# class OpenStruct

An `OpenStruct` is a data structure, similar to a `Hash`, that allows the definition of arbitrary attributes with their accompanying values. This is accomplished by using Ruby’s metaprogramming to define methods on the class itself.

## Examples¶ ↑

    require "ostruct"

    person = OpenStruct.new
    person.name = "John Smith"
    person.age  = 70

    person.name      # => "John Smith"
    person.age       # => 70
    person.address   # => nil

An `OpenStruct` employs a `Hash` internally to store the attributes and values and can even be initialized with one:

    australia = OpenStruct.new(:country => "Australia", :capital => "Canberra")
      # => #<OpenStruct country="Australia", capital="Canberra">

`Hash` keys with spaces or characters that could normally not be used for method calls (e.g. `()[]*`) will not be immediately available on the `OpenStruct` object as a method for retrieval or assignment, but can still be reached through the `Object#send` method or using [].

    measurements = OpenStruct.new("length (in inches)" => 24)
    measurements[:"length (in inches)"]       # => 24
    measurements.send("length (in inches)")   # => 24

    message = OpenStruct.new(:queued? => true)
    message.queued?                           # => true
    message.send("queued?=", false)
    message.queued?                           # => false

Removing the presence of an attribute requires the execution of the `delete_field` method as setting the property value to `nil` will not remove the attribute.

    first_pet  = OpenStruct.new(:name => "Rowdy", :owner => "John Smith")
    second_pet = OpenStruct.new(:name => "Rowdy")

    first_pet.owner = nil
    first_pet                 # => #<OpenStruct name="Rowdy", owner=nil>
    first_pet == second_pet   # => false

    first_pet.delete_field(:owner)
    first_pet                 # => #<OpenStruct name="Rowdy">
    first_pet == second_pet   # => true

`Ractor` compatibility: A frozen `OpenStruct` with shareable values is itself shareable.

## Caveats¶ ↑

An `OpenStruct` utilizes Ruby’s method lookup structure to find and define the necessary methods for properties. This is accomplished through the methods method_missing and define_singleton_method.

This should be a consideration if there is a concern about the performance of the objects that are created, as there is much more overhead in the setting of these properties compared to using a `Hash` or a `Struct`. Creating an open struct from a small `Hash` and accessing a few of the entries can be 200 times slower than accessing the hash directly.

This is a potential security issue; building `OpenStruct` from untrusted user data (e.g. `JSON` web request) may be susceptible to a “symbol denial of service” attack since the keys create methods and names of methods are never garbage collected.

This may also be the source of incompatibilities between Ruby versions:

    o = OpenStruct.new
    o.then # => nil in Ruby < 2.6, enumerator for Ruby >= 2.6

Builtin methods may be overwritten this way, which may be a source of bugs or security issues:

    o = OpenStruct.new
    o.methods # => [:to_h, :marshal_load, :marshal_dump, :each_pair, ...
    o.methods = [:foo, :bar]
    o.methods # => [:foo, :bar]

To help remedy clashes, `OpenStruct` uses only protected/private methods ending with `!` and defines aliases for builtin public methods by adding a `!`:

    o = OpenStruct.new(make: 'Bentley', class: :luxury)
    o.class # => :luxury
    o.class! # => OpenStruct

It is recommended (but not enforced) to not use fields ending in `!`; Note that a subclass’ methods may not be overwritten, nor can OpenStruct’s own methods ending with `!`.

For all these reasons, consider not using `OpenStruct` at all.

### Constants

HAS_PERFORMANCE_WARNINGS
VERSION

### Public Class Methods

json_create (object)
Source

    # File ext/json/lib/json/add/ostruct.rb, line 13
    def self.json_create(object)
      new(object['t'] || object[:t])
    end

See `as_json`.

new (hash=nil)
Source

    # File lib/ostruct.rb, line 134
    def initialize(hash=nil)
      if HAS_PERFORMANCE_WARNINGS && Warning[:performance]
         warn "OpenStruct use is discouraged for performance reasons", uplevel: 1, category: :performance
      end

      if hash
        update_to_values!(hash)
      else
        @table = {}
      end
    end

Creates a new `OpenStruct` object. By default, the resulting `OpenStruct` object will have no attributes.

The optional `hash`, if given, will generate attributes and values (can be a `Hash`, an `OpenStruct` or a `Struct`). For example:

    require "ostruct"
    hash = { "country" => "Australia", :capital => "Canberra" }
    data = OpenStruct.new(hash)

    data   # => #<OpenStruct country="Australia", capital="Canberra">

### Public Instance Methods

== (other)
Source

    # File lib/ostruct.rb, line 423
    def ==(other)
      return false unless other.kind_of?(OpenStruct)
      @table == other.table!
    end

Compares this object and `other` for equality. An `OpenStruct` is equal to `other` when `other` is an `OpenStruct` and the two objects’ `Hash` tables are equal.

    require "ostruct"
    first_pet  = OpenStruct.new("name" => "Rowdy")
    second_pet = OpenStruct.new(:name  => "Rowdy")
    third_pet  = OpenStruct.new("name" => "Rowdy", :age => nil)

    first_pet == second_pet   # => true
    first_pet == third_pet    # => false

ostruct[name] → object
Source

    # File lib/ostruct.rb, line 303
    def [](name)
      @table[name.to_sym]
    end

Returns the value of an attribute, or `nil` if there is no such attribute.

