to_regexp

Basically a safe way to convert strings to regexps (with options).

str = "/finalis(é)/im"
old_way = eval(str)     # not safe
new_way = str.to_regexp # provided by this gem
old_way == new_way      # true

You can also treat strings as literal regexps. These two are equivalent:

'/foo/'.to_regexp                                       #=> /foo/
'foo'.to_regexp(:literal => true)                       #=> /foo/

If you need case insensitivity and you’re using :literal, pass options like :ignore_case. These two are equivalent:

'/foo/i'.to_regexp                                      #=> /foo/i
'foo'.to_regexp(:literal => true, :ignore_case => true) #=> /foo/i

You can get the options passed to Regexp.new with #as_regexp:

'/foo/'.to_regexp == Regexp.new('/foo/'.as_regexp) # true