From: "Hal E. Fulton" <hal9000@...>
Date: 2003-06-04T13:37:39+09:00
Subject: Re: case of sub! not working

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Ian Macdonald" <ian@caliban.org>
To: "ruby-talk ML" <ruby-talk@ruby-lang.org>
Sent: Tuesday, June 03, 2003 11:30 PM
Subject: Re: case of sub! not working


> On Wed 04 Jun 2003 at 12:39:20 +0900, Hal E. Fulton wrote:
> 
> > Look at it this way: Suppose the [] and []=
> > methods were renamed to #get and #set.
> > 
> > You would not expect ENV.get(x).sub! to 
> > change ENV just because ENV.set(x) does so.
> > Makes sense?
> 
> That's a very lucid explanation and I find I can now appreciate the 
> issue a lot more easily.
>   
> It's the fact that the get method is invisible within 'ENV[foo]=' that
> makes the issue so tricky.
>  
> Thanks for taking the time to explain this so well (and repeatedly).

No problem. Explaining is the best way to 
understand something yourself. ;)

This probably does belong in the FAQ, as it
is non-obvious.

There are similar confusing issues with certain 
other objects, though I can't think what they are
right now.


Hal