puts_debuggerer v0.6.0

Yes, many of us avoid debuggers like the plague and clamp on to our puts statements like an umbrella in a stormy day. Why not make it official and have puts debugging become its own perfectly legitimate thing?!!

Enter puts_debuggerer. A guilt-free puts debugger Ruby gem FTW!

In other words, puts_debuggerer is a Ruby library that provides improved puts debugging, automatically displaying bonus useful information such as source line numbers and source code, among many other goodies (mentioned in the README.)

Partially inspired (only partially ;) by this blog post: https://tenderlovemaking.com/2016/02/05/i-am-a-puts-debuggerer.html (Credit to Tenderlove.)

Love PD?! Why not promote with merchandise?

Instructions

Option 1: Bundler

Add the following to bundler's Gemfile.

gem 'puts_debuggerer', '~> 0.6.0'

This is the recommended way for Rails apps. Optionally, you may create an initializer under config/initializers named puts_debuggerer_options.rb to enable further customizations as per the Options section below.

Option 2: Manual

Or manually install and require library.

gem install puts_debuggerer -v0.6.0

require 'puts_debuggerer'

Usage

Simply invoke global pd method anywhere in your code passing an object or an expression argument.

It will then provide helpful debugging information by printing the source file, line number, and source code in addition to output (works even in IRB).

Example Code:

# /Users/User/finance_calculator_app/pd_test.rb           # line 1
bug = 'beattle'                                           # line 2
pd "Show me the source of the bug: #{bug}"                # line 3
pd "Show me the result of the calculation: #{(12.0/3.0)}" # line 4

Example Printout:

[PD] /Users/User/finance_calculator_app/pd_test.rb:3
   > pd "Show me the source of the bug: #{bug}"
  => "Show me the source of the bug: beattle"
[PD] /Users/User/finance_calculator_app/pd_test.rb:4
   > pd "Show me the result of the calculation: #{(12.0/3.0)}"
  => "Show me the result of the calculation: 4.0"

Quickly locate printed lines using Find feature (e.g. CTRL+F) by looking for:

[PD]
file:line_number
known ruby expression.

This gives you the added benefit of easily removing your pd statements later on once done debugging.

Note that pd returns the passed in object or expression argument unchanged, permitting debugging with shorter syntax than tap, and supporting chaining of extra method invocations afterward.

Example Code:

# /Users/User/greeting_app/pd_test.rb                     # line 1
name = 'Robert'                                           # line 2
greeting = "Hello #{pd(name)}"                            # line 3

Example Printout:

[PD] /Users/User/greeting_app/pd_test.rb:3
   > greeting = "Hello #{pd(name)}"
  => "Hello Robert"

Happy puts_debuggerering!

Options

Options enable more data to be displayed with puts_debuggerer, such as the caller backtrace, header, and footer. They also allow customization of output format.

Options can be set as a global configuration or piecemeal per puts statement.

Global configuration is done via PutsDebuggerer module attribute writers. On the other hand, piecemeal options can be passed to the pd global method as the second argument.

Example 1:

# File Name: /Users/User/project/piecemeal.rb
data = [1, [2, 3]]
pd data, header: true

Prints out:

********************************************************************************
[PD] /Users/User/project/piecemeal.rb:3
   > pd data, header: true
  => [1, [2, 3]]

Example 2:

# File Name: /Users/User/project/piecemeal.rb
data = [1, [2, 3]]
pd data, header: '>'*80, footer: '<'*80, announcer: "   -<[PD]>-\n  "

Prints out:

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
   -<[PD]>-
   /Users/User/project/piecemeal.rb:3
   > pd data, header: '>'*80, footer: '<'*80, announcer: "   -<[PD]>-\n  "
  => [1, [2, 3]]
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

Details about all the available options are included below.

