On Wed 04 Jun 2003 at 12:39:20 +0900, Hal E. Fulton wrote:

> Look at it this way: Suppose the [] and []=
> methods were renamed to #get and #set.
> 
> You would not expect ENV.get(x).sub! to 
> change ENV just because ENV.set(x) does so.
> Makes sense?

That's a very lucid explanation and I find I can now appreciate the 
issue a lot more easily.
  
It's the fact that the get method is invisible within 'ENV[foo]=' that
makes the issue so tricky.
 
Thanks for taking the time to explain this so well (and repeatedly).
 
Ian
-- 
Ian Macdonald               | I never pray before meals -- my mom's a
System Administrator        | good cook. 
ian / caliban.org             | 
http://www.caliban.org      | 
                            |