From: John Winters <john@...>
Date: 2008-08-01T05:18:35+09:00
Subject: Needing help with which to_s gets called

I'm a beginner learning Ruby and I've hit something which I can't find
an explanation for in my text books.

If I run the following code:

class Able < Array
#  def initialize(contents)
#    @contents = Array.new(contents)
#  end

  def to_s
    "[Able: #{self.join(", ")}]"
  end
end

class Baker
  def initialize(contents)
    @contents = Array.new(contents)
  end

  def <<(item)
    @contents << item
  end

  def to_s
    "[Baker: #{@contents.join(", ")}]"
  end
end

item = Baker.new(["a", "b"])
item << Able.new(["c", "d"])
item << "e"
puts item

I get the following output:

[Baker: a, b, c, d, e]

Clearly the to_s method in my Able class is not being called.  If
however I change the definition of Able to:

class Able
  def initialize(contents)
    @contents = Array.new(contents)
  end

  def to_s
    "[Able: #{@contents.join(", ")}]"
  end
end

(Note that it no longer inherits from Array and instead contains an
array as an instance variable.)

I now get this output (which is what I wanted in the first place).

[Baker: a, b, [Able: c, d], e]

Why when Able is a sub-class of Array does my to_s method get ignored?

TIA,
Joh

P.S.  I tried to read the FAQ as instructed first but the link given for
it gives a "Not found" error.
-- 
Posted via http://www.ruby-forum.com/.