From: Gary Wright <gwtmp01@...>
Date: 2008-01-29T05:07:28+09:00
Subject: Re: Assistance dynamically building a nested hash


On Jan 28, 2008, at 2:51 PM, 7stud -- wrote:
> #Create a hash where looking up a non-existent key
> #in the hash results in the key being created and
> #assigned an empty hash:
> results = Hash.new do |hash, key|
>   hash[key] = {}
> end

This works for a two-level hash, which is what the OP needed.

If you want an infinite-level hash:

lazy = lambda { |h,k| h[k] = Hash.new(&lazy) }

h = Hash.new(&lazy)

h[1][2][3][4] = 5

p h     # {1=>{2=>{3=>{4=>5}}}}


Gary Wright