I expect a function called "is_numeric" or "is_integer" to check if a
variable is an integer or a number even if the variable passed by isn't
a string nor a number at all. Otherwise we should call them
is_string_a_number and is_string_an_integer and we have then to remove
the check for .is_a?(Number) and .is_a?(FixNum)
now checking also if it is a hex or octal number
improved/corrected checking for integer
* checking against Integer instead of Fixnum so that
also Bignum is matching
* now .is_a? Integer is done first so this is quiet fast
Now many types of numerics are recognized.
1. Float/Integer values (signed or unsigned, with exponent or without)
2. octal and hex check
3. except hex numbers and the "0." in a float lower than 1 can be prefixed
with a '0'.
whitespaces shouldn't be allowed as prefix/suffix
string representation of numbers should not contain any type of
whitespace.. the user is responsible to clean a string before checking
it..
fix documentation and added more checks
tried to be 99.9% backward compatible
* for now the decission is post poned if hex and octal numbers
should be allowed or not (is_numeric)
* native Bignum is now also a valid integer class
fix problem with old 1.8 ruby and Hash.to_s/Array.to_s
In ruby < 1.9 array and hashes would be recognized as numeric
if they have a special format:
1.8:
[1,2,3,4].to_s = "1234"
{1=>2}.to_s = "12"
1.9:
[1,2,3,4].to_s = "[1, 2, 3, 4]"
{1=>2}.to_s = "{1=>2}"
