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method

try

Importance_4
v3.2.8 - Show latest stable - 4 notes - Class: Object
try(*a, &b) public

Invokes the method identified by the symbol method, passing it any arguments and/or the block specified, just like the regular Ruby Object#send does.

Unlike that method however, a NoMethodError exception will not be raised and nil will be returned instead, if the receiving object is a nil object or NilClass.

If try is called without a method to call, it will yield any given block with the object.

Please also note that try is defined on Object, therefore it won’t work with subclasses of BasicObject. For example, using try with SimpleDelegator will delegate try to target instead of calling it on delegator itself.

Examples

Without try

@person && @person.name

or

@person ? @person.name : nil

With try

@person.try(:name)

try also accepts arguments and/or a block, for the method it is trying

Person.try(:find, 1)
@people.try(:collect) {|p| p.name}

Without a method argument try will yield to the block unless the receiver is nil.

@person.try { |p| "#{p.first_name} #{p.last_name}" }
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January 6, 2010
3 thanks

Doesn't return nil if the object you try from isn't nil.

Note that this doesn’t prevent a NoMethodError if you attempt to call a method that doesn’t exist on a valid object.

a = Article.new

a.try(:author) #=> #<Author ...>

nil.try(:doesnt_exist) #=> nil

a.try(:doesnt_exist) #=> NoMethodError: undefined method `doesnt_exist' for #<Article:0x106c7d5d8>

This is on Ruby 1.8.7 patchlevel 174

June 10, 2009
2 thanks

[:a, :b, :c].try([1]) ? The answer is No.

Correct way is this:

[:a, :b, :c].try(:at, 1)
January 6, 2010
0 thanks

Alternative:

without using at

[:a, :b, :c].try(:[], 1)
July 24, 2012
0 thanks

rest of code is in NilClass#try

If you click “Show source” here, you may get confused. The logic for #try is shared between this method and NilClass#try . Both versions are currently implemented in the file activesupport/lib/active_support/core_ext/object/try.rb .