A simple Ruby method which returns an inspection string of the passed object with pretty indention ^^

pretty_inspect.rb

def pretty_inspect(object, indent = 2)
  if object.is_a?(Array)
    entries = object.collect{|x| "#{pretty_inspect x, indent + 2}"}
    pretty_indent entries, "[", "]", indent
  elsif object.is_a?(Hash)
    entries = object.keys.sort.collect{|x| "#{pretty_inspect x} => #{pretty_inspect object[x], indent + 2}"}
    pretty_indent entries, "{", "}", indent
  else
    object.inspect
  end
end

def pretty_indent(entries, open, close, indent)
  if (s = "#{open}#{entries.join ", "}#{close}").size < 30
    return s
  end
  entries.each_with_index{|x, i| entries[i] = "#{x}," if i < entries.size - 1}
  [open, entries].flatten.join("\n" + (" " * indent)) + "\n" + (" " * (indent - 2)) + close
end

usage.rb

1.9.3-p374 :001 > require "./pretty_inspect.rb"
 => true 
1.9.3-p374 :002 > puts pretty_inspect({:a => {:b => [1, 2, 3, {:c => ["a", "b", "c"]}]}, :d => 4})
{
  :a => {
    :b => [
      1,
      2,
      3,
      {:c => ["a", "b", "c"]}
    ]
  },
  :d => 4
}
 => nil