From: Dave Thomas <Dave@...>
Date: 2001-11-01T03:55:41+09:00
Subject: [ruby-talk:24009] Re: Strangeness with undefining methods

Paul Brannan <pbrannan@atdesk.com> writes:

> In what real world situation might I use undef instead of remove_method?
> And when I undef a method, where does the method go, since I can't call
> it?  (I've noticed that I can still call remove_method after an undef).

Take the case where the method overrides an identically named method
in a superclass. With undef, the superclass's method can't be called,
because calling the undef'd method generates an error. With
remove_method, the original method vanishes, and the superclass's
method becomes visible. See the example on Pickaxe pg 352 (or at
http://www.rubycentral.com/book/ref_c_module.html#undef_method)


Regards


Dave