Set boolean variable in Ruby

Question

This might be a silly question, but I just can't get it to work. Pretty sure I've missed something.

I want to set a boolean to false Then set it to true only when a condition is met.

boolTest = false

until boolTest = true
    puts "Enter one fo these choices: add / update / display / delete?"
    choice = gets.chomp.downcase

    if choice == "add" || choice == "update" || choice == "display" || choice == "delete"
        boolTest = true
    end
end

Only just starting to learn Ruby, so maybe I'm confusing the capabilities of other languages.

Also, according to ruby conventions, should be bool_test (snake_case), not boolTest (camelCase). — Sergio Tulentsev
– Sergio Tulentsev, Commented Jul 15, 2015 at 8:37
apologies I copied the wrong code I didnt have quote in the original — Justin
– Justin, Commented Jul 15, 2015 at 8:38

Makoto · Accepted Answer · 2015-07-15 08:46:14Z

9

Since you're using until, that's effectively writing out while not boolTest. You can't use =, since that's reserved for assignment; instead, omit the boolean conditional. There's no value in checking a boolean against a boolean; if you really wanted to keep it though, you'd have to use ==.

boolTest = false

until boolTest
  puts "Enter one fo these choices: add / update / display / delete?"
  choice = gets.chomp.downcase

  if choice == "add" || choice == "update" || choice == "display" || choice == "delete"
    boolTest = true
  end
end

As an optimization/readability tip, you can also adjust your boolean conditional so that there's no repeated statement with choice; you can declare all of thoe strings in an array, and check to see if choice exists in the array through include?.

boolTest = false

until boolTest
  puts "Enter one fo these choices: add / update / display / delete?"
  choice = gets.chomp.downcase

  boolTest = %w(add update display delete).include? choice
end

edited Jul 15, 2015 at 8:46

answered Jul 15, 2015 at 8:37

Makoto

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3 Comments

Sergio Tulentsev Over a year ago

Your answer is now invalid :)

Justin Over a year ago

ah so I cannot write until boolTest = True - because now it seems to work

Stefan Over a year ago

@cocojay = is an assignment, you have to use ==

Mourad · Accepted Answer · 2015-07-15 08:50:12Z

1

I think what you missed is just "==" in the if condition until boolTest = true you should use a double = not a single one

this will work for you

boolTest = false

until boolTest == true
  puts "Enter one fo these choices: add / update / display / delete?"
  choice = gets.chomp.downcase

  if choice == "add" || choice == "update" || choice == "display" || choice == "delete"
    boolTest = true
  end
end

answered Jul 15, 2015 at 8:50

Mourad

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