How to get nice formatting in the Rails console

Question

I want to get something like this to look nice:

>> ProductColor.all
=> [#<ProductColor id: 1, name: "White", internal_name: "White", created_at: "2009-06-10 04:02:44", updated_at: "2009-06-10 04:02:44">, #<ProductColor id: 2, name: "Ivory", internal_name: "Ivory", created_at: "2009-06-10 04:02:44", updated_at: "2009-06-10 04:02:44">, #<ProductColor id: 3, name: "Blue", internal_name: "Light Blue", created_at: "2009-06-10 04:02:44", updated_at: "2009-06-10 04:02:44">, #<ProductColor id: 4, name: "Green", internal_name: "Green", created_at: "2009-06-10 04:02:44", updated_at: "2009-06-10 04:02:44">]

This doesn't work:

>> ProductColor.all.inspect
=> "[#<ProductColor id: 1, name: \"White\", internal_name: \"White\", created_at: \"2009-06-10 04:02:44\", updated_at: \"2009-06-10 04:02:44\">, #<ProductColor id: 2, name: \"Ivory\", internal_name: \"Ivory\", created_at: \"2009-06-10 04:02:44\", updated_at: \"2009-06-10 04:02:44\">, #<ProductColor id: 3, name: \"Blue\", internal_name: \"Light Blue\", created_at: \"2009-06-10 04:02:44\", updated_at: \"2009-06-10 04:02:44\">, #<ProductColor id: 4, name: \"Green\", internal_name: \"Green\", created_at: \"2009-06-10 04:02:44\", updated_at: \"2009-06-10 04:02:44\">]"

And neither does this:

>> ProductColor.all.to_yaml
=> "--- \n- !ruby/object:ProductColor \n  attributes: \n    name: White\n    created_at: 2009-06-10 04:02:44\n    updated_at: 2009-06-10 04:02:44\n    id: \"1\"\n    internal_name: White\n  attributes_cache: {}\n\n- !ruby/object:ProductColor \n  attributes: \n    name: Ivory\n    created_at: 2009-06-10 04:02:44\n    updated_at: 2009-06-10 04:02:44\n    id: \"2\"\n    internal_name: Ivory\n  attributes_cache: {}\n\n- !ruby/object:ProductColor \n  attributes: \n    name: Blue\n    created_at: 2009-06-10 04:02:44\n    updated_at: 2009-06-10 04:02:44\n    id: \"3\"\n    internal_name: Light Blue\n  attributes_cache: {}\n\n- !ruby/object:ProductColor \n  attributes: \n    name: Green\n    created_at: 2009-06-10 04:02:44\n    updated_at: 2009-06-10 04:02:44\n    id: \"4\"\n    internal_name: Green\n  attributes_cache: {}\n\n"

Thoughts?

score 261 · Accepted Answer · edited Apr 09 '14 at 11:55

261

The y method is a handy way to get some pretty YAML output.

y ProductColor.all

Assuming you are in script/console

As jordanpg commented, this answer is outdated. For Rails 3.2+ you need to execute the following code before you can get the y method to work:

YAML::ENGINE.yamler = 'syck'

From ruby-docs

In older Ruby versions, ie. <= 1.9, Syck is still provided, however it was completely removed with the release of Ruby 2.0.0.

For rails 4/ruby 2 you could use just

puts object.to_yaml

edited Apr 09 '14 at 11:55

Andreas Lyngstad

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answered Aug 04 '09 at 02:09

ryanb

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this should be marked as the right answer since it's built in, can be used immediately, and most of all, simple. – botbot May 03 '12 at 21:34
15

This answer is outdated. See: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/11571801/rails-console-y-helper-returns-nameerror-rather-than-yaml-formatting-output To make this work, you have to first execute `YAML::ENGINE.yamler = 'syck'`. – jordanpg Oct 02 '12 at 18:04
5

Its now YAML::ENGINE.yamler = 'psych' – jumpa Dec 05 '13 at 05:53
This is similar to ryanb >> ProductColor.all >> y _ – Deepak Lamichhane Sep 16 '14 at 21:04
1

like @botbot said above, this is the best answer since it applies to situations where you ahve no access to an `.irbrc`, other console tools, or other configurations of the console (like, being a contracted dev with limited access to a production container/server) – Todd Jan 17 '16 at 18:14
y method coming from ruby and still available in 2.5. `irb(main):010:0> method(:y).source_location => ["/usr/local/Cellar/ruby/2.5.3_1/lib/ruby/2.5.0/psych/y.rb", 5]` – Eric Guo Nov 21 '18 at 03:36

score 104 · Answer 2 · answered Aug 04 '09 at 06:57

104

You should try hirb. It's a gem made to to pretty format objects in the ruby console. Your script/console session would look like this:

