Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!husc6!ogccse!littlei!omepd!merlyn
From: merlyn@intelob.intel.com (Randal L. Schwartz @ Stonehenge)
Newsgroups: comp.emacs
Subject: strings and symbols Re: GNU Emacs string-to-symbol function ?
Keywords: GNU
Message-ID: <4371@omepd.UUCP>
Date: 4 May 89 16:10:10 GMT
References: <8905022233.AA02036@dsys.icst.nbs.gov>
Sender: news@omepd.UUCP
Reply-To: merlyn@intelob.intel.com (Randal L. Schwartz @ Stonehenge)
Organization: Stonehenge; netaccess via BiiN, Hillsboro, Oregon, USA
Lines: 23
In-reply-to: rbj@dsys.icst.nbs.GOV (Root Boy Jim)

In article <8905022233.AA02036@dsys.icst.nbs.gov>, rbj@dsys (Root Boy Jim) writes:
| ? From: brunix!doorknob!kgk@uunet.uu.net
| ? What is the distinction between a string and a symbol-name?  
| None.

But, don't try something like I just did after reading your message, namely

	(setq RLS-foo 3)
	(aset (symbol-name 'RLS-foo) 2 ?s)

It gets the hashing all messed up.  I thought symbol-name would return
a copy of the string, but apparently it returns the real string.
Eeek.  I ended up with a RLs-foo that was boundp, but had a value of
void(!).  Don't try this at home!

I think there's a fine distinction between a symbol-name and a string,
but I'm hard pressed to say what it is.
-- 
/=Randal L. Schwartz, Stonehenge Consulting Services (503)777-0095===\
{ on contract to BiiN, Hillsboro, Oregon, USA, until 30 May 1989     }
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