>>>>> "Ernest" == Ernest Ellingson <erne / powernav.com> writes:

    Ernest> At 03:27 2/18/2001 +0900, you wrote:
    >> a = "FooBar"
    >> b = a.split(//)
    >> b[6,2]          #=> []
    >> a[6,2]          #=> nil
    >> 
    >> anyone knows why this last one returns nil instead of "" (empty string) ?

    Ernest> a[6] doesn't exist thus a[6,2] doesn't exist, thus Ruby
    Ernest> says "Ain't no such thing"

b[6] doesn't exist either.  Yet b[6,2] returns an empty string.

-- 
-- Jim Weirich     jweirich / one.net    http://w3.one.net/~jweirich
---------------------------------------------------------------------
"Beware of bugs in the above code; I have only proved it correct, 
not tried it." -- Donald Knuth (in a memo to Peter van Emde Boas)