`PutsDebuggerer.app_path`

(default = nil)

Sets absolute application path. Makes pd file output relative to it. If Rails was detected, it is automatically defaulted to Rails.root.to_s

# /Users/User/finance_calculator_app/pd_test.rb                                 # line 1
PutsDebuggerer.app_path = File.join('/Users', 'User', 'finance_calculator_app') # line 2
bug = 'beattle'                                                                 # line 3
pd "Show me the source of the bug: #{bug}"                                      # line 4

Example Printout:

[PD] /pd_test.rb:4
   > pd "Show me the source of the bug: #{bug}"
  => "Show me the source of the bug: beattle"

`PutsDebuggerer.header`

(default = '*'*80)

Header to include at the top of every print out.

Default value is nil
Value true enables header as '*'*80
Value false, nil, or empty string disables header
Any other string value gets set as a custom header

Example:

PutsDebuggerer.header = true
pd (x=1)

Prints out:

********************************************************************************
[PD] /Users/User/example.rb:2
   > pd x=1
  => "1"

`PutsDebuggerer.footer`

(default = '*'*80)

Footer to include at the bottom of every print out.

Default value is nil
Value true enables footer as '*'*80
Value false, nil, or empty string disables footer
Any other string value gets set as a custom footer

Example:

PutsDebuggerer.footer = true
pd (x=1)

Prints out:

[PD] /Users/User/example.rb:2
   > pd x=1
  => "1"
********************************************************************************

`PutsDebuggerer.print_engine`

(default = :p)

Print engine is a global method symbol or lambda expression to use in object printout. Examples of global methods are :p, :ap, and :pp. An example of a lambda expression is lambda {|o| Rails.logger.info(o)}

Defaults to Ruby's built-in p method identified by the symbol :p. If it finds awesome_print loaded, it defaults to ap as :ap instead. Also, if it finds Rails loaded without ap, it relies on lambda {|o| Rails.logger.debug(o)} as the print engine. Otherwise if both Rails and awesome_print are loaded, then it relies on lambda {|o| Rails.logger.ap(o)} instead

Example:

# File Name: /Users/User/example.rb
require 'awesome_print'
PutsDebuggerer.print_engine = :ap
array = [1, [2, 3]]
pd array

Prints out:

[PD] /Users/User/example.rb:5
   > pd array
  => [
    [0] 1,
    [1] [
        [0] 2,
        [1] 3
    ]
]

`PutsDebuggerer.announcer`

(default = "[PD]")

Announcer (e.g. [PD]) to announce every print out with (default: "[PD]")

Example:

PutsDebuggerer.announcer = "*** PD ***\n  "
pd (x=1)

Prints out:

*** PD ***
   /Users/User/example.rb:2
   > pd x=1
  => "1"

`PutsDebuggerer.formatter`

(default = PutsDebuggerer::FORMATTER_DEFAULT)

Formatter used in every print out Passed a data argument with the following keys:

:announcer (string)
:caller (array)
:file (string)
:footer (string)
:header (string)
:line_number (string)
:pd_expression (string)
:object (object)
:object_printer (proc)

NOTE: data for :object_printer is not a string, yet a proc that must be called to output value. It is a proc as it automatically handles usage of print_engine and encapsulates its details. In any case, data for :object is available should one want to avoid altogether.

Example:

PutsDebuggerer.formatter = -> (data) {
  puts "-<#{data[:announcer]}>-"
  puts "HEADER: #{data[:header]}"
  puts "FILE: #{data[:file]}"
  puts "LINE: #{data[:line_number]}"
  puts "EXPRESSION: #{data[:pd_expression]}"
  print "PRINT OUT: "
  data[:object_printer].call
  puts "CALLER: #{data[:caller].to_a.first}"
  puts "FOOTER: #{data[:footer]}"
}
pd (x=1)

Prints out:

-<[PD]>-
FILE: /Users/User/example.rb
HEADER: ********************************************************************************
LINE: 9
EXPRESSION: x=1
PRINT OUT: 1
CALLER: #/Users/User/master_examples.rb:83:in `block (3 levels) in <top (required)>'
FOOTER: ********************************************************************************

`PutsDebuggerer.caller`

(default = nil)

Caller backtrace included at the end of every print out Passed an argument of true/false, nil, or depth as an integer.

true and -1 means include full caller backtrace
false and nil means do not include caller backtrace
depth (0-based) means include limited caller backtrace depth

