gistfile1.rb

#
# This class allows you to easily set/default/increment a value in an arbitrarily-deep hash
# using a single (slash)-delimited string
#

class HashSlash < Hash

  def slash_set(key, value, value_set_mode = :override)
    parts = key.split("/")
    h = self
    parts.each_with_index do |part, i|
      if i == parts.length - 1
        # Last one
        case value_set_mode
        when :default
          h[part] ||= value
        when :increment
          h[part] ||= 0
          h[part] += value
        else
          h[part] = value
        end
      else
        h[part] ||= {}
        h = h[part]
      end
    end
    value
  end

end

#
# Usage example
#
h = HashSlash.new
h.slash_set("customers/Bob/address/street1", "234 Meadowland")