>>>>> "J" == Jonathan Leighton <lists / turnipspatch.com> writes: J> Thanks for the reply. Forgive me, but I don't understand what the point J> is in your example? Or why initialize is returned by J> private_instance_methods() but not protected_instance_methods()? Could J> you elaborate a bit please? #initialize (like #initialize_copy) is *always* a private method. Even if you try to define it as public or protected, ruby will make it a private method. Guy Decoux