From: Joel VanderWerf <vjoel@...>
Date: 2005-06-11T06:15:57+09:00
Subject: Re: Is there a Ruby equivilant to Python's exec_file?

Ara.T.Howard wrote:
> On Sat, 11 Jun 2005, Joel VanderWerf wrote:
> 
>> Wayne Pierce wrote:
>>
>>> I'm working on a white-box security auditing framework, which is
>>> currently written in Python and makes use of exec_file to load some
>>> security scans at startup.  Is there a way to do the same thing in
>>> Ruby?
>>>
>>> For those not familiar with Python, exec_file allows me to read an
>>> external file and save the resulting objects to a hash/dictionary of
>>> my choosing.  I can then check the values or execute functions that
>>> have been saved in my hash.
>>
>>
>> Check out "script" on RAA: http://raa.ruby-lang.org/project/script.
> 
> 
> that's very cool joel!  i did something with a similar intent, but slight
> different impl, at
> 
>   http://raa.ruby-lang.org/project/dynaload/

One difference: using script.rb, the loaded file doesn't have to know 
that it is being used in that way. The entire file (and its local 
dependencies) are encapsulated, rather than only the selected modules 
that you pass to Dynaload::export.

I like the #modules and #classes methods of Dynaload. Maybe I will 
borrow that for Script instances. Maybe they should even be instance 
methods of Module.

It might make sense to propose something like these two libraries as 
RCRs, since so many people either ask for it or reinvent it, but the 
implementation is so easy that it's probably not worth it...