From: Mat Schaffer <schapht@...>
Date: 2006-07-24T21:38:11+09:00
Subject: Re: Autoloading objects — Ruby equivalent for PHP5 "__autoload


On Jul 24, 2006, at 5:58 AM, Naum T. wrote:

> Does there exist a Ruby equivalent to PHP5 "magic" __autoload method
> that spares the developer from detailing a list of "require"  
> statements?
> http://us2.php.net/autoload
>
> Or is this something that a homebrewed solution is necessary? Like
> catching the exception and testing for file existence, etc.� or is  
> there
> a gem/extension featuring this functionality?


const_missing is a little more like PHP's __autoload function.

The following, for example will attempt to just do: require <object  
name> in the event it can't find the class.

def Object.const_missing name
	require name.to_s.downcase
	const_get(name)
end

I've never used it though, so anyone can feel free to correct me for  
any gotchas that I'm not aware of.
-Mat