[Posted at http://drnicwilliams.com/2006/09/28/new-magical-version-of-symbolto_proc/] Before the magic, let”Ēs go through a Beginner”Ēs Guide to Mapping, then Advanced Guide to Symbol.to_proc, and THEN, the magical version. Its worth it. Its sexy, nifty AND magical all at once. * Beginner”Ēs Guide to Mapping >> list = [”Ē1”ģ, ”Ę2”ģ, ”Ę3”ģ] => ["1”ķ, "2”ķ, "3”ķ] >> list.map {|item| item.to_i} => [1, 2, 3] Here we're invoking to_i on each item of the list and returning the result into a new list. That's map/collect for you. * Advanced Guide to Symbol.to_proc After doing that a few times, you start wishing there was simpler syntax. Enter: Symbol.to_proc >> list.map &:to_i => [1, 2, 3] It works. Just enjoy it. (see article for links on why it works) * Magical version of Symbol.to_proc Quite frankly, that”Ēs still a lot of syntax. Plus, I normally forget to added parentheses around the &:to_i, and then latter I want to invoke another method on the result, so I need to add the parentheses which is a pain”Ä anyway. I thought of something niftier and dare I say, more magical. How about this syntax: >> list.to_is => [1, 2, 3] By passing the plural version of a method, the array automagically performs the above mapping on itself using the singular version of the method. Sexy! And here's more examples: >> (1..10).to_a.to_ss => ["1", "2", "3", "4", "5", "6", "7", "8", "9", "10"] >> (1..10).to_a.days => [86400, 172800, 259200, 345600, 432000, 518400, 604800, 691200, 777600, 864000] >> [2,'two', :two].classes => [Fixnum, String, Symbol] >> [2,'two', :two].classes.names => ["Fixnum", "String", "Symbol"] >> [2,'two', :two].classes.names.lengths => [6, 6, 6] So much happy syntax in one place! I've got the library that gives you this syntax here: http://drnicwilliams.com/2006/09/28/new-magical-version-of-symbolto_proc/ (at the bottom) Nic -- Posted via http://www.ruby-forum.com/.