches public method only.

public_methods(all=true) → array

Returns the list of public methods accessible to obj. 
If the all parameter is set to false, 
only those methods in the receiver will be listed.

public_send(symbol [, args...]) → obj
public_send(string [, args...]) → obj

Invokes the method identified by symbol, 
passing it any arguments specified. 
Unlike send, 
#public_send calls public methods only. 
When the method is identified by a string, 
the string is converted to a symbol.
=end
1.public_send(:puts, "hello")  # causes NoMethodError

=begin
remove_instance_variable(symbol) → obj

Removes the named instance variable from obj, 
returning that variable’s value.
=end
class Dummy
  attr_reader :var
  def initialize
    @var = 99
  end
  def remove
    remove_instance_variable(:@var)
  end
end
d = Dummy.new
d.var      #=> 99
d.remove   #=> 99
d.var      #=> nil

=begin
respond_to?(symbol, include_all=false) → true or false
respond_to?(string, include_all=false) → true or false

Returns true if obj responds to the given method. 
Private and protected methods are included in the search only if 
the optional second parameter evaluates to true.

If the method is not implemented, 
as Process.fork on Windows, 
File.lchmod on GNU/Linux, etc., false is returned.

If the method is not defined, 
respond_to_missing? 
method is called and the result is returned.

When the method name parameter is given as a string, 
the string is converted to a symbol.

respond_to_missing?(symbol, include_all) → true or false
respond_to_missing?(string, include_all) → true or false

DO NOT USE THIS DIRECTLY.

Hook method to return whether the obj can respond to id method or not.

When the method name parameter is given as a string, 
the string is converted to a symbol.

See respond_to?, and the example of BasicObject.

send(symbol [, args...]) → obj
__send__(symbol [, args...]) → obj
send(string [, args...]) → obj
__send__(string [, args...]) → obj

Invokes the method identified by symbol, 
passing it any arguments specified. 
You can use __send__ if the name send clashes with an existing method in obj. 
When the method is identified by a string, 
the string is converted to a symbol.
=end
class Klass
  def hello(*args)
    "Hello " + args.join(' ')
  end
end
k = Klass.new
k.send :hello, "gentle", "readers"   #=> "Hello gentle readers"

=begin
singleton_class → class

Returns the singleton class of obj. 
This method creates a new singleton class if obj does not have one.

If obj is nil, true, or false, 
it returns NilClass, TrueClass, or FalseClass, respectively. 
If obj is a Fixnum or a Symbol, it raises a TypeError.
=end
Object.new.singleton_class  #=> #<Class:#<Object:0xb7ce1e24>>
String.singleton_class      #=> #<Class:String>
nil.singleton_class         #=> NilClass

=begin
singleton_method(sym) → method

Similar to method, searches singleton method only.
=end
class Demo
  def initialize(n)
    @iv = n
  end
  def hello()
    "Hello, @iv = #{@iv}"
  end
end

k = Demo.new(99)
def k.hi
  "Hi, @iv = #{@iv}"
end
m = k.singleton_method(:hi)
m.call   #=> "Hi, @iv = 99"
m = k.singleton_method(:hello) #=> NameError

=begin
singleton_methods(all=true) → array

Returns an array of the names of singleton methods for obj. 
If the optional all parameter is true, 
the list will include methods in modules included in obj. 
Only public and protected singleton methods are returned.
=end
module Other
  def three() end
end

class Single
  def Single.four() end
end

a = Single.new

def a.one()
end

class << a
  include Other
  def two()
  end
end

Single.singleton_methods    #=> [:four]
a.singleton_methods(false)  #=> [:two, :one]
a.singleton_methods         #=> [:two, :one, :three]

=begin
taint → obj

Mark the object as tainted.

Objects that are marked as tainted will be restricted from 
various built-in methods. 
This is to prevent insecure data, 
such as command-line arguments or strings read from Kernel#gets, 
from inadvertently compromising the user’s system.

To check whether an object is tainted, use tainted?.

You should only untaint a tainted object if your code has 
inspected it and 
determined that it is safe. 
To do so use untaint.

In $SAFE level 3, 
all newly created objects are tainted and you can’t untaint objects.

tainted? → true or false

Returns true if the object is tainted.

See taint for more information.

tap{|x|...} → obj

Yields self to the block, and then returns self. 
The primary purpose of this method is to “tap into” a method chain, 
in order to perform operations on intermediate results within the chain.
=end
(1..10)                .tap {|x| puts "original: #{x.inspect}"}
  .to_a                .tap {|x| puts "array: #{x.inspect}"}
  .select {|x| x%2==0} .tap {|x| puts "evens: #{x.inspect}"}
  .map {|x| x*x}       .tap {|x| puts "squares: #{x.inspect}"}

=begin
to_enum(method = :each, *args) → enum
to_enum(method = :each, *args) {|*args| block} → enum

Creates a new Enumerator which will enumerate by calling method on obj, 
passing args if any.

If a block is given, 
it will be used to calculate the size of the enumerator without the 
need to iterate it 
(see Enumerator#size).
Examples¶ ↑
=end
str = "xyz"

enum = str.enum_for(:each_byte)
enum.each { |b| puts b }
# => 120
# => 121
# => 122

# protect an array from being modified by some_method
a = [1, 2, 3]
some_method(a.to_enum)

=begin
It is typical to call #to_enum when defining methods for a 
generic Enumerable, 
in case no block is passed.

Here is such an example, with parameter passing and a sizing block:
=end
module Enumerable
  # a generic method to repeat the values of any enumerable
  def repeat(n)
    raise ArgumentError, "#{n} is negative!" if n < 0
    unless block_given?
      return to_enum(__method__, n) do # __method__ is :repeat here
        sz = size     # Call size and multiply by n...
        sz * n if sz  # but return nil if size itself is nil
      end
    end
    each do |*val|
      n.times { yield *val }
    end
  end
end

%[hello world].repeat(2) { |w| puts w }
  # => Prints 'hello', 'hello', 'world', 'world'
enum = (1..14).repeat(3)
  # => returns an Enumerator when called without a block
enum.first(4) # => [1, 1, 1, 2]
enum.size # => 42

=begin
to_s → string

Returns a string representing obj. 
The default to_s prints the object’s class and an encoding of the 
object id. 
As a special case, 
the top-level object that is the initial execution context of 
Ruby programs returns “main”.

trust → obj

Deprecated method that is equivalent to untaint.

untaint → obj

Removes the tainted mark from the object.

See taint for more information.

untrust → obj

Deprecated method that is equivalent to taint.

untrusted? → true or false

Deprecated method that is equivalent to tainted?.
=end
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