Mash allows you to create pseudo-objects that have method-like accessors for hash keys. This is useful for such implementations as an API-accessing library that wants to fake robust objects without the overhead of actually doing so. Think of it as OpenStruct with some additional goodies.
A Mash will look at the methods you pass it and perform operations based on the following rules:
No punctuation: Returns the value of the hash for that key, or nil if none exists.
Assignment (=): Sets the attribute of the given method name.
Existence (?): Returns true or false depending on whether that key has been set.
Bang (!): Forces the existence of this key, used for deep Mashes. Think of it as "touch" for mashes.
mash = Mash.new mash.name? # => false mash.name = "Bob" mash.name # => "Bob" mash.name? # => true
hash = {:a => {:b => 23, :d => {:e => "abc"}}, :f => [{:g => 44, :h => 29}, 12]} mash = Mash.new(hash) mash.a.b # => 23 mash.a.d.e # => "abc" mash.f.first.g # => 44 mash.f.last # => 12
mash = Mash.new mash.author # => nil mash.author! # => <Mash> mash = Mash.new mash.author!.name = "Michael Bleigh" mash.author # => <Mash name="Michael Bleigh">