# Setting string width **URL:** \ **Category:** Ruby\ **Created:** [January 14, 2008, 10:02am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/setting-string-width/125967 "2008-01-14T10:02:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![hurcan\_solter](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/h/a88e4f/32.png) [@hurcan\_solter](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/hurcan_solter)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2008, 10:02am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/setting-string-width/125967/1 "2008-01-14T10:02:59Z")
Hi there,Just a quick question … I’d like to insert newlines into a string around every 80ish character and those newlines shouldnt cut the words in the middle. Can anybody post a snippet how to do that TIA hurcan ---
**Author:** ![hurcan\_solter](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/h/a88e4f/32.png) [@hurcan\_solter](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/hurcan_solter)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2008, 10:42am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/setting-string-width/125967/2 "2008-01-14T10:42:15Z")
Hurcan The following adds a method to the string class called wrap which wraps a string at the specified width broken on a space but honouring line endings class String def wrap(width) gsub(/(.{1,#{width}})(\s+|\Z)/, “\1\n”) end end s = “Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit. Maecenas cursus cursus enim. Ut sit amet metus at lacus consectetuer condimentum. Suspendisse nulla arcu, varius eget, consequat id, sodales sit amet, turpis. Etiam ornare felis id augue. Morbi eleifend sem nec odio. Aenean augue dui, placerat et, porta tincidunt, accumsan vitae, tortor. Ut et nulla et diam gravida eleifend. Nulla fermentum ligula nec tellus. Donec quis purus id nisl blandit fermentum. Nunc commodo metus sit amet tortor. Nam lacus quam, ultricies sit amet, fermentum at, dictum eget, metus.” puts s.wrap(80) Andrew T. removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid 082 415 8283 skype: andrewtimberlake “I have never let my schooling interfere with my education.” –Mark Twain ---
**Author:** ![hurcan\_solter](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/h/a88e4f/32.png) [@hurcan\_solter](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/hurcan_solter)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2008, 10:44am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/setting-string-width/125967/3 "2008-01-14T10:44:35Z")
From: “hurcan solter” [removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid](mailto:removed_email_address@domain.invalid) > Hi there,Just a quick question … > I’d like to insert newlines into a string around every 80ish > character and those newlines shouldnt cut the words in the middle. Can > anybody post a snippet how to do that Here’s one way to do it: string.gsub(/(.{75,}?\S\*)\s+/, “\1\n”) It meets the criteria of “around every 80ish character”… 🙂 Regards, Bill ---
**Author:** ![hurcan\_solter](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/h/a88e4f/32.png) [@hurcan\_solter](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/hurcan_solter)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2008, 11:19am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/setting-string-width/125967/4 "2008-01-14T11:19:17Z")
From: “Andrew T.” [removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid](mailto:removed_email_address@domain.invalid) > gsub(/(.{1,#{width}})(\s+|\Z)/, “\1\n”) Ah, nice. Regards, Bill ---
**Author:** ![hurcan\_solter](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/h/a88e4f/32.png) [@hurcan\_solter](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/hurcan_solter)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2008, 12:36pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/setting-string-width/125967/5 "2008-01-14T12:36:45Z")
yes yes the word was “the word wrap” .Silly me thanks for the responses though… ---
**Author:** ![hurcan\_solter](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/h/a88e4f/32.png) [@hurcan\_solter](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/hurcan_solter)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2008, 10:53am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/setting-string-width/125967/6 "2008-01-14T10:53:24Z")
On Jan 14, 2008, at 10:00 AM, hurcan solter wrote: > I’d like to insert newlines into a string around every 80ish > character and those newlines shouldnt cut the words in the middle. Can > anybody post a snippet how to do that require ‘facets’ str.word\_wrap! ---
**Author:** ![hurcan\_solter](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/h/a88e4f/32.png) [@hurcan\_solter](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/hurcan_solter)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2008, 12:47pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/setting-string-width/125967/7 "2008-01-14T12:47:56Z")
On Jan 14, 2008 11:18 AM, Bill K. [removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid](mailto:removed_email_address@domain.invalid) wrote: > From: “Andrew T.” [removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid](mailto:removed_email_address@domain.invalid) > > > gsub(/(.{1,#{width}})(\s+|\Z)/, “\1\n”) > > Ah, nice. I know you have been served well but I would like to take advantage to point to a RubyQuiz as there are surprisingly often answers to Ruby programming questions. Yours was handled here [http://rubyquiz.com/quiz113.html](http://rubyquiz.com/quiz113.html) BTW James, will the Quiz page remain available after your retierement? Cheers Robert * * * Whereof one cannot speak, thereof one must be silent. Ludwig Wittgenstein ---
**Author:** ![hurcan\_solter](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/h/a88e4f/32.png) [@hurcan\_solter](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/hurcan_solter)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2008, 2:21pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/setting-string-width/125967/8 "2008-01-14T14:21:14Z")
On Jan 14, 2008, at 5:45 AM, Robert D. wrote: > BTW James, will the Quiz page remain available after your retierement? Absolutely. James Edward G. II