Rails load YAML to hash and reference by symbol

Question

I am loading a YAML file in Rails 3.0.9 like this:

APP_CONFIG = YAML.load(File.read(File.expand_path(\'../app.yml\', __FILE__)))

It loads the a

Answer 1

Psych (a.k.a. YAML) provides the keyword argument :symbolize_names to load keys as symbols. See method reference

file_path = File.expand_path('../app.yml', __FILE__)
yaml_contents = File.read(file_path)

APP_CONFIG = YAML.safe_load(yaml_contents, symbolize_names: true)