Override ruby constant in subclass so inherited methods use new constant instead of the old?
I've done this by simply redefining the constant in the subclass, and then referring to it in methods as self.class::CONST
in instance methods and self::CONST
in class methods. In your example:
class SuperClass
CONST = "Hello, world!"
def self.say_hello
self::CONST
end
end
class SubClass < SuperClass
CONST = "Hello, Bob!"
end
SubClass.say_hello #=> "Hello, Bob!"
You can refer to a constant like this in the parent class:
For a instance method: self.class::CONST
For a self method: self::CONST
class SuperClass
CONST = "Hello, world!"
def print_const
puts self.class::CONST
end
def self.print_const
puts self::CONST
end
end
class SubClass < SuperClass
CONST = "Hello, Bob!"
end
SubClass.new.print_const #=> "Hello, Bob!"
SubClass.print_const #=> "Hello, Bob!"
If you have the luxury of being able to change the base class, consider wrapping the "constants" that need changing in class methods in the base class and overriding them as needed in subclasses. This removes the potential for confusion between parent and subclass constants. For the example, this would be as follows:
class SuperClass
CONST = "Hello, world!".freeze
def self.const
CONST
end
def self.say_hello
const
end
end
class SubClass < SuperClass
CONST = "Hello, Bob!".freeze
def self.const
CONST
end
end
SubClass.say_hello #=> "Hello, Bob!