> I'm trying to programmatically add methods taking a block to a class.
> Specifically I'm trying to write a method 'define_inline_element' that
> will let me type

>   define_inline_element :title

> and create a method called 'title' in my class, with appropriate
> behavior, taking a block.

> My first stab was this:

>   def self.define_inline_element(element)
>     define_method(element) do |&block|
>       inline_element(element.to_s, &block)
>     end
>   end

> but |&block| was syntactically invalid.  Then I tried this:

>   def self.define_inline_element(element)
>     define_method(element) do
>       inline_element(element.to_s) { yield }
>     end
>   end

> but when I invoked one of my generated methods with a block, the block
> got thrown away and the yield call failed.

> So now I've resorted to eval:

>   def self.define_inline_element(element)
>     module_eval %Q{def #{element}(&block)
>                      inline_element("#{element}", &block)
>                    end}
>   end

> which works, but I don't like eval as much as blocks.

> Anything I'm missing?  I'm using Ruby 1.8.2, if that matters.  (Yes, I
> know I'm a few versions behind.)

> David Carlton
> carl...@bactrian.org