[ruby-core:127112] [Ruby Feature#22443] Remove multi-line regular expression comments from object inspection

14 Oct 2026

      Issue #22443 has been reported by bkuhlmann (Brooke Kuhlmann).

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Feature #22443: Remove multi-line regular expression comments from object inspection
https://bugs.ruby-lang.org/issues/22443

* Author: bkuhlmann (Brooke Kuhlmann)
* Status: Open
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## Why

Hello. 👋 Would it be possible to remove multi-line regular expression comments from object inspection? For example, this is nice for readability via the source code:

``` ruby
class Demo
  PATTERN = /
    (?:                       # Start non-capture group.
    (?<position>[0-9]+)       # Position capture group, numbers only.
    -                         # Dash.
    )?                        # End non-capture group and make it optional.
    (?<name>[[:word:]-]+)     # Name capture group, required.
    (?:                       # Non-capture group start.
    \+                        # Plus.
    (?<meta>[[:word:]\-,=]+)  # Meta capture group, required.
    )?                        # End non-capture group and make it optional.
  /x

  def initialize pattern = PATTERN
    @pattern = pattern
  end

  private

  attr_reader :pattern
end
```

However, the above is quite noisy when inspecting the object. Example:

``` ruby
Demo.new

#<Demo:0x000000012fed5730
 @pattern=
  /
    (?:                       # Start non-capture group.
    (?<position>[0-9]+)       # Position capture group, numbers only.
    -                         # Dash.
    )?                        # End non-capture group and make it optional.
    (?<name>[[:word:]-]+)     # Name capture group, required.
    (?:                       # Non-capture group start.
    \+                        # Plus.
    (?<meta>[[:word:]\-,=]+)  # Meta capture group, required.
    )?                        # End non-capture group and make it optional.
  /x>

```

## How

It would be nice to automatically strip the comments and collapse the newlines for the object when inspecting it. Example:

``` ruby
Demo.new
#<Demo:0x0000000131d588d8 @pattern=/(?:(?<position>[0-9]+)-)?(?<name>[[:word:]-]+)(?:\+(?<meta>[[:word:]\-,=]+))?/>
```

The above frees up a lot of vertical space -- especially when inspecting multiple objects at once -- so you don't have to scroll so much via the command line. You still get a visual indication that a pattern is used and can jump to the source if you need readability to learn more.

## Notes

One solution to the above is to add this private method:

``` 
def instance_variables_to_inspect = %i[@pattern]
```

The above definitely reduces the verbosity but at the cost of hiding the instance variable.

-- 
https://bugs.ruby-lang.org/