From: angus <angus@...>
Date: 2006-01-02T14:25:33+09:00
Subject: Re: Using the p command to print files

[John Maclean <info@jayeola.org>, 2006-01-02 04.42 CET]
> If any one has a copy of "why's poignant guide to ruby", turn to page 45. I can see immediately that 
> i)`ruby p Dir ['*']` works and lists all files within a specified directory. However
> ii)`ruby p File::methods` produces the error..."ruby: No such file or directory -- p (LoadError)"
> Is ii) just a way to show the generic syntax of the command?

I downloaded the PDF file and didn't find what you wrote on page 45, only
something like it on page 35. Next time please try to find the relevant html
page (it is a little upwards from
<http://poignantguide.net/ruby/chapter-4.html#section4>).

The examples given are:

i) p Dir['idea-*.txt']

ii) p File::methods

(there are no "ruby" or backticks). You should try them on an irb shell, or
writing them on a file and then running it with "ruby file", or passing them
as a parameter to ruby, after the parameter "-e", so:

  ruby -e "p Dir['idea-*.txt']"

  ruby -e "p File::methods"

It's best to do that only if you understand how your command shell
interprets quotes.

Good luck.