From: Paul McMahon <pm@...>
Date: 2008-04-04T10:42:28+09:00
Subject: Re: Using a string as executable code

Peter Marks wrote:
> I need to store one line method calls as strings in my db and then apply
> them to an object. For example, I would store "name.upcase" in the db
> and then somehow call person.name.upcase. Any idea how I might pull this
> off?

Well, you could do

result = "name.upcase".split(".").inject(person) do |object, method|
   object.send(method)
end

but storing code in a database smells.  Perhaps it would be better to 
find another approach that avoids storing the code in the first place