From: Rasputin <rasputin@...>
Date: 2003-05-31T10:16:20+09:00
Subject: Re: to_s and concatenation

* Brian Candler <B.Candler@pobox.com> [030530 22:34]:
> On Sat, May 31, 2003 at 06:13:36AM +0900, Anders Borch wrote:
> > hmm... it seems to me that the real question is this: why have both to_s 
> > and to_str when the return value of them should at all concievable (to 
> > me at least) times be the same?

Exactly, but I think Brians explanation makes sense to me now.
I wasa thrown by to_s/to_str in String being synonymous, whereas that's
not the case in general. Thanks for the help.
 
> So I believe that to_s is for cases where you explicitly require a
> conversion to be made, such as foo.to_s or "#{foo}"
> 
> On the other hand, to_str is for cases where an implicit, automatic
> conversion should take place. If you don't define it, then such automatic
> conversions do not take place, so you get an exception instead.

-- 
Rasputin :: Jack of All Trades - Master of Nuns