Question

I wish to compare two hashes to determine which values can be matched up. For example:

hash1 = {
    "hash1_key_a" => 1,
    "hash1_key_b" => 2
}

hash2 = {
    "hash2_key_a" => 1,
    "hash2_key_b" => 3,
    "hash2_key_c" => 4
}

# The method here should display the matching keys & values,
# and then delete them from their hashes. For example:

puts "#{hash1_key_a};#{hash2_key_a};1" # 1 is representing the referral we should
                                       # put in for the value

Could anyone guide me in the right direction?

Answer 1

Do the hashes have distinct keys? Then you can do something like this:

hash1.merge(hash2).group_by{|k,v| v}.each{ |v,ks|
   puts "#{ ks.map(&:first)*';' };#{ v }"
}