Gearing up for Rails 3.0

As full release of Ruby on Rails 3.0 draws near, I find myself collecting news, articles, and preparing myself for the transition. Here is what I’ve been reading so far:

• Reading material.
• Introduction.
• Approaching the upgrade.
• Getting up to speed.
• Upgrading to Rails 3.
• Automating a portion of the Rails 3 upgrade process with the rails-upgrade gem.
• Revamped Routes.
• Render Options.
• Active Record Query Interface.
• Understanding the ActionMailer API.
• Generic Actions.
• The Rails Module.
• Discovering Rails 3 generators.
• Validations.
• I18n changes.
• Signed and Permanent cookies.
• Creating new apps with the Rails 3 beta.
• Gem and Plugin Compatibility Checker.

I’m sure I’ll collect more as time rolls on. BTW, you can find these links and more on my Ruby page where I continue to capture useful Ruby information.

Tags: Ruby on Rails

Firefox 3.6 Extensions

So Firefox 3.6 has been released and is ready for download. With it comes the challenge of determining whether some of your favorite extensions still work and, if not, what the alternatives are. Luckily, in my case, this version release didn’t cause too much trouble. Here are a few issues I ran into along with their solutions in case it is of interest:

1. Easy Drag and Go - I really love the ease of being able to drag links on any page and have them open in a background tab. Unfortunately, this extension no longer works. The equivalent is QuickDrag.
2. Obtrusive JavaScript Checker - I really hate obtrusive JavaScript code. It is bad coding practice, a maintenance nightmare, and truly ugly code to read. This tool helps detect and quickly flag web pages that are bad. Unfortunately, this extension has been broken for some time. The alternative is the Inline Code Finder extension for Firebug which is a much better solution overall.
3. Dust-Me Selectors - This was a cool tool for detecting what CSS code is being used or not used on a web page. I like having it around to keep my CSS code tight. The equivalent to this tool is CSS Usage (a Firebug extension).

For a list of all my favorite Firefox extensions or Firefox related info in general, check out my Firefox page.

Tags: Firefox

Combining PDFs with Automator

I have a Canon PIXMA MP470 device. It’s a decent printer that doubles as a scanner. The device is perfect for my needs although I would argue that it eats printer ink a little faster than I’d like. Then again, I got it for free, so I can’t complain too much (well if you don’t calculate the long term cost of printer ink over time).

In the past, I used proprietary software that came with the device to scan documents. For printing support, I could easily detect and attach to the printer via Bonjour (as the device is plugged into an Apple Airport so all machines on the network can use it). In the case of scanning, I would have to attach the USB cable directly to my computer. There might be a way to do this via Bonjour but that eludes me at the moment.

Recently, I upgraded to Snow Leopard and discovered that I could scan documents using the native Image Capture application. Perhaps, you could do this in Leopard too? Anyway, this allowed me to no longer require installing Canon’s proprietary printer/scanner software. The only downside is that the Image Capture application doesn’t know how to combine multiple document scans into one PDF. Nor does the Preview application allow one to combine multiple PDFs into one PDF document either. Bummer.

The solution is to use Automator. I generally use Automator for quick image manipulation, resizing, etc but it also has decent PDF support. In my case, where I have several PDF files from multiple scans of a single document, I can use Automator to combine all these PDFs into one file. As part of Apple’s Automator action library, someone has already built an Automator worklfow that does exactly this. You can download the workflow and use it to combine multiple PDF files into one.

Something to think about if you are in a situation like this. It definitely does the trick for me.

MacOS Setup 1.0.0

I have released a simple GitHub project called MacOS Setup that makes configuring and using your MacOS easier. Here are a few highlights:

• Configures the .bash_profile file.
• Configures the .gitconfig file.
• Configures the .gitignore file.
• Configures the .irbrc file.
• Adds Looksee, Wirble, and Hirb support to your IRB and Rails consoles.

