From: ishamid <ishamid@...>
Date: 2006-11-27T13:35:13+09:00
Subject: simple loops and recursion

Hi,

I'm a total newbie, and this is my very first message. I'm going
through Chris Pine's Learn to Program; almost half done.

Problem: Consider the following working code:

===============
def repeat type
  number_of_bottles = '99'
  while number_of_bottles != '0'
    puts number_of_bottles.to_s + ' bottles:' + ' If one falls, ' +
(number_of_bottles.to_i - 1).to_s + ' bottles.'
    type + (number_of_bottles.to_i - 1).to_s + ':'
    number_of_bottles = gets.chomp
	end
end

repeat 'Type '
===============

I want to add a recursion conditional: If there are 98 bottles left,
one should type '98'; if there are 97, one should type '97' etc. At 0
bottles the programs ends. What I want is an additional conditional
recursion, so that e.g. if, at 98 bottles, I type anything other than
'98', the program recursively tells me to type '98' until I type '98'.

Every way I've tried this gives me a " undefined local variable or
method `number_of_bottles' " type of error, or else the program keeps
going back to 99.

Thanks in advance
Idris