Irbtools

Irbtools 4.0 for IRB 1.6+

The current version of Irbtools requires IRB 1.6+ (which is the default for Ruby from 3.2 on). Please use Irbtools 3 for earlier versions of IRB.

Description

Improves Ruby's IRB with:

a default configuration
improved syntax highlighting of result objects
helpful commands for debugging and introspection

Examples

Show lookup chain and method list grouped by visibility

>> shadow [1,2,3].reverse
=> # ObjectShadow of Object #85280

## Lookup Chain

    [#<Class:#<Array:0x00007fccd9cfac30>>, Array, Enumerable, Object, "…"]

## 141 Public Methods (Non-Class/Object)

    [:&, :*, :+, :-, :<<, :<=>, :==, :[], :[]=, :all?, :any?, :append, :assoc, :at, :bsearch, :bsearch_index, :chain,
    :chunk, :chunk_while, :clear, :collect, :collect!, :collect_concat, :combination, :compact, :compact!, :concat,
    :count, :cycle, :deconstruct, :delete, :delete_at, :delete_if, :detect, :difference, :dig, :drop, :drop_while,
    :each, :each_cons, :each_entry, :each_index, :each_slice, :each_with_index, :each_with_object, :empty?, :entries,
    :eql?, :fetch, :fill, :filter, :filter!, :filter_map, :find, :find_all, :find_index, :first, :flat_map, :flatten,
    :flatten!, :grep, :grep_v, :group_by, :hash, :include?, :index, :inject, :insert, :inspect, :intersect?,
    :intersection, :join, :keep_if, :last, :lazy, :length, :map, :map!, :max, :max_by, :member?, :min, :min_by,
    :minmax, :minmax_by, :none?, :one?, :pack, :partition, :permutation, :pop, :prepend, :product, :push, :rassoc,
    :reduce, :reject, :reject!, :repeated_combination, :repeated_permutation, :replace, :reverse, :reverse!,
    :reverse_each, :rindex, :rotate, :rotate!, :sample, :select, :select!, :shelljoin, :shift, :shuffle, :shuffle!,
    :size, :slice, :slice!, :slice_after, :slice_before, :slice_when, :sort, :sort!, :sort_by, :sort_by!, :sum,
    :take, :take_while, :tally, :to_a, :to_ary, :to_h, :to_s, :to_set, :transpose, :union, :uniq, :uniq!, :unshift,
    :values_at, :zip, :|]

## 2 Private Methods (Non-Class/Object)

    [:initialize, :initialize_copy]

## Object Inspect

    [3, 2, 1]

Show a method list grouped by ancestors

>> look "str"
.
.
.
Comparable
  <  <=  ==  >  >=  between?  clamp
String
  %            crypt                  inspect      squeeze!
  *            dedup                  intern       start_with?
  +            delete                 length       strip
  +@           delete!                lines        strip!
  -@           delete_prefix          ljust        sub
  <<           delete_prefix!         lstrip       sub!
  <=>          delete_suffix          lstrip!      succ
.
.
.

Show source code of a Ruby-based method

>> code SecureRandom.uuid
#
#   /home/dan/.rvm/rubies/ruby-3.2.0/lib/ruby/3.2.0/random/formatter.rb:170
#
# Generate a random v4 UUID (Universally Unique IDentifier).
#
#   require 'random/formatter'
#
#   Random.uuid #=> "2d931510-d99f-494a-8c67-87feb05e1594"
#   Random.uuid #=> "bad85eb9-0713-4da7-8d36-07a8e4b00eab"
#   # or
#   prng = Random.new
#   prng.uuid #=> "62936e70-1815-439b-bf89-8492855a7e6b"
#
# The version 4 UUID is purely random (except the version).
# It doesn't contain meaningful information such as MAC addresses, timestamps, etc.
#
# The result contains 122 random bits (15.25 random bytes).
#
# See RFC4122[https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/rfc4122] for details of UUID.
#
def uuid
  ary = random_bytes(16).unpack("NnnnnN")
  ary[2] = (ary[2] & 0x0fff) | 0x4000
  ary[3] = (ary[3] & 0x3fff) | 0x8000
  "%08x-%04x-%04x-%04x-%04x%08x" % ary
end

