From ec12f7ea8002da7014d3ec9c28061a514e617f92 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: jbranchaud <jbranchaud@gmail.com>
Date: Thu, 12 Feb 2026 17:30:15 -0600
Subject: [PATCH] Add Make A Long String Of Text Readable as a Ruby TIL

---
 README.md                                   |  3 +-
 ruby/make-a-long-string-of-text-readable.md | 38 +++++++++++++++++++++
 2 files changed, 40 insertions(+), 1 deletion(-)
 create mode 100644 ruby/make-a-long-string-of-text-readable.md

diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 3d969a2..bb4c553 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ working across different projects via [VisualMode](https://www.visualmode.dev/).
 
 For a steady stream of TILs, [sign up for my newsletter](https://visualmode.kit.com/newsletter).
 
-_1736 TILs and counting..._
+_1737 TILs and counting..._
 
 See some of the other learning resources I work on:
 
@@ -1431,6 +1431,7 @@ If you've learned something here, support my efforts writing daily TILs by
 - [Limit Split](ruby/limit-split.md)
 - [List The Running Ruby Version](ruby/list-the-running-ruby-version.md)
 - [Listing Local Variables](ruby/listing-local-variables.md)
+- [Make A Long String Of Text Readable](ruby/make-a-long-string-of-text-readable.md)
 - [Make An Executable Ruby Script](ruby/make-an-executable-ruby-script.md)
 - [Make Structs Easier To Use With Keyword Initialization](ruby/make-structs-easier-to-use-with-keyword-initialization.md)
 - [Map With Index Over An Array](ruby/map-with-index-over-an-array.md)
diff --git a/ruby/make-a-long-string-of-text-readable.md b/ruby/make-a-long-string-of-text-readable.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..a4adb5b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/ruby/make-a-long-string-of-text-readable.md
@@ -0,0 +1,38 @@
+# Make A Long String Of Text Readable
+
+I have a paragraph of text that interpolates a couple user-specific values
+before being included in an API request. Because it is being passed to an API,
+it is a single-line string value. However, in the editor it is hard to read like
+that because it overflows way past the edge of the viewport.
+
+```ruby
+description = "This is the description we need to provide for #{user.name} as part of an API request dealing with compliance and registration for a service. If you need to contact them, their email is #{user.email}."
+```
+
+I'd rather make this easier on myself and others to read from the editor while
+still being able to submit a single-line string to the API. That can be
+accomplished with a heredoc and some combination or `gsub`, `strip`, and
+`squish`.
+
+If we are in a strictly Ruby-only context, we can use `gsub` and `strip` to
+collapse line breaks and remove surrounding white space.
+
+```ruby
+description = <<~MSG.gsub(/\s+/, ' ').strip
+  This is the description we need to provide for #{user.name} as part
+  of an API request dealing with compliance and registration for a
+  service. If you need to contact them, their email is #{user.email}.
+MSG
+#=> "This is the description we need to provide for #{user.name} as part of an API request dealing with compliance and registration for a service. If you need to contact them, their email is #{user.email}."
+```
+
+Or in a Rails context, I can instead just use `squish`:
+
+```ruby
+description = <<~MSG.squish
+  This is the description we need to provide for #{user.name} as part
+  of an API request dealing with compliance and registration for a
+  service. If you need to contact them, their email is #{user.email}.
+MSG
+#=> "This is the description we need to provide for #{user.name} as part of an API request dealing with compliance and registration for a service. If you need to contact them, their email is #{user.email}."
+```