David A. Black wrote: > Hi -- > > On Wed, 10 Aug 2005, basi wrote: > > > Hello, > > I'm a bit tired typing: > > > > if a == "" or a == nil > > if a != "" and a !== nil > > > > I'm sure there is a Ruby way to do this. > > You can normalize it to a string: > > if a.to_s.empty? > > or, for the opposite: > > unless a.to_s.empty? > > > David > > -- > David A. Black > dblack / wobblini.net Thanks all for the suggestions. This solution appeals to me because I don't have to define anything new. I wonder if, in general, this is a good criteria for evaluating solutions. basi