ruby-on-railshashyamlsymbols

Rails load YAML to hash and reference by symbol

I am loading a YAML file in Rails 3.0.9 like this:

APP_CONFIG = YAML.load(File.read(File.expand_path('../app.yml', __FILE__)))

It loads the all of the contents like hierarchical hashes, no problem. The part I don't like is the fact that the hashes can only be accessed with single or double quotes but not a symbol. 

APP_CONFIG['mailer']['username']  # works fine
APP_CONFIG[:mailer][:username]    # doesn't

Any thoughts?

Solution

  • Because you're using rails, HashWithIndifferentAccess should be available:

    APP_CONFIG = HashWithIndifferentAccess.new(YAML.load(File.read(File.expand_path('../app.yml', __FILE__))))

    In plain Ruby you can achieve a similar result with:

    APP_CONFIG = YAML.load_file(File.expand_path('../app.yml', __FILE__), symbolize_names: true)