How do I convert hash keys to method names?

Question

This is my hash:

tempData = {"a" => 100, "here" => 200, "c" => "hello"} 

I need to access the hash keys as a method like:

tempData.a #100 tempData.here # 200 

Answer 1

You could just wrap up your hash in an OpenStruct:

require 'ostruct' tempData = {"a" => 100, "here" => 200, "c" => "hello"} os = OpenStruct.new tempData os.a #=> 100 os.here #=> 200 

If you really really wanted to, you could also monkey-patch the Hash class, but I'd advise against that:

class Hash   def method_missing(m, *args, &blk)     fetch(m) { fetch(m.to_s) { super } }   end end  tempData = {"a" => 100, "here" => 200, "c" => "hello"} tempData.a #=> 100 

Update: In my personal extensions library I added a Hash#to_ostruct method. This will recursively convert a hash into an OpenStruct including all nested hashes.