Lambda with $1 fails as gsub block

Ruby
1

I came across this problem:

def meth(replace)
“>x”.gsub(%r!(\W)x!, &replace)
end

replace = lambda { |match|
puts “$1 is #{$1.inspect}”
}

“>x”.gsub(%r!(\W)x!, &replace) # => $1 is “>”

“” =~ %r!! # reset $1

meth(replace) # => $1 is nil

Apparently $1 is bound in a peculiar way:

http://groups.google.com/group/comp.lang.ruby/browse_thread/thread/e24a19e6ea75e5de/0211d0b304cbbad0?hl=enÓd0b304cbbad0

Matz suggested that the MatchData could have been passed to the block
for convenience, however it looks more like a necessity, as I don’t see
a solution short of rewriting gsub.

This suggests that for 1.9, MatchData should be passed as an optional
second argument to the block. Yes?

2

Mike G. wrote:

I came across this problem:

def meth(replace)
“>x”.gsub(%r!(\W)x!, &replace)
end

replace = lambda { |match|
puts “$1 is #{$1.inspect}”
}

“>x”.gsub(%r!(\W)x!, &replace) # => $1 is “>”

“” =~ %r!! # reset $1

meth(replace) # => $1 is nil

Apparently $1 is bound in a peculiar way:

Interesting issue. A work-around:
module MDGsub
def md_gsub(pattern)
gsub(pattern) { yield($~) }
end
end
class String
include MDGsub
end

block = proc { |md| p [md.string, *md.captures] }
“>x”.md_gsub(%r!(\W)x!, &block) # -> [">x", “>”]

I hope that helps for the moment.

Regards
Stefan

3

Mike G. wrote:

Matz suggested that the MatchData could have been passed to the block
for convenience, however it looks more like a necessity, as I don’t see
a solution short of rewriting gsub.

Here’s a solution:

def meth(replace)
“>x”.gsub(%r!(\W)x!) { |match| replace[$~] }
end

replace = lambda { |match|
puts “match is #{match.inspect}”
puts “match[1] is #{match[1].inspect}”
}

meth(replace) # => match[1] is “>”

4

On Thu, Dec 11, 2008 at 12:18 AM, Mike G. [email protected]
wrote:

Apparently $1 is bound in a peculiar way:
Not really, it somehow the proc object that is evaluated “first”
def meth(replace)
“>x”.gsub(%r!(\W)x!)do
puts “$1 is #{$1.inspect}”
end
end
and
def meth(replace)
“>x”.gsub(%r!(\W)x!, &replace)
p $1
end

work as expected

You will clearly see what I mean with the following example

def meth(replace)
“>x”.gsub(%r!(\W)x!, &replace)
end

replace = lambda { |match|
puts “last_match is #{Regexp.last_match.inspect}”
}
which produces

last_match is #<MatchData “”>

Interesting stuff
Robert

Posted via http://www.ruby-forum.com/.

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