From: Phil Tomson <rubyfan@...>
Date: 2007-06-26T09:53:11+09:00
Subject: Re: dynamically define attr_accessors on objects?

On 6/25/07, Aaron Smith <beingthexemplary@gmail.com> wrote:
> How can I dynamically define attr_accessors on an object?
>
> EX:;:
> class Person
>  attr_accessor :firstname
> end
> p = Person.new
> p.firstname = 'aaron'
> p.instance_variable_set(:@lastname, 'smith')
> puts p.inspect
> puts p.firstname
> puts p.lastname
>
> the last line generates an "undefined method lastname" error..
>
> any ideas?
> thanks
>
> --

I suppose you could do something like:

  class Person
   def def_accessor name, val=nil
     self.class.class_eval { attr_accessor name.intern }
     instance_variable_set ( "@#{name}".intern, val )
   end
 end

Then you could do something like:
h = { "fooname"=>"Foo", "age"=>28 }
h.each {|key,value|  p.def_accessor key, value }


...but the other suggestion to use OpenStruct is probably a better idea.

Phil