[ruby-core:18024] Re: Hex string literals [Patch]

The main time when I get to use hex is for testing.
In that case, it is sometimes a bit inconvenient to
have all these \x-es in there, but not really worth
bothering. Also, Ruby doesn't really have a run-time
vs. compile-time distinction, so reading the data
from file (possibly raw rather than hex) is also an
option.

Also, there is a bit of the "I really need it, believe me."
aspect. Even if there may be reasons for not being able
to tell us exactly why you (think you) need it, it's
often possible to give examples that show a similar
need without revealing any secrets.

Regards,    Martin.

At 20:59 08/07/29, Bill Kelly wrote:
>Hi,
>
>Disclaimer: I'm more of a lurker/enthusiast rather than
>a true core contributor here.
>
>However I'll take a quick stab at answering your question...
>
>From: <[e-mail]>
>>
>> Before posting the message below I thought long
>> and hard about the responses I might get (which
>> varied in my mind from resounding support to howls
>> of derision). I was completely unprepared for what
>> I actually got - total silence - ha ha ha.
>> SO - either:
>> - I have inadvertently behaved in such an
>> unacceptable manner that I am now considered
>> 'untouchable' OR
>
>...almost certainly not. :)
>
>> - nobody but me gives a monkeys about hex literals.
>
>Could be--although it may be also in part that the core guys
>are somewhat singularly focused at present on the impending 1.8.6/1.8.7/1.9.0-2 releases.  (Just a guess.)
>
>
>Speaking merely as a long-time Ruby user, I thought your
>patch was intriguing and kinda neat, but I confess I've rarely needed to embed hex data of much size or significance
>into my own ruby programs.  So it's not a feature that's
>really jumped out at me personally as having been missing
>from the language.
>
>There is also Array#pack, which, even though it's a run-time
>instead of compile-time conversion, does work:
>
>>> ["48656c6c6f2c20576f726c64"].pack("H*")
>=> "Hello, World"
>
>
>Regards,
>
>Bill
>
>
>


#-#-#  Martin J. Du"rst, Assoc. Professor, Aoyama Gakuin University
#-#-#  http://www.sw.it.aoyama.ac.jp       mailto:[e-mail]