CSC/ECE 517 Fall 2007/wiki1b 2 22

Introduction - method_missing

The method - method_missing - is invoked by Ruby, when an object sent a message that it cannot handle. symbol is the symbol for the method called, and args are any arguments that were passed to it. By default, the interpreter raises an error when this method is called. However, it is possible to override the method to provide more dynamic behavior.

obj.method_missing(symbol [, *args] ) => result

When a method is called, Ruby looks for a same name method. It searches the method in the following sequence - self object’s methods, instance methods of all objects of this class, included modules in this class, superclass, superclass’s included modules, all the way till class Object. If it still can’t find a method, it looks in the Kernel module, included in the class Object. When a method does not exist, Ruby invokes method_missing. [1]

Examples

1. Object composition

class SimpleCallLogger
 def initialize(o)
   @obj = o
 end
 def method_missing(methodname, *args)
   puts "called: #{methodname}(#{args})"
   a = @obj.send(methodname, *args)
   puts "\t-> returned: #{a}"
   return a
 end
end

This object "intercepts" all method calls made to it, prints out a message and forwards on the method call to an internal object using the 'send' method, without knowing anything about the object passed to it. It can be used to debug some code without littering it with print statements. [2]

2. Factorial

Let's create a Computer class that contains a factorial method (you know the famous n! thing).

class Computer
 def factorial n
     raise ArgumentError if n < 0
     f = 1
     n.downto(1) do |i|
       f = f * i
     end
     f
   end
 end
 computer = Computer.new
 puts computer.factorial(4)

We would like to use some notation close to the usual notation:

computer = Computer.new
puts computer._4!

Obviously, we cannot create methods for every integer, to do it we use the method_missing.

def method_missing(meth, *args)
 meth.to_s =~ /_([0-9]*)!/
 return super if ! $1
 factorial($1.to_i)
end

If we use the special notation (_<digits>!) the method_missing implementation extracts the number, from the method name, and calls the factorial method to get the result. Each time and for any method the same processing happens. [3]

3. Enumerator

 class Enumerable::Enumerator
   def method_missing(sym,*args,&blk)
     each{ |x| x.send(sym,*args,&blk) }
   end
 end

The benefit is a number of nice conveniences, eg.

 [1,2,3].map + 3   => [4,5,6]
 [1,2,3].select > 2   => [3]
 [1,2,3].reject > 1   => [1]
 [1,2,3].find > 1     => 2

[4]

4. Ruby Torrent

RubyTorrent uses method_missing to make all the bencoded fields in the .torrent file easy to access. (bencoding being the BitTorrent encoding scheme.) This is basically identical to the Javascript attributes thing above, but with some type-checking. For example:

class MetaInfoInfoFile
 def initialize(dict=nil)
   @s = TypedStruct.new do |s|
     s.field :length => Integer, :md5sum => String, :sha1 => String,
             :path => String
     s.array :path
     s.required :length, :path
   end
 end
 def method_missing(meth, *args)
   @s.send(meth, *args)
 end
end

5. Ruby moment of zen

For example, let’s say you have a User model, and that user has a ton of profile data. You want to abstract that data, so you make a Profile class.

class User < ActiveRecord::Base
 has_one :profile
end

class Profile < ActiveRecord::Base
 belongs_to :user
end

However, you don’t want to call user.profile.street_address every time you need to access an attribute in a user’s profile. You also don’t want to define a bunch of reader methods like this:

def street_address
 profile.street_address
end

Here’s all you have to do:

class User < ActiveRecord::Base
 ...
 # Attempts to pass any missing methods to
 # the associated +profile+.
 def method_missing(meth, *args, &block)
   if profile.respond_to?(meth)
     profile.send(meth)
   else
     super
   end
 end
end

So, we now have this:

@user.street_address == @user.profile.street_address

[5]

6. Generic Handler

class NoBar
  def method_missing(methodname, *args)
     define_method(:bar) if "bar" == methodname.to_s
     define_method(:nobar) if "nobar" == methodname.to_s
  end
end

This is an example of using method_missing as a generic handler to handle when a calling method is not exist. You can use missing_method to dynamically create a method at a runtime.

Advantages

1. Allows to catch problem at runtime.
2. Allows to define a generic method_missing and handle any undefined method. This is a big advantage over Java. In Java, when you call an undefined method, the program will not compile.
3. The use of method_missing falls under the general technique of meta-programming. You can employ meta-programming in missing_function to write a another function to handle the call.

References

1. 10 things you should know about method_missing.http://www.thirdbit.net/articles/2007/08/01/10-things-you-should-know-about-method_missing/
2. More Ruby: method_missing http://blog.mauricecodik.com/2005/12/more-ruby-methodmissing.html
3. Hey Ruby, how much for the method_missing? http://www.alef1.org/ruby/method_missing/index.html

Further reading

1. Evaluation Options in Ruby. http://www.infoq.com/articles/eval-options-in-ruby
2. IF YOU BUILD IT .. will they come. http://www.ddj.com/blog/architectblog/archives/2007/08/dependency_inje.html

External links

1. http://www.thirdbit.net/articles/2007/08/01/10-things-you-should-know-about-method_missing/
2. http://blog.mauricecodik.com/2005/12/more-ruby-methodmissing.html
3. http://www.alef1.org/ruby/method_missing/index.html
4. http://www.ruby-forum.com/topic/112986
5. http://redhanded.hobix.com/inspect/theBestOfMethod_missing.html
6. http://cleanair.highgroove.com/articles/2006/07/04/ruby-moment-of-zen-method_missing