From: Jason Voegele <jason@...>
Date: 2001-12-18T01:51:16+09:00
Subject: [ruby-talk:28797] Tracing instance variables

I'm working on a Ruby binding for the GOODS object-oriented database.  What 
I need is some mechanism for determining when an instance variable for a 
given object has been modified in some way.  Currently, my binding relies 
on naming conventions, such that methods ending with '!' or '=' are 
considered "modifiers", and invoking them will mark the receiver as 
modified.  I'd rather not rely on a naming convention to handle this, 
though.

Is there a better way to do this?  I know that global variables can be 
traced for modification.  Is there some way to trace instance variables as 
well, either in standard Ruby or any existing library?  I'm already using 
AspectR for the binding, but I don't think it supports tracing instance 
variables.

Thanks,
Jason Voegele