From: jweirich@...
Date: 2001-08-22T11:05:45+09:00
Subject: [ruby-talk:20080] Re: The Ruby Way [was: Ruby Article]

>>>>> "TAKAHASHI" == TAKAHASHI Masayoshi <maki@inac.co.jp> writes:

    TAKAHASHI> It's not only the Ruby Way, but raises an invalid error.
    TAKAHASHI> If phonespec.txt cannot be open, myfile is `nil'
    TAKAHASHI> and cannot be closed.

    TAKAHASHI> myfile = File.open('phonespec.txt', 'a')
    TAKAHASHI> begin
    TAKAHASHI>   # ...
    TAKAHASHI> ensure
    TAKAHASHI>   myfile.close
    TAKAHASHI> end

I have been known to write ...

def function
  myfile = open ("xyz")
  # ...
ensure
  myfile.close if myfile
end

-- 
-- Jim Weirich     jweirich@one.net    http://w3.one.net/~jweirich
---------------------------------------------------------------------
"Beware of bugs in the above code; I have only proved it correct, 
not tried it." -- Donald Knuth (in a memo to Peter van Emde Boas)