Path: utzoo!utgpu!watmath!uunet!mcvax!hp4nl!ruuinf!piet
From: piet@ruuinf (Piet van Oostrum)
Newsgroups: gnu.emacs
Subject: Re: Help with backslashes
Message-ID: <938@ruuinf.UUCP>
Date: 28 Dec 88 10:40:56 GMT
References: <27258@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU>
Sender: piet@ruuinf.UUCP
Reply-To: piet@ruuinf (Piet van Oostrum)
Distribution: gnu
Organization: Dept of Computer Science, University of Utrecht, Holland
Lines: 20
In-reply-to: munson@renoir.Berkeley.EDU (Ethan V. Munson)

In article <27258@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU>, munson@renoir (Ethan V. Munson) writes:
`
`(defconst re1 "@\\s *\\([a-z]*\\)\\1")
`							   Given this
`Lisp sexp, GNU Emacs version 18.51.9 gives the symbol re1 the value:
`
`	"@\\s *\\([a-z]*\\)\\1"
`
`I didn't expect this.  I thought Lisp reader would strip out one
`backslash from each pair.

The Lisp reader *DOES* strip the backslash, but the Lisp PRINTER doubles
the backslashes, so you can use the printed form as input. So in your
string there is actually only one backslash per pair. If you don't believe
it, try
	(insert-string 	"@\\s *\\([a-z]*\\)\\1")
-- 
Piet van Oostrum, Dept of Computer Science, University of Utrecht
Padualaan 14, P.O. Box 80.089, 3508 TB Utrecht, The Netherlands
Telephone: +31-30-531806        UUCP: ...!mcvax!hp4nl!ruuinf!piet