From: Paul Lutus <nospam@...>
Date: 2006-10-22T17:50:13+09:00
Subject: Re: How to call private class method?

estebanjang@gmail.com wrote:

> Hi,
> In the following code, how can I call "Hello.jane" method?
> 
> class Hello
>   def Hello.jane
>     puts "I am jane"
>   end
>   private_class_method :jane
> end

Code: ***************************

#!/usr/bin/ruby -w

class Hello
  def Hello.jane
    puts "I am jane"
  end
  private_class_method :jane

  def Hello.access_from_world
    jane
  end

end

class Howdy < Hello
  def Howdy.from_child
    jane
  end
end

Hello::access_from_world

Howdy::from_child

Output:

I am jane
I am jane

Explanation: **********************

First, because of how it has been declared, your method "Hello.jane" is a
class method, not an instance method. It lives at the class level, so it
must be called using the syntax reserved for class methods.

Second, private methods can only be accessed by other methods of that class
or derived classes, not from outside the class at all. This is by design.

-- 
Paul Lutus
http://www.arachnoid.com