I was hoping to use the standard string method as a quick &
not-so-dirty way of parsing the files, given that samba uses a very
simple format.

#the sample_data variable is defined below
irb(main):sample_data.split(/\[[a-z0-9]+\]/i)
=> ["", "\ncomment = shared directory for the shop\npath =
/dept/shop\nvalid u ....(truncated)
Gives good results, but omits what's between the brackets.  I expected
that part.

irb(main):sample_data.split(/(\[[a-z0-9]+\])/i)
=> ["", "[shop]", "\ncomment = shared directory for the shop\npath =
/dept/sho ....(truncated)
Neat, gives me the data between the brackets in an element before the
data itself.

I know quite well I can zip through that array again, but I was
wondering, hoping, that there would be a way of accessing that back
reference in a block as part of the split.

Is there any way to do that that I'm just missing?

Thanks,
           Kyle