Johnathan Smith wrote: > hi and thanks for your help its much appreciated > > i would really prefer if i got this working inside the class however. > are you able to assist? > > thanks class Foo def initialize @authors = Hash.new {|h,k| h[k] = []} end def add(field, value) if @authors.has_key?(field) @authors[field] << value else @authors[field] = value end end def [](field) @authors[field] end end Perhaps something like that? I just quickly typed that up whilst trying to work and talk to my boss, so my apologies if it doesn't work or there are spelling mistakes Regards, Lee -- Posted via http://www.ruby-forum.com/.