The following module may do what you want. If not it may provide some pointers to your solution
module RemovableConstants
def def_if_not_defined(const, value)
self.class.const_set(const, value) unless self.class.const_defined?(const)
end
def redef_without_warning(const, value)
self.class.send(:remove_const, const) if self.class.const_defined?(const)
self.class.const_set(const, value)
end
end
And as an example of using it
class A
include RemovableConstants
def initialize
def_if_not_defined("Foo", "ABC")
def_if_not_defined("Bar", "DEF")
end
def show_constants
puts "Foo is #{Foo}"
puts "Bar is #{Bar}"
end
def reload
redef_without_warning("Foo", "GHI")
redef_without_warning("Bar", "JKL")
end
end
a = A.new
a.show_constants
a.reload
a.show_constants
Gives the following output
Foo is ABC
Bar is DEF
Foo is GHI
Bar is JKL
Forgive me if i’ve broken any ruby taboos here as I am still getting my head around some of the Module:Class:Eigenclass structure within Ruby