# Question about require **URL:** \ **Category:** Ruby\ **Created:** [January 13, 2006, 5:52pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/question-about-require/52403 "2006-01-13T17:52:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![mr\_ra88it](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/m/a587f6/32.png) [@mr\_ra88it](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/mr_ra88it)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2006, 5:52pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/question-about-require/52403/1 "2006-01-13T17:52:46Z")
Hello all, I am under the impression that Kernel#require returns false if the argument is already loaded. However, this morning I encountered behavior that confused me. I was trying to require the RedCloth gem, and I was doing it via irb. First I tried: irb(main):001:0\> require ‘redcloth’ LoadError: no such file to load – redcloth from (irb):1:in `require’ from (irb):1 from :0 but that didn’t work because the gems were not loaded (at least I think that’s why I got an error). So, instead I did this: irb(main):002:0\> require ‘rubygems’ =\> true irb(main):003:0\> require ‘redcloth’ =\> false So then I noticed that the last call to require returned false, which made me think that requiring ‘rubygems’ was all that I needed to do and RedCloth would automatically be loaded. I tested this by restarting irb, but my assumption proved incorrect: irb(main):001:0\> require ‘rubygems’ =\> true irb(main):002:0\> RedCloth NameError: uninitialized constant RedCloth from (irb):2 from /usr/local/lib/ruby/site\_ruby/1.8/rubygems/specification.rb:365 irb(main):003:0\> require ‘redcloth’ =\> false irb(main):004:0\> RedCloth =\> RedCloth Can somebody help me understand why the RedCloth constant was not initialized yet the call to require returns false? I hope I’ve included enough information. Incidentally, if I follow the instructions from the Pickaxe I get an error: irb(main):001:0\> require ‘rubygems’ =\> true irb(main):002:0\> require\_gem ‘redcloth’ Gem::LoadError: Could not find RubyGem redcloth (\> 0.0.0) Thanks for any input! mr.ra88it $ ruby -v ruby 1.8.4 (2005-12-24) [powerpc-darwin8.3.0] ---
**Author:** ![mr\_ra88it](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/m/a587f6/32.png) [@mr\_ra88it](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/mr_ra88it)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2006, 7:51pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/question-about-require/52403/2 "2006-01-13T19:51:35Z")
mr ra88it wrote: > but that didn’t work because the gems were not loaded (at least I > think that’s why I got an error). So, instead I did this: > > irb(main):002:0\> require ‘rubygems’ > =\> true > irb(main):003:0\> require ‘redcloth’ > =\> false See Ruby-talk:174387 ([http://blade.nagaokaut.ac.jp/cgi-bin/scat.rb/ruby/ruby-talk/174387](http://blade.nagaokaut.ac.jp/cgi-bin/scat.rb/ruby/ruby-talk/174387)) > Incidentally, if I follow the instructions from the Pickaxe I get an > error: > > irb(main):001:0\> require ‘rubygems’ > =\> true > irb(main):002:0\> require\_gem ‘redcloth’ > Gem::LoadError: Could not find RubyGem redcloth (\> 0.0.0) Because the name of the gem is ‘RedCloth’, not ‘redcloth’. Yes, case matters when requiring gems. (Probably shouldn’t … I’ll make a note of that). – – Jim W. ---
**Author:** ![mr\_ra88it](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/m/a587f6/32.png) [@mr\_ra88it](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/mr_ra88it)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2006, 10:36pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/question-about-require/52403/3 "2006-01-13T22:36:47Z")
On Fri, 13 Jan 2006 19:51:58 +0100, Jim W. [removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid](mailto:removed_email_address@domain.invalid) wrote: > Because the name of the gem is ‘RedCloth’, not ‘redcloth’. Yes, case > matters when requiring gems. (Probably shouldn’t … I’ll make a note > of that). > > – > – Jim W. Three hoolays for systems that aren’t arbitrarily case-sensitive. David V. ---
**Author:** ![mr\_ra88it](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/m/a587f6/32.png) [@mr\_ra88it](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/mr_ra88it)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2006, 11:25pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/question-about-require/52403/4 "2006-01-13T23:25:22Z")
On Fri, 13 Jan 2006 23:03:35 +0100, [removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid](mailto:removed_email_address@domain.invalid) wrote: > Quoting David V. [removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid](mailto:removed_email_address@domain.invalid): > > > Three hoolays for systems that aren’t arbitrarily case-sensitive. > > In which locale’s notion of case? 😉 > > -mental Oi, the Titanic of my ramble is getting ready to hit a iceberg. But, here goes: in a locale AND context where case distinction isn’t semantically significant or actually helpful. Like programming language libraries named in languages using the latin alphabet and using capital letters for reasons of historical conventions rather than to disambiguate the meaning of words _pant_. Unless someone tells me what would come from having distinct “redcloth” and “RedCloth” libs aside from sadistically enjoying the torment of people that confuse them. Another example: filesystem filename lookup. _dons his +5 Asbestos Plate Mail, +80% flame resistance, and prepares to duck objects thrown at him_ David V. ---
**Author:** ![mr\_ra88it](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/m/a587f6/32.png) [@mr\_ra88it](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/mr_ra88it)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2006, 11:04pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/question-about-require/52403/5 "2006-01-13T23:04:03Z")
Quoting David V. [removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid](mailto:removed_email_address@domain.invalid): > Three hoolays for systems that aren’t arbitrarily case-sensitive. In which locale’s notion of case? 😉 -mental ---
**Author:** ![mr\_ra88it](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/m/a587f6/32.png) [@mr\_ra88it](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/mr_ra88it)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2006, 1:17am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/question-about-require/52403/6 "2006-01-14T01:17:09Z")
Thoroughly entertaining! 🙂 On 1/13/06, David V. [removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid](mailto:removed_email_address@domain.invalid) wrote: > > > > Another example: filesystem filename lookup. _dons his +5 > Asbestos Plate Mail, +80% flame resistance, and prepares to duck objects > thrown at him_ > > David V. ## – ‘There was an owl lived in an oak. The more he heard, the less he spoke. The less he spoke, the more he heard.’ Christian L. removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid