Since there is some confusion about the format of the data, I will suggest how you might effectively structure both the input and the output. I will first present some code you could use, then give an example of how it's used, then explain what is happening.
Code
def merge_em(hash, array)
hash_keys = hash.keys
new_hash = hash_keys.each_with_object({}) { |k,h|
h[k] = { qty: hash[k], http: [] } }
array.each do |h|
h.keys.each do |k|
(new_hash.update({k=>h[k]}) { |k,g,http|
{qty: g[:qty], http: (g[:http] << http)}}) if hash_keys.include?(k)
end
end
new_hash
end
Example
Here is a hash that I have modified to include a key/value pair that does not appear in the array below:
hash = {'people' =>'50', 'chairs' =>'23', 'footballs'=>'5',
'crayons'=> '1', 'cat_lives'=> '9'}
Below is your array of hashes that is to be merged into hash
. You'll see I've added a key/value pair to your hash with key "chairs"
. As I hope to make clear, the code is no different (i.e., not simplified) if we know in advance that each hash has only one key value pair. (Aside: if, for example, we want want the key from a hash h
that is known to have only one key, we still have to pull out all the keys into an array and then take the only element of the array: h.keys.first
).
I have also added a hash to the array that has no key that is among hash
's keys.
array =
[{'people' =>'http://www.thing.com/this-post'},
{'footballs'=>'http://www.thing.com/that-post'},
{'people' =>'http://www.thing.com/nice-post'},
{'footballs'=>'http://www.thing.com/other-post'},
{'people' =>'http://www.thing.com/thingy-post'},
{'footballs'=>'http://www.thing.com/the-post'},
{'people' =>'http://www.thing.com/the-post'},
{'crayons' =>'http://www.thing.com/the-blah'},
{'chairs' =>'http://www.thing.com/the-page',
'crayons' =>'http://www.thing.com/blah'},
{'balloons' =>'http://www.thing.com/the-page'}
]
We now merge the information from array
into hash
, and at the same time change the structure of hash
to something more suitable:
result = merge_em(hash, array)
#=> {"people" =>{:qty=>"50",
# :http=>["http://www.thing.com/this-post",
# "http://www.thing.com/nice-post",
# "http://www.thing.com/thingy-post",
# "http://www.thing.com/the-post"]},
# "chairs" =>{:qty=>"23",
# :http=>["http://www.thing.com/the-page"]},
# "footballs"=>{:qty=>"5",
# :http=>["http://www.thing.com/that-post",
# "http://www.thing.com/other-post",
# "http://www.thing.com/the-post"]},
# "crayons" =>{:qty=>"1",
# :http=>["http://www.thing.com/the-blah",
# "http://www.thing.com/blah"]},
# "cat_lives"=>{:qty=>"9",
# :http=>[]}}
I've assumed you want to look up the content of result
with hash
's keys. It is therefore convenient to make the values associated with those keys hashes themselves, with keys :qty
and http
. The former is for the values in hash
(the naming may be wrong); the latter is an array containing the strings drawn from array
.
This way, if we want the value for the key "crayons"
, we could write:
result["crayons"]
#=> {:qty=>"1",
# :http=>["http://www.thing.com/the-blah", "http://www.thing.com/blah"]}
or
irb(main):133:0> result["crayons"][:qty]
#=> "1"
irb(main):134:0> result["crayons"][:http]
#=> ["http://www.thing.com/the-blah", "http://www.thing.com/blah"]
Explanation
Let's go through this line-by-line. First, we need to reference hash.keys
more than once, so let's make it a variable:
hash_keys = hash.keys
#=> ["people", "chairs", "footballs", "crayons", "cat_lives"]
We may as well convert this hash to the output format now. We could do it during the merge operation below, but I think is clearer to do it as a separate step:
new_hash = hash_keys.each_with_object({}) { |k,h|
h[k] = { qty: hash[k], http: [] } }
#=> {"people" =>{:qty=>"50", :http=>[]},
# "chairs" =>{:qty=>"23", :http=>[]},
# "footballs"=>{:qty=>"5", :http=>[]},
# "crayons" =>{:qty=>"1", :http=>[]},
# "cat_lives"=>{:qty=>"9", :http=>[]}}
Now we merge each (hash) element of array
into new_hash
:
array.each do |h|
h.keys.each do |k|
(new_hash.update({k=>h[k]}) { |k,g,http|
{ qty: g[:qty], http: (g[:http] << http) } }) if hash_keys.include?(k)
end
end
The first hash h
from array
that is passed into the block by each
is:
{'people'=>'http://www.thing.com/this-post'}
which is assigned to the block variable h
. We next construct an array of h
's keys:
h.keys #=> ["people"]
The first of these keys, "people"
(pretend there were more, as there would be in the penultimate element of array
) is passed by its each
into the inner block, whose block variable, k
, is assigned the value "people"
. We then use Hash#update (aka merge!
) to merge the hash:
{k=>h[k]} #=> {"people"=>'http://www.thing.com/this-post'}
into new_hash
, but only because:
hash_keys.include?(k)
#=> ["people", "chairs", "footballs", "crayons", "cat_lives"].include?("people")
#=> true
evaluates to true
. Note that this will evaluate to false
for the key "balloons"
, so the hash in array
with that key will not be merged. update
's block:
{ |k,g,http| { qty: g[:qty], http: (g[:http] << http) } }
is crucial. This is update
's way of determining the value of a key that is in both new_hash
and in the hash being merged, {k=>h[k]}
. The three block variables are assigned the following values by update
:
k : the key ("people")
g : the current value of `new_hash[k]`
#=> `new_hash["people"] => {:qty=>"50", :http=>[]}`
http: the value of the key/value being merged
#=> 'http://www.thing.com/this-post'
We want the merged hash value for key "people"
to be:
{ qty: g[:qty], http: (g[:http] << http) }
#=> { qty: 50, http: ([] << 'http://www.thing.com/this-post') }
#=> { qty: 50, http: ['http://www.thing.com/this-post'] }
so now:
new_hash
#=> {"people" =>{:qty=>"50", :http=>['http://www.thing.com/this-post']},
# "chairs" =>{:qty=>"23", :http=>[]},
# "footballs"=>{:qty=>"5", :http=>[]},
# "crayons" =>{:qty=>"1", :http=>[]},
# "cat_lives"=>{:qty=>"9", :http=>[]}}
We do the same for each of the other elements of array
.
Lastly, we need to return the merged new_hash
, so we make last line of the method:
new_hash