    require "ostruct"
    person = OpenStruct.new("name" => "John Smith", "age" => 70)
    person[:age]   # => 70, same as person.age

ostruct[name] = obj → obj
Source

    # File lib/ostruct.rb, line 318
    def []=(name, value)
      name = name.to_sym
      new_ostruct_member!(name)
      @table[name] = value
    end

Sets the value of an attribute.

    require "ostruct"
    person = OpenStruct.new("name" => "John Smith", "age" => 70)
    person[:age] = 42   # equivalent to person.age = 42
    person.age          # => 42

Also aliased as: set_ostruct_member_value!
as_json (*)
Source

    # File ext/json/lib/json/add/ostruct.rb, line 33
    def as_json(*)
      klass = self.class.name
      klass.to_s.empty? and raise JSON::JSONError, "Only named structs are supported!"
      {
        JSON.create_id => klass,
        't'            => table,
      }
    end

Methods `OpenStruct#as_json` and `OpenStruct.json_create` may be used to serialize and deserialize a OpenStruct object; see `Marshal`.

Method `OpenStruct#as_json` serializes `self`, returning a 2-element hash representing `self`:

    require 'json/add/ostruct'
    x = OpenStruct.new('name' => 'Rowdy', :age => nil).as_json
    # => {"json_class"=>"OpenStruct", "t"=>{:name=>'Rowdy', :age=>nil}}

Method `JSON.create` deserializes such a hash, returning a OpenStruct object:

    OpenStruct.json_create(x)
    # => #<OpenStruct name='Rowdy', age=nil>

delete_field (name) { || ... }
Source

    # File lib/ostruct.rb, line 371
    def delete_field(name, &block)
      sym = name.to_sym
      begin
        singleton_class.remove_method(sym, "#{sym}=")
      rescue NameError
      end
      @table.delete(sym) do
        return yield if block
        raise! NameError.new("no field '#{sym}' in #{self}", sym)
      end
    end

Removes the named field from the object and returns the value the field contained if it was defined. You may optionally provide a block. If the field is not defined, the result of the block is returned, or a `NameError` is raised if no block was given.

    require "ostruct"

    person = OpenStruct.new(name: "John", age: 70, pension: 300)

    person.delete_field!("age")  # => 70
    person                       # => #<OpenStruct name="John", pension=300>

Setting the value to `nil` will not remove the attribute:

    person.pension = nil
    person                 # => #<OpenStruct name="John", pension=nil>

    person.delete_field('number')  # => NameError

    person.delete_field('number') { 8675_309 } # => 8675309

dig(name, *identifiers) → object
Source

    # File lib/ostruct.rb, line 340
    def dig(name, *names)
      begin
        name = name.to_sym
      rescue NoMethodError
        raise! TypeError, "#{name} is not a symbol nor a string"
      end
      @table.dig(name, *names)
    end

Finds and returns the object in nested objects that is specified by `name` and `identifiers`. The nested objects may be instances of various classes. See Dig Methods.

Examples:

    require "ostruct"
    address = OpenStruct.new("city" => "Anytown NC", "zip" => 12345)
    person  = OpenStruct.new("name" => "John Smith", "address" => address)
    person.dig(:address, "zip") # => 12345
    person.dig(:business_address, "zip") # => nil

each_pair {|name, value| block } → ostruct
each_pair → Enumerator
Source

    # File lib/ostruct.rb, line 211
    def each_pair
      return to_enum(__method__) { @table.size } unless defined?(yield)
      @table.each_pair{|p| yield p}
      self
    end

Yields all attributes (as symbols) along with the corresponding values or returns an enumerator if no block is given.

    require "ostruct"
    data = OpenStruct.new("country" => "Australia", :capital => "Canberra")
    data.each_pair.to_a   # => [[:country, "Australia"], [:capital, "Canberra"]]

eql? (other)
Source

    # File lib/ostruct.rb, line 433
    def eql?(other)
      return false unless other.kind_of?(OpenStruct)
      @table.eql?(other.table!)
    end

Compares this object and `other` for equality. An `OpenStruct` is eql? to `other` when `other` is an `OpenStruct` and the two objects’ `Hash` tables are eql?.

freeze ()
Source

    # File lib/ostruct.rb, line 269
    def freeze
      @table.freeze
      super
    end

Calls superclass method `Object#freeze`
inspect ()
Source

    # File lib/ostruct.rb, line 388
    def inspect
      ids = (Thread.current[InspectKey] ||= [])
      if ids.include?(object_id)
        detail = ' ...'
      else
        ids << object_id
        begin
          detail = @table.map do |key, value|
            " #{key}=#{value.inspect}"
          end.join(',')
        ensure
          ids.pop
        end
      end
      ['#<', self.class!, detail, '>'].join
    end

Returns a string containing a detailed summary of the keys and values.

Also aliased as: to_s
to_h (&block)
Source

    # File lib/ostruct.rb, line 182
    def to_h(&block)
      if block
        @table.to_h(&block)
      else
        @table.dup
      end
    end

to_json (*args)
Source

    # File ext/json/lib/json/add/ostruct.rb, line 51
    def to_json(*args)
      as_json.to_json(*args)
    end

Returns a `JSON` string representing `self`:

    require 'json/add/ostruct'
    puts OpenStruct.new('name' => 'Rowdy', :age => nil).to_json

Output:

    {"json_class":"OpenStruct","t":{'name':'Rowdy',"age":null}}

to_s ()
Alias for: inspect

### Private Instance Methods

set_ostruct_member_value!
Alias for: []=