From: Jean-Julien Fleck Date: 2010-08-29T01:46:51+09:00 Subject: Re: initialize instance variable problem 2010/8/28 Cameron Vessey : > Why does this return nil for @city? Because when you use @city outside a method definition, it is an instance variable of you *class* Url [1] and not of an instance of you class. add def city puts @city end and call a.city to get what you want. Cheers, JJ Fleck [1] I'm not 100% sure of the naming but what is sure is that the @city you use is *not* an instance method of your instance a.