Ruby Quiz #14 - an evolving solution for SF Ruby Hack night

lcd.rb

#!/usr/bin/env ruby
# -*- coding: utf-8 -*-

Numbers = [
           [" - ",
            "| |",
            "| |",
            "| |",
            " - "],

           [" | ",
            " | ",
            " | ",
            " | ",
            " | "],

           ["-- ",
            "  |",
            " - ",
            "|  ",
            " --"],

           ["-- ",
            "  |",
            "-- ",
            "  |",
            "-- "],

           ["| |",
            "| |",
            " - ",
            "  |",
            "  |"],

           [" --",
            "|  ",
            " - ",
            "  |",
            "-- "],

           [" --",
            "|  ",
            " - ",
            "| |",
            " - "],

           ["-- ",
            "  |",
            "  |",
            "  |",
            "  |"],

           [" - ",
            "| |",
            " - ",
            "| |",
            " - "],

           [" - ",
            "| |",
            " - ",
            "  |",
            "-- "]
          ]

def process msg                 # define function "process" w/ argument "msg"
  scale = 1

  (0..4).each {|layer_index|    # step through layers 0 to 4
    msg.each_char {|char|               # for each character in argument
      digit = char.to_i                 # convert char to integer
      cell = Numbers[digit]             # find the correct cell
      layer = cell[layer_index]         # peel off the ith layer of the cell
      (0..scale).each {print layer}

      # space needed to separate characters horizontally
      print " "
    }   # end loop each char

    # output a newline to wrap pointer to beginning of line
    print "\n"
  }     # end loop each layer
end

process ARGV[0]