Show source code of a natively implemented method

>> code Array#reverse
//
//   https://github.com/ruby/ruby/blob/ruby_3_2/array.c#L3282
//
// Returns a new \Array with the elements of +self+ in reverse order:
//
//   a = ['foo', 'bar', 'two']
//   a1 = a.reverse
//   a1 # => ["two", "bar", "foo"]
static VALUE
rb_ary_reverse_m(VALUE ary)
{
    long len = RARRAY_LEN(ary);
    VALUE dup = rb_ary_new2(len);

    if (len > 0) {
        const VALUE *p1 = RARRAY_CONST_PTR_TRANSIENT(ary);
        VALUE *p2 = (VALUE *)RARRAY_CONST_PTR_TRANSIENT(dup) + len - 1;
        do *p2-- = *p1++; while (--len > 0);
    }
    ARY_SET_LEN(dup, RARRAY_LEN(ary));
    return dup;
}

Find out method signatures (most useful for Ruby-based methods with keyword args)

>> howtocall require
require(path)

>> require "rubygems/user_interaction"
>> ui = Gem::ConsoleUI.new
>> howtocall ui.choose_from_list
choose_from_list(question, list)

Call system commands with `$`

>> $ git status # displays current git status

Setup

$ gem install irbtools

IRB executes code in ~/.irbrc on start-up. If the file does not exist, yet, just create a new one. Add the following content:

require 'irbtools'

You also need to add irbtools to your project's Gemfile:

gem 'irbtools', require: 'irbtools/binding'

Then start IRB (with Irbtools loaded) from the terminal or directly from your code with:

binding.irb

Optional: If the binding_of_caller gem is available, you can just call the irb method and it will start a session with the current binding:

irb

Features

General IRB Improvements

Syntax highlighting (wirb / fancy_irb)
Loads included libraries efficiently to reduce IRB start-up time
Customizable views for specfic options using hirb. By default, ActiveRecord results get displayed as a table.

Included Debugging Methods for IRB

Highlights

Lookup and manipulate instance variables / methods with ease using object_shadow
Go even further with looksee, the best lookup path inspection tool out there
Display a method's source code using code
Find methods that turn one value into another value with methodfinder
Use VIM from inside IRB

Extra Commands

Commands get treated specially by IRB and do not necessarily follow Ruby syntax.

Command	Alias	Description	Example
`code`	-	Shows syntax-highlighted source code of a method	`code Array#reverse`
`howtocall`	-	Shows the method signature	`howtocall String#gsub`
`look`	-	Shows looksee method list	`look [1,2,3]`
`shadow`	`+`	Shows object shadow method list	`shadow [1,2,3]`
`sys`	`$`	Calls system shell	`$ top`

Two default commands have an additional alias:

Command	Alias	Description	Example
`show_doc`	`ri`	Shows documentation	`ri String#gsub`
`chws`	`co`	"change into an object"	`co [1,2,3]`

IRB's ls?

Please note that IRB's own ls command is aliased to ils, since ls already refers to a method listing all files in the current directory. If you haven't tried looksee (look) or object shadows (shadow) - give it a try ;)

Ruby Introspection

Method / Constant	Arguments	Description	Provided By
`Object#lp` or `Object#look`		Supercharged method introspection in IRB	looksee
`Object#shadow`		Manipulate instance variables and learn about callable methods	object_shadow
`code`	object = self, method_name	Display the method source with syntax highlighting. Will also try to look up C methods.	code
`howtocall`	object = self, method_or_proc	Display parameter names and types you will need to call a method	debugging/howtocall
`mf`	object1, object2	Find methods which turn one value into another value	methodfinder

Platform Info

Method / Constant	Description	Provided By
`OS`	Query operating system information	os
`RubyVersion`	Show the Ruby version	ruby_version
`RubyEngine`	Show the Ruby engine	ruby_engine

