Question

I know this is in the builder gem. So I put it in my Gemfile. Then I bundle install.

Running in the console, I type:

x = "akwf"

then:

x.to_xs

and am rewarded with:

NoMethodError: undefined method `to_xs' for "akwf":String

When I try require 'builder' and require 'builder/xchar' I am met with false.

What basic item am I missing in order for me to perform this basic function?

Answer 1

First, note that Rails includes builder already, so no need to add it to the Gemfile.

Second, a false return value when requiring isn’t really bad. It just means that the library has already been successfully required and didn’t need to be re-required. If require is having trouble loading a library, it’ll raise an exception, not return false.

Third, builder/xchar.rb specifies that, if String#encode is defined, then it skips the old String#to_xs definition and instead defines Builder::XChar.encode(string), which seems to serve the same purpose. Try requiring builder/xchar and giving that a shot.