>> require 'hirb'
=> true
>> Hirb.enable
=> true
>> ProductColor.first
+----+-------+---------------+---------------------+---------------------+
| id | name  | internal_name | created_at          | updated_at          |
+----+-------+---------------+---------------------+---------------------+
| 1  | White | White         | 2009-06-10 04:02:44 | 2009-06-10 04:02:44 |
+----+-------+---------------+---------------------+---------------------+
1 row in set
=> true

You can learn more about hirb at its homepage.

answered Aug 04 '09 at 06:57

cldwalker

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4

ryanb's answer is basically what I was looking for, but this is too cool not to accept. – Tom Lehman Aug 04 '09 at 17:46
8

While not an answer to the original question, it might be pointing out that you can add the hirb stuff to your ~/.irbrc so you don't have to require and enable it each time. – jordelver Oct 04 '10 at 12:13
1

This gem is outdated now . – Amrit Dhungana May 05 '14 at 12:13
Is there a way to "easily" sort the columns of the output? I would love to force the column id to be first and updated_at & created_at at the end (if you add columns after the first migration the updated_at & created_at columns will not be at the end) – MrYoshiji Aug 01 '16 at 15:48

Alter Lagos · Answer 3 · 2016-08-19T21:46:58.533

Awesome print is nice too if you want an object indented. Something like:

$ rails console
rails> require "awesome_print"
rails> ap Account.all(:limit => 2)
[
    [0] #<Account:0x1033220b8> {
                     :id => 1,
                :user_id => 5,
            :assigned_to => 7,
                   :name => "Hayes-DuBuque",
                 :access => "Public",
                :website => "http://www.hayesdubuque.com",
        :toll_free_phone => "1-800-932-6571",
                  :phone => "(111)549-5002",
                    :fax => "(349)415-2266",
             :deleted_at => nil,
             :created_at => Sat, 06 Mar 2010 09:46:10 UTC +00:00,
             :updated_at => Sat, 06 Mar 2010 16:33:10 UTC +00:00,
                  :email => "info@hayesdubuque.com",
        :background_info => nil
    },
    [1] #<Account:0x103321ff0> {
                     :id => 2,
                :user_id => 4,
            :assigned_to => 4,
                   :name => "Ziemann-Streich",
                 :access => "Public",
                :website => "http://www.ziemannstreich.com",
        :toll_free_phone => "1-800-871-0619",
                  :phone => "(042)056-1534",
                    :fax => "(106)017-8792",
             :deleted_at => nil,
             :created_at => Tue, 09 Feb 2010 13:32:10 UTC +00:00,
             :updated_at => Tue, 09 Feb 2010 20:05:01 UTC +00:00,
                  :email => "info@ziemannstreich.com",
        :background_info => nil
    }
]

To integrate it by default with your irb/rails/pry console, add to your ~/.irbrc or ~/.pryrc file:

require "awesome_print"
AwesomePrint.irb! # just in .irbrc
AwesomePrint.pry! # just in .pryrc

Can I use this gem with Rails 4 or 5 ?? I've found the following note in the github page: NOTE: awesome_print v1.2.0 is the last release supporting Ruby versions prior to v1.9.3 and Rails versions prior to v3.0. The upcoming awesome_print v2.0 will require Ruby v1.9.3 or later and Rails v3.0 or later. Does this mean that the gem is outdated with these versions and cause conflicts?? — ltdev, Feb 06 '17 at 15:17

score 13 · Answer 4 · edited May 23 '17 at 12:10

13

>> puts ProductColor.all.to_yaml

Simply works fine!

Source: https://stackoverflow.com/a/4830096

edited May 23 '17 at 12:10

Community

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answered Jul 31 '13 at 15:11

Rody

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This works great! I couldn't get the other top voted answers to work... I guess because I am using ActiveResource (API resources) – ckhatton Mar 25 '14 at 17:23

score 10 · Answer 5 · answered Jul 24 '12 at 10:51

10

May also be noted that you can use:

j ProductColor.all.inspect

to output in Json format rather than Yaml

answered Jul 24 '12 at 10:51

davidcollom

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this can fail depending on version of JSON/ruby, and the nice formatting may be needed in an environment where one cant have nice things – Todd Jan 17 '16 at 18:15
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This raise error: JSON::GeneratorError: only generation of JSON objects or arrays allowed – Hassan Akram Sep 27 '16 at 09:14

score 9 · Answer 6 · answered Apr 09 '19 at 07:27

I think this solution is the most accurate one. You should try this:

puts JSON.pretty_generate Entry.all.map(&:attributes)