General Utils

Method / Constant	Arguments	Description	Provided By
`beep`		Ring terminal bell	debugging/beep
`clear`		Clear the terminal	every_day_irb
`copy`	string	Copy something to the clipboard	clipboard
`copy_output`		Copy session output history to the clipboard	clipboard, irbtools
`colorize`	string	Syntax-highlight a string of Ruby code	coderay, irbtools
`ed` / `emacs` / `mate` / `mvim` / `nano` / `vi` / `vim`	filename = nil	Start an editor in the session context	interactive_editor
`ld`	file	Shortcut for `load lib.to_s + '.rb'`	every_day_irb
`pa`	string, color	Print a string in the specified color	paint
`page`	what, options = {}	Use pager to improve viewing longer content	hirb, irbtools
`paste`		Paste clipboard content	clipboard
`q`	*args	Like `Kernel#p`, but prints results on one line, with different colors	debugging/q
`re`	string, regexg, groups = nil	Regex debugging helper	debugging/re
`reset!`		Restart the current IRB session	every_day_irb
`rq`	lib	Shortcut for `require lib.to_s`. Use it like this: `rq:prime`	every_day_irb
`rr`	lib	Shortcut for `require_relative lib.to_s`	every_day_irb
`rrq` / `rerequire`	lib	Hack to remove a library from `$LOADED_FEATURES` and `require` it again	every_day_irb
`wp`	inspect_string	Syntax-highlight a Ruby return value	wirb

Method / Constant	Arguments	Description	Provided By
`cat`	path	Read file contents	every_day_irb
`cd`	path = nil	Change the directory. Can also be used in these forms: `~cd` (change to home directory), `-cd` (change to previous directory)	cd
`chmod`	mode, path	Set file mode for file	fileutils
`chmod_R`	mode, path	Set file mode for directory	fileutils
`chown`	user, group, path	Set file owner for file	fileutils
`chown_R`	user, group, path	Set file owner for directory	fileutils
`cp`	source, destination	Copy file	fileutils
`cp_r`	source, destination	Copy directory	fileutils
`ls`	path = "."	List directory content	cd
`ln`	target, link	Create symlink (`ln`)	fileutils
`ln_s`	target, link	Create symlink (`ln -s`)	fileutils
`ln_sf`	target, link	Create symlink (`ln -sf`)	fileutils
`mkdir`	path	Create a new directory	fileutils
`mkdir_p`	path	Create a new directory (with `-p` option)	fileutils
`cp`	source, destination	Move file or directory	fileutils
`pwd`		Return current directory	fileutils
`ray`	path	Syntax highlight a Ruby file	coderay, irbtools
`rm`	path	Delete a file (`rm`)	fileutils
`rm_r`	path	Delete a file or directory (`rm -r`)	fileutils
`rm_rf`	path	Delete a file or directory, with force (`rm -rf`)	fileutils
`rmdir`	path	Delete an empty directory	fileutils

Advanced Tweaking

See CONFIGURE.md.

Troubleshooting: ANSI colors on Windows

Windows: ANSI support can be enabled via ansicon or ConEmu or WSL.

Troubleshooting: Clipboard not working on Linux

Clipboard support requires xsel or xclip. On ubuntu, do:

sudo apt-get install xsel

Hint: Debundle

If you do not want to add Irbtools to your project's Gemfile, you will need a debundle hack. Put it at the beginning of your ~/.irbrc file and you are fine.

Hint: No ANSI / IRB extension

You can use Irbtools without colors/IRB extensions. To do so, put this into ~/.irbrc:

require 'irbtools/non_fancy'
Irbtools.start

Irbtools

Irbtools 4.0 for IRB 1.6+

Description

Examples

Show lookup chain and method list grouped by visibility

Show a method list grouped by ancestors

Show source code of a Ruby-based method

Show source code of a natively implemented method

Find out method signatures (most useful for Ruby-based methods with keyword args)

Call system commands with `$`

Setup

Features

General IRB Improvements

Included Debugging Methods for IRB

Highlights

Extra Commands

IRB's ls?

Ruby Introspection

Platform Info

General Utils

Files and Navigation

Advanced Tweaking

Troubleshooting: ANSI colors on Windows

Troubleshooting: Clipboard not working on Linux

Hint: Debundle

Hint: No ANSI / IRB extension

J-_-L

Irbtools

Irbtools 4.0 for IRB 1.6+

Description

Examples

Show lookup chain and method list grouped by visibility

Show a method list grouped by ancestors

Show source code of a Ruby-based method

Show source code of a natively implemented method

Find out method signatures (most useful for Ruby-based methods with keyword args)

Call system commands with $

Setup

Features

General IRB Improvements

Included Debugging Methods for IRB

Highlights

Extra Commands

IRB's ls?

Ruby Introspection

Platform Info

General Utils

Files and Navigation

Advanced Tweaking

Troubleshooting: ANSI colors on Windows

Troubleshooting: Clipboard not working on Linux

Hint: Debundle

Hint: No ANSI / IRB extension

J-_-L

Call system commands with `$`