Split string variable into an array

Question

just wondering how I would split a string variable up letter by letter and make it an array

my word variable is a randomly selected word from an array of words:

word = $file_Arr[rand($file_Arr.length)]

how would I then split this word into individual letters and add them to an array?

example: if word pulls the word "hello" from $file_Arr how would I make an array like: ["h", "e", "l", "l", "o"] out of my word variable

All I've been able to find online is people doing it with strings they type in and splitting on a comma, but how would I do it from a variable?

Leo Correa · Accepted Answer · 2016-11-13 06:07:20Z

1

Use String#chars

2.3.1 :009 > "Hello World".chars
=> ["H", "e", "l", "l", "o", " ", "W", "o", "r", "l", "d"]

answered Nov 13, 2016 at 6:07

Leo Correa

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2 Comments

That worked perfectly, thanks, any idea how to remove the "\n" off the end? since it's adding an extra character to the array?

flanelman, if your string is str, you can write str.chomp.chars to first remove the newline character.

HParker · Accepted Answer · 2016-11-13 06:11:08Z

1

First you can get a random word using sample. Then you can split the word into characters using chars.

irb(main):004:0> ["hi", "there"].sample.chars
=> ["h", "i"]
irb(main):005:0> ["hi", "there"].sample.chars
=> ["t", "h", "e", "r", "e"]

The result is different when called multiple times.

As far as you last question, you should be able to call chars the same way on a variable.

irb(main):006:0> x = "hi"
=> "hi"
irb(main):007:0> x.chars
=> ["h", "i"]

answered Nov 13, 2016 at 6:11

HParker

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Thanks for the response, this is exactly what I was after! :)

Glad I could help!