From: stomar <sto.mar@...>
Date: 2013-02-08T15:00:36+09:00
Subject: Re: Issues from an extreme beginner

Am 08.02.2013 00:40, schrieb Timothy Gregory:
> on the side-track in case the name has only one character then the word
> 'character' is usually written as character(s) rather than as an apostrophe
> this visible abbreviation is a valid way to create two options.
> to write it this way will (s) need to be escaped?
> for singular and plural to be viable alternatives?
> can (s) be escaped by either "\(s)" or " " ?
> puts needs singular and plural pronouns and tense
> to print 'there is one ,,' or else put 'there are..'

1. You do not have to escape `(' and `)' in single or double
    quoted strings.

2. Generally, you can handle "decisions" with a conditional expression:

   if total_characters == 1
     message = "There is 1 character..."
   else
     message = "There are #{total_characters} characters..."
   end
   puts message

   (Just one of many ways to do it.)

You should first learn these basic language features before
playing around with Rails libraries.

-- 
stomar