From: basi <basi_lio@...>
Date: 2005-08-18T11:51:24+09:00
Subject: YANQ: Nesting in YAML

Hello,

How does one tell YAML to use an array substructure rather than a hash?
Given the following YAML data:

an:
  - at sf
  - fc di
  - ps:
      - na vb
      - ex anEx
  - ps:
      - na no
      - ex otherEx
      - pr pro
in:
  - at sf
  - fc lo

YAML gives it the structure: {[{[...]}]}, that is, Hash embeds Array
which embeds another Hash which embeds Array, as below (output
reformatted for clarity).

{"an"=>
   [ "at sf",
     "fc di",
    {"ps"=>
       ["na vb",
        "ex anEx"]},
    {"ps"=>
       ["na no",
        "ex otherEx",
        "pr pro"]}],
  "in"=>
    ["at sf",
     "fc lo"]
}

I feel that the structure below: {[[[...]]]}, that is, hash embeds
array which embeds another array makes it easier to pick off keys and
values than the other structure (though, honestly, I haven't gone that
far yet).

{"an"=>
   [ "at sf",
     "fc di",
     "ps"=>
       ["na vb",
        "ex anEx"]],
     "ps"=>
       ["na no",
        "ex otherEx",
        "pr pro"]]],
  "in"=>
    ["at sf", 
     "fc lo"]
}

Thanks for the help.
basi