Asp Forum - Order in Hashes

Martin Boese

4/4/2006 12:43:00 PM

Hello,

I am building a menu structure for rails that I'd like to store in a simple
Hash.

Now I found out that ruby Hashes do not keep the order, like this program:

> b = {'upkpgn'=>1,
> 'jmay'=>2,
> 'vkvxxm'=>3}
>
> b.each_key {|k|
> puts "%s => %s" % [k, b[k]]
> }

...will output:

> upkpgn => 1
> vkvxxm => 3
> jmay => 2

(vkvxxm and jmay are swapped)

I read an article describing this behavior, but it only mentions a 'sort'
solution which is useless for me because my menu has a logical order:

http://www.ruby-talk.org/cgi-bin/scat.rb/ruby/ruby-t...

Are there any workarounds for this? Or shall I rather write my own containers?

BTW: Why is ruby doing this anyways...?!

Thanks,
Martin

10 Answers

James Gray

4/4/2006 12:55:00 PM

On Apr 4, 2006, at 7:43 AM, Martin Boese wrote:

> Hello,
>
> I am building a menu structure for rails that I'd like to store in
> a simple
> Hash.
>
> Now I found out that ruby Hashes do not keep the order, like this
> program:
>
>> b = {'upkpgn'=>1,
>> 'jmay'=>2,
>> 'vkvxxm'=>3}
>>
>> b.each_key {|k|
>> puts "%s => %s" % [k, b[k]]
>> }
>
> ...will output:
>
>> upkpgn => 1
>> vkvxxm => 3
>> jmay => 2
>
> (vkvxxm and jmay are swapped)

b.keys.sort.each { |k|
# ...
}

> I read an article describing this behavior, but it only mentions a
> 'sort'
> solution which is useless for me because my menu has a logical order:
>
> http://www.ruby-talk.org/cgi-bin/scat.rb/ruby/ruby-t...
>
> Are there any workarounds for this?

You've mentioned the first one, you can sort when you access the values.

You could also switch away from a Hash and use something like an
Array of Arrays. Lookup the method Array#assoc and Array#rassoc,
which might be helpful with this.

> Or shall I rather write my own containers?

I'm pretty sure there is an OrderedHash on the RAA.

> BTW: Why is ruby doing this anyways...?!

A Hash is, by definition, an unordered construct.

James Edward Gray II

azrael

4/4/2006 12:58:00 PM

>
> BTW: Why is ruby doing this anyways...?!
>

A Hash is an unsorted container; It is a widely-used algorithm that
makes no guarantees about the order of keys to optimise reading times at
the expense of insertion.

As with all algorithms, if the container doesn't have the
characteristics you want, then you are using the wrong container.

There's a Wikipedia article here on Hash Tables:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...

I would suggest that what you're looking for is not a Hash at all,
but simply a List.

Martin

Bob Gustafson

4/4/2006 1:44:00 PM

A hash has no 'order' requirement. Items are added in an
'implementation efficiency' order - which may be different on
different underlying platforms.

If you want to retain a particular order, use an array.

Bob G

On Apr 4, 2006, at 07:43, Martin Boese wrote:

> Hello,
>
> I am building a menu structure for rails that I'd like to store in
> a simple
> Hash.
>
> Now I found out that ruby Hashes do not keep the order, like this
> program:
>
>> b = {'upkpgn'=>1,
>> 'jmay'=>2,
>> 'vkvxxm'=>3}
>>
>> b.each_key {|k|
>> puts "%s => %s" % [k, b[k]]
>> }
>
> ...will output:
>
>> upkpgn => 1
>> vkvxxm => 3
>> jmay => 2
>
> (vkvxxm and jmay are swapped)
>
> I read an article describing this behavior, but it only mentions a
> 'sort'
> solution which is useless for me because my menu has a logical order:
>
> http://www.ruby-talk.org/cgi-bin/scat.rb/ruby/ruby-t...
>
> Are there any workarounds for this? Or shall I rather write my own
> containers?
>
> BTW: Why is ruby doing this anyways...?!
>
> Thanks,
> Martin

