Convert Symbol to a String in Elisp

Solution 1:

Try using symbol-name:

(symbol-name 'some-symbol)

Solution 2:

Given a symbol name (a string), you can get the symbol's value. Using Trey Jackson's solution:

(setq ASymbol 10)  => 10
(intern "ASymbol")  => 'ASymbol (e.g. the unevaluated symbol with name "ASymbol")
(symbol-value (intern "ASymbol")) => 10

This is useful if you want to get the values of symbols for which you only have names. For instance, you read them from a string.

A few notes: intern returns the value of the symbol with the given name. If no symbol with such a name exists, it creates a symbol with that name. You can use intern-soft to avoid introducing a new symbol if one with the given name does not exists.