From: Mike Stok <mike@...>
Date: 2006-05-20T00:59:44+09:00
Subject: Re: problems with irb? str = 'a\b\c' seems impossible

On 19-May-06, at 11:53 AM, dblack@wobblini.net wrote:

> Hi --
>
> On Sat, 20 May 2006, Krekna Mektek wrote:
>
>> Can someone help me out with this, I can't put the string 'a\b\c' in
>> the variable str, which is strange, because I am working with the
>> PickAxe book, and this what should work (page 71, 2nd ed.)
>>
>> the two before seem to work, but the example in the book, 'a\b\c'  
>> seems not.
>> This a bug? How come irb does not seem to understand the last quote?
>>
>> irb(main):021:0> str = 'a\b\c '
>> => "a\\b\\c "
>> irb(main):022:0> str = 'a\bc'
>> => "a\\bc"
>> irb(main):023:0> str = 'a\b\c'
>> irb(main):024:0'
>> irb(main):025:0' '
>> SyntaxError: compile error
>> (irb):25: unterminated string meets end of file
>>       from (irb):25
>>       from :0
>
> I've noticed that too.  For some reason, '\c' seems to produce
> something other than a literal backslash-c sequence.  I stumbled on
> that a month or so ago but I don't know why it happens.
>
> (Helpful answer, isn't it? :-)

Idle speculation here.  It looks like something is getting confused,  
in double quoted strings \c is the beginning of a control sequence

irb(main):004:0> "\cX"
=> "\030"

and that may be mis-handled by irb?

Mike

-- 

Mike Stok <mike@stok.ca>
http://www.stok.ca/~mike/

The "`Stok' disclaimers" apply.