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Updated: July 2017
 
 

irb (1)

Name

irb - Interactive Ruby Shell

Synopsis

irb  [--version]  [-dfm]  [-I  directory]  [-r library] [--[no]inspect]
[--[no]readline] [--prompt mode] [--prompt-mode mode] [--inf-ruby-mode]
[--simple-prompt]   [--noprompt]   [--tracer]   [--back-trace-limit  n]
[--irb_debug n] [--] [program_file] [argument ...]

Description

IRB(1)                               UNIX                               IRB(1)



NAME
       irb - Interactive Ruby Shell

SYNOPSIS
       irb  [--version]  [-dfm]  [-I  directory]  [-r library] [--[no]inspect]
       [--[no]readline] [--prompt mode] [--prompt-mode mode] [--inf-ruby-mode]
       [--simple-prompt]   [--noprompt]   [--tracer]   [--back-trace-limit  n]
       [--irb_debug n] [--] [program_file] [argument ...]


DESCRIPTION
       irb is the REPL(read-eval-print loop) environment for Ruby programs.


OPTIONS
       --version
              Prints the version of .


       -E external[]:internal

       --encoding external[]:internal
              Same as `ruby -E' .  Specifies the default value(s) for external
              encodings and internal encoding. Values should be separated with
              colon (:).

              You can omit the one for  internal  encodings,  then  the  value
              ("Encoding.default_internal") will be nil.


       -I path
              Same as `ruby -I' .  Specifies $LOAD_PATH directory


       -U     Same  as `ruby -U' .  Sets the default value for internal encod-
              ings ("Encoding.default_internal") to UTF-8.


       -d     Same as `ruby -d' .  Sets $DEBUG to true.


       -f     Suppresses read of ~/.irbrc.


       -h

       --help Prints a summary of the options.


       -m     Bc mode (load mathn, fraction or matrix are available)


       -r library
              Same as `ruby  -r'.   Causes  irb  to  load  the  library  using
              require.


       --inspect
              Uses `inspect' for output (default except for bc mode)


       --noinspect
              Doesn't use inspect for output


       --readline
              Uses Readline extension module.


       --noreadline
              Doesn't use Readline extension module.


       --prompt mode

       --prompt-mode mode
              Switch  prompt  mode.  Pre-defined  prompt  modes are `default',
              `simple', `xmp' and `inf-ruby'.


       --inf-ruby-mode
              Uses prompt appropriate for inf-ruby-mode on emacs.   Suppresses
              --readline.


       --simple-prompt
              Makes prompts simple.


       --noprompt
              No prompt mode.


       --tracer
              Displays trace for each execution of commands.


       --back-trace-limit n
              Displays backtrace top n and tail n.  The default value is 16.


       --irb_debug n
              Sets internal debug level to n (not for popular use)



ENVIRONMENT
       IRBRC


              Also irb depends on same variables as ruby(1).


FILES
       ~/.irbrc
              Personal irb initialization.



EXAMPLES
         % irb
         irb(main):001:0> 1 + 1
         2
         irb(main):002:0> def t(x)
         irb(main):003:1> x+1
         irb(main):004:1> end
         => nil
         irb(main):005:0> t(3)
         => 4
         irb(main):006:0> if t(3) == 4
         irb(main):007:1> p :ok
         irb(main):008:1> end
         :ok
         => :ok
         irb(main):009:0> quit
         %



ATTRIBUTES
       See attributes(5) for descriptions of the following attributes:


       +---------------+------------------+
       |ATTRIBUTE TYPE | ATTRIBUTE VALUE  |
       +---------------+------------------+
       |Availability   | runtime/ruby-21  |
       +---------------+------------------+
       |Stability      | Uncommitted      |
       +---------------+------------------+
SEE ALSO
       ruby(1).


REPORTING BUGS
       Security  vulnerabilities  should  be  reported  via an email to <secu-
       rity@ruby-lang.org> Reported problems will  be  published  after  being
       fixed.

       And  you  can report other bugs and feature requests via the Ruby Issue
       Tracking System (http://bugs.ruby-lang.org).  Do  not  report  security
       vulnerabilities via the system because it publishes the vulnerabilities
       immediately.

AUTHORS
       Written by Keiju ISHITSUKA.



NOTES
       This    software    was    built    from    source     available     at
       https://java.net/projects/solaris-userland.    The  original  community
       source       was       downloaded       from         http://cache.ruby-
       lang.org/pub/ruby/2.1/ruby-2.1.6.tar.gz

       Further information about this software can be found on the open source
       community website at http://www.ruby-lang.org/.



November 7, 2012                              Ruby Programmers Reference Guide
                                                                        IRB(1)