This will give you a super nice output compare to YAML format:

[
  {
    "id": 44,
    "team_id": null,
    "member_id": 1000000,
    "match_id": 1,
    "created_at": "2019-04-09 15:53:14 +0900",
    "updated_at": "2019-04-09 15:53:14 +0900"
  },
  {
    "id": 45,
    "team_id": null,
    "member_id": 1000001,
    "match_id": 1,
    "created_at": "2019-04-09 15:53:36 +0900",
    "updated_at": "2019-04-09 15:53:36 +0900"
  },
  {
    "id": 46,
    "team_id": null,
    "member_id": 1000003,
    "match_id": 1,
    "created_at": "2019-04-09 15:56:40 +0900",
    "updated_at": "2019-04-09 15:56:40 +0900"
  },
  {
    "id": 47,
    "team_id": null,
    "member_id": 1000004,
    "match_id": 1,
    "created_at": "2019-04-09 15:56:48 +0900",
    "updated_at": "2019-04-09 15:56:48 +0900"
  }
]

score 8 · Answer 7 · answered May 06 '13 at 07:41

8

Hi you can also try this in your script/console if

>> y ProductColor.all

not working for you.

Try this:

>> require 'yaml'

>> YAML::ENGINE.yamler = 'syck'

then

>> y ProductColor.all

answered May 06 '13 at 07:41

AllenC

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AndreiMotinga · Answer 8 · 2015-07-02T15:09:04.223

I had some troubles making it work so I'll add my two cents to awesome_print add this to your Gemfile, preferably in :development

gem 'awesome_print', require: 'ap'

then in

rails console

you can do

> ap Model.all That's it. However you can also add

require "awesome_print"
AwesomePrint.irb!

to your ~/.irbrc, this way awesome_print will be required anytime you open the console and you can simply do

Model.all without the need of typing ap

Abram · Answer 9 · 2015-06-14T21:38:07.753

You may also try the following for a group of objects

Object.all.map(&:attributes).to_yaml

This will give you much nicer output, like

---
id: 1
type: College
name: University of Texas
---
id: 2
type: College
name: University of California

Calling to_yaml on attributes rather than the object itself saves you from viewing the full contents of the object in the output

Or puts Object.last.attributes.to_yaml for a single object

Shorthand is also available: y Object.last.attributes

score 5 · Answer 10 · answered Apr 22 '13 at 10:55

5

Use irbtools gem.

It will automatically format the the console output plus you'll get tons of great features.

answered Apr 22 '13 at 10:55

VivekVarade123

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Nice! But I can't get it to format ActiveResource content... unless I am doing something wrong – ckhatton Mar 25 '14 at 17:45

sepp2k · Answer 11 · 2009-08-03T21:04:47.110

4

You might want to define ProductColor's inspect method to return something that you find nice. For example:

def inspect
  "<#{id} - #{name} (#{internal_name})>"
end

After which the result of ProductColor.all will display as something like [<1 - White (White)>, ...]. Of course you should adjust the inspect method to your needs, so that it displays all the information you need in a style that you like.

Edit: also if the issue was the lack of line breaks in the output, you might try

require 'pp'
pp ProductColor.all

which should insert linebreaks where appropriate

edited Aug 03 '09 at 21:04

answered Aug 03 '09 at 20:57

sepp2k

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As a matter of fact `require 'pp'` isn't possible in `rails console --sandbox`. For some reason I get `false` when I try to require `pp`. Oops! it seems that `pp` is already required by default in `rails console`. I just did `pp Model.connection_handler` and got big pretty printed output. Thanks. – Green May 28 '13 at 18:10
@Green If `require` returns `false`, that just means that the file has been loaded already. – sepp2k May 28 '13 at 18:15
Why the `inspect` is not displayed when doing just `ProductColor.all`? – Arnold Roa Jun 27 '17 at 02:55

score 3 · Answer 12 · answered Apr 09 '13 at 19:36

To add to Alter Lago's suggestion for using AwesomePrint, If you can't/shouldn't/don't want to add the awesome_print gem to your project's Gemfile, do this:

gem install awesome_print

Edit ~/.irb.rc and add this:

$LOAD_PATH << '/Users/your-user/.rvm/rubies/ruby-1.9.3-p194/lib/ruby/gems/1.9.1/gems/awesome_print-1.1.0/lib'

require 'awesome_print'

(Making sure the path and version are correct, of course)

How to get nice formatting in the Rails console

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