Method to suppress STDOUT in a block

quiet.rb

#!/usr/bin/env ruby
#
# Creates a block that temporarily suppresses STDOUT
# This is useful if you want to run something that uses
# puts or print, but don't actually want it to print to screen
#

require 'stringio'

def quiet(&block)
  orig_stdout = $stdout
  new_stdout  = StringIO.new
  $stdout = new_stdout
  begin
    yield
  ensure
    $stdout = orig_stdout
  end
  new_stdout.string
end

# one line version
# def quiet(&block);o=$stdout;$stdout=n=StringIO.new;begin;yield;ensure;$stdout=o;end;n.string;end

def quiet_demonstration
  n = 0
  puts n = n + 1 # => 1
  quiet do
    puts n = n + 1 # => 2
  end
  puts n = n + 1
end