Hi -- On Mon, 17 Dec 2001, ts wrote: > str = "hello 123 I am a String" > str.gsub!(/./m) do |b| > case b > when /[[:lower:]]/ > "\\x" + "%x" % b[0] # this is % that you want ? Yes, that's cool. Any reason not to write it as: "\\x%x" % b[0] (Or was it just for visual clarity?) Also I like (being reminded of) the [:lower] character class (which I tend to forget about for some reason and reintroduce the problem which it solves). David -- David Alan Black home: dblack / candle.superlink.net work: blackdav / shu.edu Web: http://pirate.shu.edu/~blackdav