Why do I get an error due to two backslashes \\?

Question

I am writing a test and verifying some data. It's failing due to the two \\ I get in the expected data string.

My test code is:

actual_string.should eq 'Today is Tuesday.\n It is third day of the week.'

When I execute this code, I get an error saying the actual data does not match the expected data.

The actual data is:

'Today is Tuesday.\n It is third day of the week.'

The expected data is:

'Today is Tuesday.\\n It is third day of the week.'

Not sure from where is that extra slash '\' is coming from in the expected data. How can I resolve this?

Use double quotes `"` - the backslash in your assertion is a literal backslash when inside single quotes. — Neil Slater, Jun 11 '13 at 20:15
So what is the main difference between single and double quotes. Ruby supports both right? — tech_human, Jun 11 '13 at 20:28
http://stackoverflow.com/questions/279270/which-style-of-ruby-string-quoting-do-you-favour — gabrielhilal, Jun 11 '13 at 20:33

score 1 · Answer 1 · answered Jun 11 '13 at 20:17

1

use "Text" - double quotes....

answered Jun 11 '13 at 20:17

edymerchk

1,203
13
19

score 0 · Answer 2 · answered Jun 11 '13 at 20:55

Unlike other languages (e.g. Python, JavaScript etc.), Ruby uses different escape sequences in single-quoted and double-quoted strings.

Single-quoted strings only support \' and \\. Everything else is treated literally. So, '\n' is two characters \ and n, not a single new line character.

To use the new line character, enclose your string into double quotes:

actual_string.should eq "Today is Tuesday.\n It is third day of the week."

This will fix your test.

Why do I get an error due to two backslashes \\?

2 Answers2