From: Robert Klemme <shortcutter@...>
Date: 2007-06-03T16:30:33+09:00
Subject: Re: No way of looking for a regrexp match starting from a particular point in a string?

On 03.06.2007 07:30, Nobuyoshi Nakada wrote:
> Hi,
> 
> At Sun, 3 Jun 2007 13:56:05 +0900,
> Patrick Hurley wrote in [ruby-talk:254059]:
>> I think he wanted MatchData objects. The String#index method returns
>> the index (numeric position of the match). But if all you want are
>> captures, then index is a good solution.
> 
> String#index also sets $~.

But then you can also use String#scan:

irb(main):002:0> "ababb".scan(/(a)b+/) {p $~}
#<MatchData:0x7ff94618>
#<MatchData:0x7ff94578>
=> "ababb"
irb(main):003:0> "ababb".scan(/(a)b+/) {p $~.to_a}
["ab", "a"]
["abb", "a"]
=> "ababb"

Ken, why do you need MatchData objects?

Kind regards

	robert