To access a value, place its key between square brackets:
h1 = {'room1'=>'A', 'room2'=>'B', 'loc1' =>'C', 'loc2' =>'D' } puts(h1['room2']) #=> 'The Throne Room'
If you specify a key that does not exist, the default value is returned.
Recall that you have not specified a default value for h1, but you have for h2:
h1 = Hash.new h2 = Hash.new("Some value") p(h1['unknown_room']) #=> nil p(h2['unknown_Product']) #=> 'Some value'
Use the default method to get the default value and the default = method to set it:
p(h1.default)
h1.default = 'A mysterious place'