# Dir.entries, output showing nils **URL:** \ **Category:** Ruby\ **Created:** [July 23, 2009, 5:42pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/dir-entries-output-showing-nils/172590 "2009-07-23T17:42:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![mmcolli00](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/m/85e7bf/32.png) [@mmcolli00](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/mmcolli00)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2009, 5:42pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/dir-entries-output-showing-nils/172590/1 "2009-07-23T17:42:44Z")
When I output to line for RegisteredUser it shows all filenames as nil for all but the files. What can I change to show only the filename meeting the conditions? Thanks, MC outputs… nil nil nil nil AUR123443.txt Dir.entries(ascpath).each do |filename| if filename =~ /^AU/ then if filename[2…2] == “R” then RegisteredUser = filename else NonRegisteredUser = filename end end #below shows nil for all files and then shows the registereduser file. puts RegisteredUser end ---
**Author:** ![mmcolli00](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/m/85e7bf/32.png) [@mmcolli00](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/mmcolli00)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2009, 6:27pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/dir-entries-output-showing-nils/172590/2 "2009-07-23T18:27:03Z")
On Jul 23, 2009, at 11:42 AM, Mmcolli00 Mom wrote: > AUR123443.txt > > #below shows nil for all files and then shows the registereduser file. > puts RegisteredUser > > ## end > > Posted via [http://www.ruby-forum.com/](http://www.ruby-forum.com/). First, Capitalized names in Ruby are constants. You probably want a local\_variable instead. I’m not sure from your example and question what you really want, but here are some options: # An array of filenames that start with AU files = Dir.glob(“AU\*”) # or Dir[“AU\*”] # Split one array into a pair of arrays (in another array) based on a condition: files.partition {|filename| filename[2…2] == “R”} (which is Enumerable#partition) Does that help? -Rob Rob B. [http://agileconsultingllc.com](http://agileconsultingllc.com) removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid ---
**Author:** ![mmcolli00](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/m/85e7bf/32.png) [@mmcolli00](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/mmcolli00)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2009, 6:36pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/dir-entries-output-showing-nils/172590/3 "2009-07-23T18:36:54Z")
Rob B. wrote: > On Jul 23, 2009, at 11:42 AM, Mmcolli00 Mom wrote: > > > AUR123443.txt > > > > #below shows nil for all files and then shows the registereduser file. > > puts RegisteredUser > > > > ## end > > > > Posted via [http://www.ruby-forum.com/](http://www.ruby-forum.com/). > > First, Capitalized names in Ruby are constants. You probably want a > local\_variable instead. > > I’m not sure from your example and question what you really want, but > here are some options: > > # An array of filenames that start with AU > > files = Dir.glob(“AU\*”) # or Dir[“AU\*”] > > # Split one array into a pair of arrays (in another array) based on a > > condition: > files.partition {|filename| filename[2…2] == “R”} > > (which is Enumerable#partition) > > Does that help? My project consists of me reading the contents of a folder. The folder will have 5 files for testing. The files are named as such… AUR234\_somename.txt PUR233\_somename.txt… If a file starts with AU I know that this file fits the Aero group and the third letter being ‘R’ tells me if it is registered. If a file fits the condition. I want to store that filename so that other programs can peform I/O tests on it. The 5 files will be replaced occasionally but with the same strict naming conventions. Each file will be meant for a different type of test. The number represent a count that will be validated later in the test as well. Good tip- I will apply lowercase letters to the filenames. I don’t think the partition will help in this case though. Thanks -MC ---
**Author:** ![mmcolli00](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/m/85e7bf/32.png) [@mmcolli00](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/mmcolli00)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2009, 6:35pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/dir-entries-output-showing-nils/172590/4 "2009-07-23T18:35:50Z")
On Fri, Jul 24, 2009 at 01:23:27AM +0900, Rob B. wrote: > > nil > > end > > (which is Enumerable#partition) > > Does that help? > > -Rob > > Rob B. [http://agileconsultingllc.com](http://agileconsultingllc.com) > removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid He’s also defining it inside the ‘each’ which, I believe, localizes the variable. Thus, it will be nil at the beginning of each loop. If not set (i.e. the file does not match), it will be nil, as he is saying now. Seems to me you want something more like this: if filename =~ /^AUR/ then puts filename end It should also be noted that you do not need to say [2…2] if you want the 3rd char of a string, just [2] will do. HTH, - Kyle ---
**Author:** ![mmcolli00](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/m/85e7bf/32.png) [@mmcolli00](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/mmcolli00)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2009, 6:44pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/dir-entries-output-showing-nils/172590/5 "2009-07-23T18:44:44Z")
> It should also be noted that you do not need to say [2…2] if you want > the 3rd char of a string, just [2] > will do. when I puts filename[2] it returns the 56, or 48 which I think is the r’s character id or maybe even index for that string. Not sure… ---
**Author:** ![mmcolli00](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/m/85e7bf/32.png) [@mmcolli00](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/mmcolli00)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2009, 9:48pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/dir-entries-output-showing-nils/172590/6 "2009-07-23T21:48:48Z")
On Jul 23, 2009, at 12:45 PM, Mmcolli00 Mom wrote: > > It should also be noted that you do not need to say [2…2] if you > > want > > the 3rd char of a string, just [2] > > will do. > > when I puts filename[2] it returns the 56, or 48 which I think is the > r’s character id or maybe even index for that string. Not sure… In Ruby 1.8, String#[] with a single Integer argument returns the character, which as you’ve found is the ASCII code for the character. In Ruby 1.9, String#[] returns a 1-character string (and you can apply String#ord to it if you want the value) So filename[2…2] will give you a 1-character string in both versions. I’d stick with it. -Rob Rob B. [http://agileconsultingllc.com](http://agileconsultingllc.com) removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid ---
**Author:** ![mmcolli00](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/m/85e7bf/32.png) [@mmcolli00](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/mmcolli00)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2009, 10:09pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/dir-entries-output-showing-nils/172590/7 "2009-07-23T22:09:50Z")
On Jul 23, 2009, at 12:37 PM, Mmcolli00 Mom wrote: > > First, Capitalized names in Ruby are constants. You probably want a > > files.partition {|filename| filename[2…2] == “R”} > > PUR233\_somename.txt… > > Good tip- I will apply lowercase letters to the filenames. I don’t > think > the partition will help in this case though. Thanks -MC Ah, much better description of your problem. Dir[“directory/\*”] will include the “directory/” part in the returned name. (didn’t I see this in your code? anyway…) Dir[“[Aa][Uu][Rr]\*”] gives you exactly these files You could also: Dir[“[Aa][Uu]\*”].partition {|file| file =~ /\A…r/i } to get files where the third character is R or r. In a Regexp, /\A/ is the beginning of the string, /./ is any character, and the /r/i is an r matched insensitive to case (that’s the i flag at the end). -Rob Rob B. [http://agileconsultingllc.com](http://agileconsultingllc.com) removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid