Ruby: Calling class method from instance

Question

In Ruby, how do you call a class method from one of that class\'s instances? Say I have

class Truck
  def self.default_make
    # Class method.
    \"mac\"
  end         


        

Answer 1

You're doing it the right way. Class methods (similar to 'static' methods in C++ or Java) aren't part of the instance, so they have to be referenced directly.

On that note, in your example you'd be better served making 'default_make' a regular method:

#!/usr/bin/ruby

class Truck
    def default_make
        # Class method.
        "mac"
    end

    def initialize
        # Instance method.
        puts default_make  # gets the default via the class's method.
    end
end

myTruck = Truck.new()

Class methods are more useful for utility-type functions that use the class. For example:

#!/usr/bin/ruby

class Truck
    attr_accessor :make

    def default_make
        # Class method.
        "mac"
    end

    def self.buildTrucks(make, count)
        truckArray = []

        (1..count).each do
            truckArray << Truck.new(make)
        end

        return truckArray
    end

    def initialize(make = nil)
        if( make == nil )
            @make = default_make()
        else
            @make = make
        end
    end
end

myTrucks = Truck.buildTrucks("Yotota", 4)

myTrucks.each do |truck|
    puts truck.make
end

Answer 2

If you have access to the delegate method you can do this:

[20] pry(main)> class Foo
[20] pry(main)*   def self.bar
[20] pry(main)*     "foo bar"
[20] pry(main)*   end  
[20] pry(main)*   delegate :bar, to: 'self.class'
[20] pry(main)* end  
=> [:bar]
[21] pry(main)> Foo.new.bar
=> "foo bar"
[22] pry(main)> Foo.bar
=> "foo bar"

Alternatively, and probably cleaner if you have more then a method or two you want to delegate to class & instance:

[1] pry(main)> class Foo
[1] pry(main)*   module AvailableToClassAndInstance
[1] pry(main)*     def bar
[1] pry(main)*       "foo bar"
[1] pry(main)*     end  
[1] pry(main)*   end  
[1] pry(main)*   include AvailableToClassAndInstance
[1] pry(main)*   extend AvailableToClassAndInstance
[1] pry(main)* end  
=> Foo
[2] pry(main)> Foo.new.bar
=> "foo bar"
[3] pry(main)> Foo.bar
=> "foo bar"

A word of caution:

Don't just randomly delegate everything that doesn't change state to class and instance because you'll start running into strange name clash issues. Do this sparingly and only after you checked nothing else is squashed.

Answer 3

One more:

class Truck
  def self.default_make
    "mac"
  end

  attr_reader :make

  private define_method :default_make, &method(:default_make)

  def initialize(make = default_make)
    @make = make
  end
end

puts Truck.new.make # => mac

Answer 4

self.class.default_make

Answer 5

Rather than referring to the literal name of the class, inside an instance method you can just call self.class.whatever.

class Foo
    def self.some_class_method
        puts self
    end

    def some_instance_method
        self.class.some_class_method
    end
end

print "Class method: "
Foo.some_class_method

print "Instance method: "
Foo.new.some_instance_method

Outputs:

Class method: Foo
Instance method: Foo

Answer 6

Similar your question, you could use:

class Truck
  def default_make
    # Do something
  end

  def initialize
    super
    self.default_make
  end
end