border: solid 1px red;: Array#inquire

Array#inquire

Tieg Zaharia — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 17:29:00 +0000


class Array
  def inquire(val)
    include?(val) ? val : first
  end
end

Not sure if this has been done before, but it should simplify stuff this:

type = %w(sencha macha kukicha bancha).include?(params[:type]) ? params[:type] : "sencha"

into this:

type = %w(sencha macha kukicha bancha).inquire(params[:type])

Better names for this than inquire? One I thought of was Array#beg, since you don't always get what you ask for. Hm.

"Array#inquire" by Tieg

Wed, 09 Jul 2008 00:58:25 +0000

AHA! True, fetch_by_value does make more sense. Defining the default value by hand does add a little more verbosity than originally intended, but it's still better than using a ternary operator imo.

"Array#inquire" by Tim Connor

Thu, 03 Jul 2008 16:57:23 +0000

Call it fetch_by_value and style it after fetch, for consistency:


arr.fetch_by_value(value) -> throws an IndexErrror if value not found
arr.fetch_by_value(value, default) -> default if value not found
arr.fetch_by_value(value) { |v| block } -> calls block with value if not found

"Array#inquire" by Tieg

Wed, 02 Jul 2008 03:54:56 +0000

I know! It seems strange. I hesitated for a while, but I've actually noticed this pattern quite a few times (especially with params). Maybe I should have an optional parameter for a default value (or index) that would default to "first" if nil.

"Array#inquire" by Tim Connor

Tue, 01 Jul 2008 18:15:14 +0000

Why? What is the reason that you want the first one on a miss?