How do I convert a string to an array of arrays?

Question

I have a string with an array of arrays inside:

"[[1, 2], [3, 4], [5, 6]]"

Can I convert this to the array of arrays, without using eval or a regular expression, gsub, etc.?

Can I make turn it into:

[[1, 2], [3, 4], [5, 6]]

without using eval or reg ex, gsub, etc. so what you want to do it with? — leonhart
– leonhart, Commented Jun 24, 2013 at 0:25
i think eval is the most simple way, if you worry about security, check the string with regex to make sure. but seems you don't want both. — leonhart
– leonhart, Commented Jun 24, 2013 at 0:29
Why are you trying to avoid eval? How much simpler can it be than eval("[[1, 2], [3, 4], [5, 6]]")? — lurker
– lurker, Commented Jun 24, 2013 at 0:29
I have been told that 'eval' is a bad idea unless you really have to. — tbone
– tbone, Commented Jun 24, 2013 at 0:32

Mischa · Accepted Answer · 2013-06-24 06:22:57Z

21

How about the following?

require 'json'
arr = JSON.parse("[[1, 2], [3, 4], [5, 6]]") # => [[1, 2], [3, 4], [5, 6]]
arr[0] # => [1, 2]

Mischa

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answered Jun 24, 2013 at 0:31

vee

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Comments

Arup Rakshit · Accepted Answer · 2013-08-18 05:01:05Z

9

The same can be done using Ruby standard libaray documentation - YAML:

require 'yaml'

YAML.load("[[1, 2], [3, 4], [5, 6]]")
 # => [[1, 2], [3, 4], [5, 6]]

answered Jun 24, 2013 at 6:07

Arup Rakshit

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