Question

I want to parse a logfile which has 3 entries. It looks like this:

Start: foo
Parameters: foo
End: foo

Start: other foo
Parameters: other foo
End: other foo

....

The foo is what I want. It would be nice if the result looks like this:

logs = [
{
  :start=>"foo",
  :parameters=>"foo",
  :end=>"foo"
},
{
  :start=>"other foo",
  :parameters=>"other foo",
  :end=>"other foo"
}
]

I know some regex, but it’s hard for me to understand how I to this over multiple lines.
Thanks!

Answer 1

#!/usr/bin/ruby1.8

require 'pp'

logfile = <<EOS
Start: foo
Parameters: foo
End: foo

Start: other foo
Parameters: other foo
End: other foo
EOS

logs = logfile.split(/\n\n/).map do |section|
  Hash[section.lines.map do |line|
    key, value = line.chomp.split(/: /)
    [key.downcase.to_sym, value]
  end]
end

pp logs
# => [{:end=>"foo", :parameters=>"foo", :start=>"foo"},
# =>  {:end=>"other foo", :parameters=>"other foo", :start=>"other foo"}]