NAME

  methodhash

SYNOPSIS

  A Hash subclass for automatic storage of values obtained from a method 
  defined by the user. Useful for lengthy calculations on large datasets.

URI

  http://rubyforge.org/projects/methodhash
  http://github.com/fredrikj/methodhash

INSTALL

  gem install methodhash

DESCRIPTION

  A Hash subclass that defines its values from a specified method.
  Use it by creating a subclass of MethodHash, and define a method
  with the name "mymethod" in it. Like this (same code in samples/samples.rb):
  
  # 1. Simple use
  class AddOne < MethodHash
    def mymethod(a)
      sleep 3
      a + 1
    end
  end 
  
  a = AddOne.new
  a            #  {}
  a[1]         #  2
  a[7]         #  8
  a            #  {1=>2, 7=>8}
  puts a.dump  #  --- !map:AddOne 
               #  1: 2
               #  7: 8
  
  
  # 2. With a file
  b = AddOne.new '/tmp/one.yml'
  b            #  {}
  b[1]         #  2
  b.dump       #  '/tmp/one.yml' 
  c = AddOne.new '/tmp/one.yml'
  puts c.inspect #  {1=>2}
  
  
  # 3. Some protection against data corruption.
  class AddTwo < MethodHash
    def mymethod(a)
      a + 2
    end
  end 
  
  begin
    d = AddTwo.new '/tmp/one.yml' #  ArgumentError: Path holds class AddOne
  rescue
    puts $!
  end
  
  
  # 4. Saving exceptions arising from mymethod.
  class AddOneFaulty < MethodHash
    def mymethod(a)
      rand(2)==0 ? raise("Epic Fail!") : a+1
    end
  end 
  
  e = AddOneFaulty.new
  e[1]                 #  RuntimeError: Epic Fail!  # If something bad happened
  e                    #  {1=>"ERROR: Epic Fail!"}
  e.retry_errors       #  false
  e[1]                 #  RuntimeError: Epic Fail!  # Still keeping the error
  e.retry_errors=true  #  true
  e[1]                 #  2                         # If better luck this time
  e                    #  {1=>2}
   
  
  # 5. A more complex setting
  class AddThree < MethodHash
    def initialize(path1=nil, path2=nil, mypath=nil)
      @one = AddOne.new(path1)
      @two = AddTwo.new(path2)
      super(mypath)
    end
    
    def mymethod(a)
      @one[a] + @two[a] - a
    end
     
    def dump
      @one.dump
      @two.dump
      super
    end
  end
  
  f = AddThree.new( '/tmp/one.yml', '/tmp/two.yml')
  puts f[3]
  f.dump
  
  
  # 6. With two arguments
  class Add < MethodHash
    def mymethod(a,b)
      a + b
    end
  end

  


HISTORY
  0.5.0

    Initial version