From: Sean Russell <ser@...>
Date: 2002-05-30T05:03:26+09:00
Subject: Regexp in ranges as control

I've always liked the syntax:

        while gets
                print if /start/../end/
        end

However, on a recent project, I tried to extend this concept:

        lines.readlines("somefile").each do |line|
                puts line if line === /start/../end/
        end

This doesn't work, and I don't know why.  I can /get/ it to work, with 

        lines.readlines("somefile").each do |$_|
                puts $_ if /start/../end/
        end

but I have to say that this really, really makes me uncomfortable.  Do I 
/have/ to use the global variable $_ just to use regexps as switches?  Why?  
You don't need them for other ranges.  For example, the following works:

        [1,2,3,4,5,6].each do |x|
                puts x if x === 3..5
        end

ruby 1.6.6 (2001-12-26) [i586-linux-gnu]

Thanks.

-- 
 |..  "ROM stands for Read-Only Memory, meaning that new things cannot be
<|>    written to it; ROM is the silicon equivalent of the brain of a
/|\    religious fanatic."
/|    -- Lincoln Spector
 |