Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!bbn!gateway!dsys.icst.nbs.GOV!rbj
From: rbj@dsys.icst.nbs.GOV (Root Boy Jim)
Newsgroups: comp.emacs
Subject: GNU Emacs string-to-symbol function ?
Message-ID: <8905022233.AA02036@dsys.icst.nbs.gov>
Date: 2 May 89 22:33:28 GMT
Sender: news@bbn.COM
Organization: National Institute of Standards and Technology
	formerly National Bureau of Standards
Lines: 47

? From: brunix!doorknob!kgk@uunet.uu.net

? In article <1256@novavax.UUCP> weiner@novavax.UUCP (Bob Weiner) writes:

?    Anyone know if there is a way to convert a string to a symbol-name in
?    GNU Emacs Lisp?

? What is the distinction between a string and a symbol-name?  

None.

? I don't
? think that it is easy or a good idea to access to the name cell of
? symbols; 

Why not? Well, maybe not modify it...

?if you mean a function that given a string creates a symbol
? whose symbol-name is equal to the string, then

? (intern "foo") -> symbol named foo

Correct. I used to think intern was broken, but that was because I never
did anything with the symbol intern returned.

On the other hand, make-symbol is supposed to create an uninterned symbol.

Consider:

	qwerty
Symbol's value as variable is void: qwerty
	(set (intern "qwerty") 5)
5
	qwerty
5
	poiuyt
Symbol's value as variable is void: poiuyt
	(set (make-symbol "poiuyt") 6)
6
	poiuyt
Symbol's value as variable is void: poiuyt

? Keiji Kanazawa
? kgk@cs.brown.edu

	Root Boy Jim is what I am
	Are you what you are or what?