Simple debugging

gistfile1.rb

class Object
  require 'pp'

  # Simple debugging method for ruby. It takes an object, prints it with time 
  # stamp and caller insformation, returns an object. So it can be instesreted 
  # into any chain or method calls.
  #
  # Program debug level can be set by either global variable $debug or
  # environment setting ENV['DEBUG']
  #
  def debug *args

    msg, level = '', 1
    args.each do |x|
      case x
      when String then msg = x
      when Fixnum then level = x
      end
    end

    if [0, $debug, ENV['DEBUG']].map(&:to_i).max >= level

      clr = File.basename(caller[1])
      puts ["*****", Time.now, clr, msg.to_s].join ' --- '
      pp self
    end

    return self
  end

end