Replace doesn't seem to like . :
string s = Pike v7.6 release 13 running Hilfe v3.5 (Incremental Pike Frontend)
string s = "foo.bar.com"; replace(s, ".", ".");
(1) Result: "foo.bar.com"
replace(s, "a", ".");
(2) Result: "foo.b.r.com"
replace(s, "a", "\b");
(3) Result: "foo.b\br.com"
And just in case people would wonder:
replace(s, ".", "\.");
(4) Result: "foo\.bar\.com"
/ David