From: James Edward Gray II <james@...>
Date: 2007-01-27T01:49:47+09:00
Subject: Re: simple question about Ruby Regext

On Jan 26, 2007, at 10:44 AM, Peter Bailey wrote:

> James Gray wrote:
>> On Jan 26, 2007, at 8:45 AM, Peter Bailey wrote:
>>
>>>
>>> Thanks, Wolfgang. So, you suggest the use of "scan" instead of  
>>> "gsub?"
>>> That would imply the need for a block, which, seems kind of wordy,
>>> but,
>>> it does have power. . . . Thanks again.
>>
>> gsub/gsub! also take a block.
>>
>> Which one you use depends mainly on your purpose.  Here's how I view
>> the methods, in terms of a "Find and Replace" feature set common to
>> so many programs:
>>
>> sub/sub!   == Find
>> gsub/gsub! == Find and Replace
>> scan       == Find All
>>
>> Hope that helps.
>>
>> James Edward Gray II
>
> That does help, James. Thanks. But, don't "sub" and "sub!" do a
> replacement; so, they're doing more than just finding? At least,  
> they're
> finding and replacing the first instance of whatever, just not  
> globally?

Ick.  Sorry.  In my defense I only got four hours of sleep last night.

Let me try my chart one more time:

sub/sub!   == Find and Replace
gsub/gsub! == Replace All
scan       == Find All

James Edward Gray II