How do I convert a Ruby string with brackets to an array?

Question

I would like to convert the following string into an array/nested array:

str = \"[[this, is],[a, nested],[array]]\"

newarray = # this is what I need help w         


        

Answer 1

You could also treat it as almost-JSON. If the strings really are only letters, like in your example, then this will work:

JSON.parse(yourarray.gsub(/([a-z]+)/,'"\1"'))

If they could have arbitrary characters (other than [ ] , ), you'd need a little more:

JSON.parse("[[this, is],[a, nested],[array]]".gsub(/, /,",").gsub(/([^\[\]\,]+)/,'"\1"'))