Toby DiPasquale

4/4/2006 1:47:00 PM

Martin Boese wrote:
> Hello,
>
> I am building a menu structure for rails that I'd like to store in a
> simple
> Hash.
>
> Now I found out that ruby Hashes do not keep the order, like this
> program:
>
>> b = {'upkpgn'=>1,
>> 'jmay'=>2,
>> 'vkvxxm'=>3}
>>
>> b.each_key {|k|
>> puts "%s => %s" % [k, b[k]]
>> }
>
> ...will output:
>
>> upkpgn => 1
>> vkvxxm => 3
>> jmay => 2
>
> (vkvxxm and jmay are swapped)
>
> I read an article describing this behavior, but it only mentions a
> 'sort'
> solution which is useless for me because my menu has a logical order:
>
> http://www.ruby-talk.org/cgi-bin/scat.rb/ruby/ruby-t...
>
> Are there any workarounds for this? Or shall I rather write my own
> containers?

If all you're using it for is to test existence of keys, then Hash can
be replaced with SortedSet. See 'ri Set' for more info (the two classes
are in the same file in the standard distribution). Otherwise, you will
need to find or implement a Hash that maintains key order.

--
Toby DiPasquale

--
Posted via http://www.ruby-....

Dave Burt

4/4/2006 2:15:00 PM

Martin Boese wrote:
> I am building a menu structure for rails that I'd like to store in a simple
> Hash.
>
> Now I found out that ruby Hashes do not keep the order, like this program:
> ...
> Are there any workarounds for this? Or shall I rather write my own containers?

You can use SortedHash. You can get it from the RAA. It preserves sort
order.

Cheers,
Dave

azrael

4/4/2006 2:46:00 PM

On Tue, Apr 04, 2006 at 11:13:47PM +0900, Dave Burt wrote:
> Martin Boese wrote:
> > I am building a menu structure for rails that I'd like to store in a simple
> > Hash.
> >
> > Now I found out that ruby Hashes do not keep the order, like this program:
> > ...
> > Are there any workarounds for this? Or shall I rather write my own containers?
>
> You can use SortedHash. You can get it from the RAA. It preserves sort
> order.

I assume a SortedHash is a tree of some kind? Probably Red-Black Tree,
or similar. In which case, this is not what he wants. He wants the keys
to be read out in the order in which they were inserted, he doesn't want
*sorting* per se, at all.

As far as I can tell, what he wants is a list.

Martin

Trans

4/4/2006 3:03:00 PM

If you need one, have a look at Facets' Dictionary class (also called
OrderedHash).

http://facets.rub...

T.

Dave Burt

4/4/2006 3:17:00 PM

azrael@cream.org wrote:
> On Tue, Apr 04, 2006 at 11:13:47PM +0900, Dave Burt wrote:
>> You can use SortedHash. You can get it from the RAA. It preserves sort
>> order.
>
> I assume a SortedHash is a tree of some kind? Probably Red-Black Tree,
> or similar. In which case, this is not what he wants. He wants the keys
> to be read out in the order in which they were inserted, he doesn't want
> *sorting* per se, at all.

Sorry about the error. The name of the package I'm thinking of is
actually OrderedHash, and it is what he wants - it preserves (insertion)
order.

http://raa.ruby-lang.org/project/or...

Cheers,
Dave

Ara.T.Howard

4/4/2006 3:43:00 PM

Ara.T.Howard

4/4/2006 3:47:00 PM

comp.lang.ruby

Order in Hashes

Martin Boese

James Gray

azrael

Bob Gustafson

Toby DiPasquale

Dave Burt

azrael

Trans

Dave Burt

Ara.T.Howard

Ara.T.Howard

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