Hi -- On Mon, 25 Nov 2002, ahoward wrote: > On 24 Nov 2002, Robert Cowham wrote: > > [snip] > R> h = {} > R> f = File.open("fred.ini", "r") > R> f.each_line{|l| s = l.chomp.split("="); h[s[0]] = s[1]} > R> f.close > [snip] > > (IO.readlines 'foo').each {|line| (hash ||= {}).store *(line.chomp.split '=')} You need to have the 'hash' variable be in scope already when you start accumulating, because otherwise... irb(main):006:0> (IO.readlines 'conf.txt').each {|line| (hash ||= {}).store *(line.chomp.split '='); p hash} {"key1"=>"value1"} {"key2"=>"value2"} ...you get a new 'hash' each time through :-) (and nothing visible once the iteration finishes) David -- David Alan Black home: dblack / candle.superlink.net work: blackdav / shu.edu Web: http://pirate.shu.edu/~blackdav