diff --git a/ChangeLog b/ChangeLog
index ac76eaeacf..46a5cb8232 100644
--- a/ChangeLog
+++ b/ChangeLog
@@ -1,3 +1,13 @@
+Wed Feb 14 13:12:06 2007  Yukihiro Matsumoto  <matz@ruby-lang.org>
+
+	* re.c (reg_operand): allow symbols to be operands for regular
+	  expression matches.
+
+	* string.c (Init_String): allow Symbol#===.
+
+	* lib/date/format.rb (Date::Format::Bag::to_hash): string
+	  added prefixes.
+
 Wed Feb 14 12:58:38 2007  Koichi Sasada  <ko1@atdot.net>
 
 	* thread.c (do_select): fix to iterate select().
diff --git a/lib/date/format.rb b/lib/date/format.rb
index 152ca2ff6b..0a4869e3a1 100644
--- a/lib/date/format.rb
+++ b/lib/date/format.rb
@@ -111,8 +111,8 @@ class Date
 
       def to_hash
 	instance_variables.
-	  select{|n| !instance_variable_get(n).nil?}.grep(/\A@[^_]/).
-	  inject({}){|r, n| r[n[1..-1].intern] = instance_variable_get(n); r}
+	  select{|n| !instance_variable_get(n).nil?}.grep(/\A@v[^_]/).
+	  inject({}){|r, n| r[n[2..-1].intern] = instance_variable_get(n); r}
       end
 
     end
diff --git a/re.c b/re.c
index 1a01490e5b..b06e229fe9 100644
--- a/re.c
+++ b/re.c
@@ -1585,6 +1585,22 @@ rb_reg_equal(VALUE re1, VALUE re2)
     return Qfalse;
 }
 
+static VALUE
+reg_operand(VALUE s, int check)
+{
+    if (SYMBOL_P(s)) {
+	return rb_sym_to_s(s);
+    }
+    else {
+	VALUE tmp = rb_check_string_type(s);
+	if (check && NIL_P(tmp)) {
+	    rb_raise(rb_eTypeError, "can't convert %s to String",
+		     rb_obj_classname(s));
+	}
+	return tmp;
+    }
+}
+
 static VALUE
 rb_reg_match_pos(VALUE re, VALUE str, long pos)
 {
@@ -1592,7 +1608,7 @@ rb_reg_match_pos(VALUE re, VALUE str, long pos)
 	rb_backref_set(Qnil);
 	return Qnil;
     }
-    StringValue(str);
+    str = reg_operand(str, Qtrue);
     if (pos != 0) {
 	if (pos < 0) {
 	    pos += RSTRING_LEN(str);
@@ -1647,14 +1663,11 @@ rb_reg_eqq(VALUE re, VALUE str)
 {
     long start;
 
-    if (TYPE(str) != T_STRING) {
-	str = rb_check_string_type(str);
-	if (NIL_P(str)) {
-	    rb_backref_set(Qnil);
-	    return Qfalse;
-	}
+    str = reg_operand(str, Qfalse);
+    if (NIL_P(str)) {
+	rb_backref_set(Qnil);
+	return Qfalse;
     }
-    StringValue(str);
     start = rb_reg_search(re, str, 0, 0);
     if (start < 0) {
 	return Qfalse;
@@ -1912,7 +1925,7 @@ rb_reg_s_quote(int argc, VALUE *argv)
 	curr_kcode = reg_kcode;
 	reg_kcode = kcode_saved;
     }
-    StringValue(str);
+    str = reg_operand(str, Qtrue);
     str = rb_reg_quote(str);
     kcode_reset_option();
     return str;
diff --git a/string.c b/string.c
index 89e88544c9..17e3927812 100644
--- a/string.c
+++ b/string.c
@@ -4809,6 +4809,13 @@ sym_match(VALUE sym, VALUE other)
     return rb_str_match(rb_sym_to_s(sym), other);
 }
 
+static VALUE
+sym_eqq(VALUE sym, VALUE other)
+{
+    if (sym == other) return Qtrue;
+    return rb_str_equal(rb_sym_to_s(sym), other);
+}
+
 static VALUE
 sym_aref(int argc, VALUE *argv, VALUE sym)
 {
@@ -5051,6 +5058,7 @@ Init_String(void)
     rb_define_method(rb_cSymbol, "<=>", sym_cmp, 1);
     rb_define_method(rb_cSymbol, "casecmp", sym_casecmp, 1);
     rb_define_method(rb_cSymbol, "=~", sym_match, 1);
+    rb_define_method(rb_cSymbol, "===", sym_eqq, 1);
 
     rb_define_method(rb_cSymbol, "[]", sym_aref, -1);
     rb_define_method(rb_cSymbol, "slice", sym_aref, -1);