From: Daniel Shackelford <dshackel@...>
Date: 2007-01-11T01:51:32+09:00
Subject: Dynamically load methods from external source

I know this sounds like it could be a very bad thing to do, but I was 
wondering if there is a way to load methods into an already running app 
from an external source (database/file).  I am building an app that 
would load needed code snippets for a given task, but each time it runs 
it will not need all the snippets, just certain ones.  I know that I can 
store the code as text in the database/file, but will I have to execute 
it externally (via system 'ruby file.rb arg1 arg2'), or can I load and 
execute it internally (possibly in a separate thread)?  I can think of 
all sorts of reasons why to NOT do this, but still, there is curiosity 
isn't there..

I am thinking that somehow Rails does something like this with it's 
controllers, but heck, that is a lot of code to sort through.

-- 
Daniel Shackelford
Systems Administrator
Technology Services
Spring Arbor University