From: Pete McBreen <pete@...>
Date: 2002-03-07T12:37:07+09:00
Subject: Re: Loading ruby file in irb

Nelson Wong <gogoneruson@hotmail.com> wrote

<< wonder how do I load Ruby files at irb on a fly?>>

D:\Ruby\bin>ruby irb
irb(main):001:0> load "OdometerTest.rb"
"012345"
"00100000"
true
irb(main):002:0> exit

require "OdometerTest.rb" would do a similar thing but it only loads a
file one, whereas load "file.rb" loads the file every time.

<<I wonder if it is possible to reload the same classes that has already
been loaded into irb, since I might try to keep modifying them.  >>

No problem, you can even dynamically add or redefine methods in classes.
It is perfectly legal (and very useful) to just give a partial definition
of a class at a irb prompt (and in ruby directly) to replace the
definition of just that method, or to add a new method...

class Odometer
  def increment
    @wheels.last.increment
  end
end

cheers, Pete
----
Pete McBreen, McBreen.Consulting , Cochrane, AB
email: petemcbreen@acm.org    http://www.mcbreen.ab.ca/

Author, "Software Craftsmanship The New Imperative"
Addison-Wesley (C) 2002
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0201733862
Finalist for the 2002 Jolt Awards