method
intern
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intern()
public
Returns the Symbol corresponding to str, creating the symbol if it did not previously exist. See Symbol#id2name.
"Koala".intern #=> :Koala s = 'cat'.to_sym #=> :cat s == :cat #=> true s = '@cat'.to_sym #=> :@cat s == :@cat #=> true
This can also be used to create symbols that cannot be represented using the :xxx notation.
'cat and dog'.to_sym #=> :"cat and dog"