From: Paul Lutus <nospam@...>
Date: 2006-11-25T04:47:32+09:00
Subject: Re: Bug in ruby?

AliasX Neo wrote:

> Well, I've spent the last hour or so debugging one of the stupidest
> errors I have encountered with Ruby.

It is a stupid error, but to say it diplomatically, the responsibility
assignment is flawed.

/ ...

> I have spent the last hour trying hundreds of different forms of this
> code 

Except the one shown below.

> and am getting the same exact error every time. I've come to the 
> conclusion that this must be some kind of bug in Ruby, I can not pull on
> piece of logical evidence out of this.

That is because you are not thinking hard enough.

> So my last resort is you guru's here, what am I doing wrong?

You are not breaking the problem down sufficiently. As others have
commented, there are two operands for "+" and you have only looked at one
of them.

Do this:

length = starting.length
si = string.index(starting)
if(length != nil && si != nil)
  istart = si + length
end

> Is there some kind of magical law I broke?

Yes, as a matter of fact, there is. You assumed there was a flaw in the
language before exhausting the more obvious possibility that the error is
your own.

> This application needs to get done 
> tonight, and I really can't afford anymore time on this tiny little bug.

Famous last words.

-- 
Paul Lutus
http://www.arachnoid.com