Rick Denatale wrote: > On Thu, Sep 18, 2008 at 9:27 AM, Li Chen <chen_li3 / yahoo.com> wrote: > >> > array. Therefore @b1 becomes, each time around the loop, >> > [10] >> > [10,10] >> > [10,10,10] >> > [10,10,10,10] >> >> How come this loop happan? I don't want a loop here. >> > > Because that's what you coded: > > irb(main):008:1* def method2 > irb(main):009:2> (method1.size).times{@b1<<10} > irb(main):010:2> return @b1 > irb(main):011:2> end > > $ qri Integer#times > ---------------------------------------------------------- Integer#times > int.times {|i| block } => int > ------------------------------------------------------------------------ > Iterates block int times, passing in values from zero to int - 1. > > It's not really clear what you are trying to do with your two methods, > why > not just initialize both instance variable in the intialize method? > > class A > def initialize > @a1 = [1,2,3,4] > @b1 = [10]. / a1.length # or more clearly just [10, 10, 10, 10] > end > > def method1 > @a1 > end > > def method2 > @b1 > end > end > The script in the OP is a simple version of another more lenghy one. @a1 comprise all the file names from a folder. @b1 comprise all the file names from another folder. the construction of @b1 is dependent on @a1. after initialize I want to check the status of @a1 and @b1. out of curiossity I call both method1 and method2 more than once. If I initialize both @a1 and @b1 in initialize method there would many lines there. In order to keep the method short and easy to read I want to keep each step in a different method.But I also want to initialize both of them in initialize method. This is the reason why I put method1 and method2 in initialize method. I guess I misunderstood how method is called in Ruby. I think I can retrieve the status of @a1 and @b1 by writing accessor/getter. This way I would not mess up with the method call. I didn't realize this post causes so much discussion when I posted. I really appricate you guys spending your times and explaining the problem. Li -- Posted via http://www.ruby-forum.com/.