Example:

# File Name: /Users/User/sample_app/lib/sample.rb
PutsDebuggerer.caller = 3
pd (x=1)

Prints out:

[PD] /Users/User/sample_app/lib/sample.rb:3
    > pd x=1
   => "1"
     /Users/User/sample_app/lib/master_samples.rb:368:in \`block (3 levels) in <top (required)>\'
     /Users/User/.rvm/rubies/ruby-2.4.0/lib/ruby/2.4.0/irb/workspace.rb:87:in \`eval\'
     /Users/User/.rvm/rubies/ruby-2.4.0/lib/ruby/2.4.0/irb/workspace.rb:87:in \`evaluate\'
     /Users/User/.rvm/rubies/ruby-2.4.0/lib/ruby/2.4.0/irb/context.rb:381:in \`evaluate\'

Bonus

puts_debuggerer comes with a number of bonus goodies.

It comes with awesome_print.

You may disable by not requiring in Ruby or by adding an explicit reference to awesome_print with require: false in bundler:

gem "awesome_print", require: false
gem "puts_debugger"

Additionally, puts_debuggerer comes with the following bonus utility methods:

`__caller_line_number__(caller_depth=0)`

Provides caller line number starting 1 level above caller of this method (with default caller_depth=0).

Example:

# File Name: lib/example.rb             # line 1
# Print out __caller_line_number__      # line 2
puts __caller_line_number__             # line 3

Prints out 3

`__caller_file__(caller_depth=0)`

Provides caller file starting 1 level above caller of this method (with default caller_depth=0).

Example:

# File Name: lib/example.rb
puts __caller_file__

Prints out lib/example.rb

`__caller_source_line__(caller_depth=0)`

Provides caller source line starting 1 level above caller of this method (with default caller_depth=0).

Example:

puts __caller_source_line__

Prints out puts __caller_source_line__

Release Notes

v0.6.0: unofficial erb support, returning evaluated object/expression, removed static syntax support (replaced with header support)
v0.5.1: support for print engine lambdas and smart defaults for leveraging Rails and AwesomePrint debuggers in Rails
v0.5.0: custom formatter, caller backtrace, per-puts piecemeal options, and multi-line support
v0.4.0: custom print engine (e.g. ap), custom announcer, and IRB support
v0.3.0: header/footer support, multi-line printout, improved format
v0.2.0: App path exclusion support, Rails root support, improved format
v0.1.0: File/line/expression print out

Contributing

Check out the latest master to make sure the feature hasn't been implemented or the bug hasn't been fixed yet.
Check out the issue tracker to make sure someone already hasn't requested it and/or contributed it.
Fork the project.
Change directory into project
Run gem install bundler && bundle && rake and make sure RSpec tests are passing
Start a feature/bugfix branch.
Write RSpec tests, Code, Commit and push until you are happy with your contribution.
Make sure to add tests for it. This is important so I don't break it in a future version unintentionally.
Please try not to mess with the Rakefile, version, or history. If you want to have your own version, or is otherwise necessary, that is fine, but please isolate to its own commit so I can cherry-pick around it.

puts_debuggerer v0.6.0

Instructions

Option 1: Bundler

Option 2: Manual

Usage

Options

PutsDebuggerer.app_path

PutsDebuggerer.header

PutsDebuggerer.footer

PutsDebuggerer.print_engine

PutsDebuggerer.announcer

PutsDebuggerer.formatter

PutsDebuggerer.caller

Bonus

__caller_line_number__(caller_depth=0)

__caller_file__(caller_depth=0)

__caller_source_line__(caller_depth=0)

Release Notes

Contributing

Copyright

`PutsDebuggerer.app_path`

`PutsDebuggerer.header`

`PutsDebuggerer.footer`

`PutsDebuggerer.print_engine`

`PutsDebuggerer.announcer`

`PutsDebuggerer.formatter`

`PutsDebuggerer.caller`

`__caller_line_number__(caller_depth=0)`

`__caller_file__(caller_depth=0)`

`__caller_source_line__(caller_depth=0)`