Hash with Dot Access

This gem provides a Ruby Hash subclass which lets you access hash values with either string or symbol keys, as well as via methods (aka dot access). It utilizes method_missing to access key data if available, and you can also set data using keyname=. Our goal is on providing good performance and if anything offering a subset of standard Hash functionality (it's a non-goal to add all-new Hash-related functionality to this class).

Performance is improved over long-running processes (such as the build process of the Bridgetown framework) by automatically defining accessors on the class so that method_missing is only called once per key/accessor pair.

require "hash_with_dot_access"
 
hsh = HashWithDotAccess::Hash.new({a: 1, b: 2, c: "abc"})
# => {"a"=>1, "b"=>2, "c"=>"abc"}

hsh.a
# => 1

hsh.c
# => "abc"

hsh.d = "Indeed!"
hsh.d
# => "Indeed!"

hsh[:d]
# => "Indeed!"

hsh["d"]
# => "Indeed!"

# You can use the `as_dots` method on Hash by loading in our refinement.

using HashWithDotAccess::Refinements

hsh2 = {test: "dot access"}.as_dots
hsh2.test
# => "dot access"

## Nested hashes work too! Pairs nicely with lonely operator: &.

nested = {a: 1, b: {c: 3}}.as_dots
nested.b.c
# => 3

nested&.d&.e&.f
# => nil

## You can also set default return values when key is missing

hsh = {a: 1, b: 2}.as_dots
hsh.default = 0
hsh.a
# => 1
hsh.x
# => 0

You can convert a HashWithDotAccess::Hash back to a regular Hash with to_h, which even works with block enumeration. Or use to_dot_h as a to_h-like enumerator which preserves dot access.

Add this line to your application's Gemfile:

$ bundle add hash_with_dot_access

Then simply require hash_with_dot_access:

require "hash_with_dot_access"

class Hash
  def with_dot_access
    HashWithDotAccess::Hash.new(self)
  end
end

As with any Ruby object which provides arbitrary data through dynamic method calls, you may encounter collisions between your key names and existing Hash methods. For example:

hsh = {each: "this won't work!"}.as_dots
hsh.each
# => #<Enumerator: {"each"=>"this won't work!"}:each>
#
# Uh oh!

Of course, the easy fix is to simply use standard ways of accessing hash data in these cases:

hsh = {each: "this will work!"}.as_dots
hsh[:each]
# => "this will work!"

To install this gem onto your local machine, run bundle exec rake install. To release a new version, update the version number in version.rb, and then run bundle exec rake release, which will create a git tag for the version, push git commits and tags, and push the .gem file to rubygems.org.

Bug reports and pull requests are welcome on GitHub at https://github.com/bridgetownrb/hash_with_dot_access.

The gem is available as open source under the terms of the MIT License.

Everyone interacting in the Hash with Dot Access project’s codebases, issue trackers, chat rooms and mailing lists is expected to follow the code of conduct.