Question

In Ruby, I can define a method foo=(bar):

irb(main):001:0> def foo=(bar)
irb(main):002:1>   p "foo=#{bar}"
irb(main):003:1> end
=> nil

Now I’d like to check if it has been defined,

irb(main):004:0> defined?(foo=)
SyntaxError: compile error
(irb):4: syntax error, unexpected ')'
 from (irb):4
 from :0

What is the proper syntax to use here? I assume there must be a way to escape foo= such that it is parsed and passed correctly to the defined? operator.

Answer 1

The problem is that the foo= method is designed to be used in assignments. You can use defined? in the following way to see what’s going on:

defined?(self.foo=())
#=> nil
defined?(self.foo = "bar")
#=> nil

def foo=(bar)
end

defined?(self.foo=())
#=> "assignment"
defined?(self.foo = "bar")
#=> "assignment"

Compare that to:

def foo
end

defined?(foo)
#=> "method"

To test if the foo= method is defined, you should use respond_to? instead:

respond_to?(:foo=)
#=> false

def foo=(bar)
end

respond_to?(:foo=)
#=> true