Add better docs for ActiveRecord::Base#attribute_for_inspect

1 files changed, 12 insertions, 1 deletions

diff --git a/activerecord/lib/active_record/base.rb b/activerecord/lib/active_record/base.rb
index 4c57897c43..1ba09a96b5 100755
--- a/activerecord/lib/active_record/base.rb
+++ b/activerecord/lib/active_record/base.rb
@@ -2739,7 +2739,18 @@ module ActiveRecord #:nodoc:
         end
       end
 
-      # Format attributes nicely for inspect.
+      # Returns an <tt>#inspect</tt>-like value for the value of the attribute
+      # referred to by +attr_name+. Strings are elided after 50 characters,
+      # and Dates and Times are returned in the <tt>:db</tt> format. Other
+      # attributes return the value of <tt>#inspect</tt> normally.
+      #
+      #   person = Person.create!(:name => "David Heinemeier Hansson " * 3)
+      #
+      #   person.attribute_for_inspect(:name)
+      #   # => '"David Heinemeier Hansson David Heinemeier Hansson D..."'
+      #
+      #   person.attribute_for_inspect(:created_at)
+      #   # => '"2009-01-12 04:48:57"'
       def attribute_for_inspect(attr_name)
         value = read_attribute(attr_name)