Feel free to fork the project for your own purposes if you like or simply maintain your own home files and then use this project for installation purposes.

Favorite Ruby Feeds

Over a year ago, I write a post about my favorite Ruby feeds. I’ve since deleted that post in order to write about an updated set of Ruby feeds that you should be paying attention to (if not already). I read all of these feeds religiously on a daily basis and have broken them down below by general news and information followed by screencasts/tutorials. Enjoy.

News

• A Fresh Cup - My personal favorite. While you can find similar news via the links below, Mike Gunderloy does an excellent job of summing everything up in place for news, information, and new gems from the Ruby community.
• Ruby Toolbox - A great trending site for finding out what gems are hot and most popular within the Ruby community. This can save you a lot of time when you want to know which gem is the best solution for a problem that has already been solved.
• Ruby Trends - Another trending site. Useful for cross-checking against Ruby Toolbox on what is hot.
• Ruby News - Straight from the source. Find about new releases, conferences, developments, etc.
• Ruby Inside - The inside scoop on Ruby news.
• RubyFlow - A great site for picking up new resources to add to your development repertoire.
• RubyFu - Useful quick news and resource links.
• Ruby Best Practices - A great source of thoughtful discussion, including code samples, on how to write better code.
• Ruby5 - From some of the same guys who provide the Rails Envy podcast below. This is another podcast on Ruby news but in short, 5-minute, segments of usually discussing many of the new and interesting gems being developed.
• Rails Inside - Get the inside scoop on Rails news.
• Riding Rails - Learn what is happening with the Ruby on Rails team.
• Rails Spikes - A multi-authored site of Ruby developers discussing news, tips, code, etc.
• Rails Illustrated - Info on Rails, web design, and the user experience.
• Rails Notes - Another site worth checking out and picking up new learning.
• Rails Tips - As the site description goes: “One man, feverishly posting everything he learns.”
• The Rails Way - News and information dedicated to teaching best practices of Ruby on Rails.
• Ruby on Rails Security Project - A good place to read up on security issues or at least keep your mind in it.
• Giant Robots Smashing Into Other Giant Robots - Good development tips and tricks, mostly related to Rails.
• Ryan’s Scraps - Interesting news on what’s new and upcoming within the Rails code base. Includes code samples and detailed descriptions and examples of new Rails features.
• Has Many Through - Although he has a low writing frequency, the posts are enlightening.
• Rails Envy - An entertaining and informative weekly podcast dedicated to Ruby, Rails, and web framework news.
• Rails Podcasts - Ruby/Rails podcasts by Geoffrey Grosenbach of PeepCode fame.
• Rails Magazine - News, articles, and information about the Ruby on Rails framework.

Tutorials

• Railscasts - Short screen cast tutorials of Ruby on Rails code.
• Envy Casts - Produced by the same guys that host the Rails Envy podcasts. Each screen cast tutorial will set you back about $9.
• PeepCode - Screencast tutorials like Railscasts but longer in length and not free (roughly $9 per episode).
• Tekniqal - A collection of screencasts that cover some of the Ruby basics.
• Scaling Rails - A series of screencasts on detailing how to scale your Ruby on Rails application appropriately. Produced by Gregg Pollack of Envy Cast fame.
• BDD Casts - Video tutorials on all things related to Behavior Driven Development.

BTW, you can find this list and more on my Ruby page.

Tags: Ruby, Ruby on Rails

Rails Setup Template 1.0.0

I have released a new Ruby on Rails template project called: Rails Setup Template. In truth, this is a renaming of the original Rails Setup project. I am planning on releasing other template projects in the future so this was cause for a little refactoring of my GitHub projects.

In addition to the original code, there are a few extra goodies including the use of the BlockUI JavaScript library for easily dealing with lengthy AJAX processes and some bug fixes. Check out the template when you have a chance, it’ll definitely make building your new Ruby on Rails projects easier. It is what I use for all new work and quick demos.

Tags: Ruby on Rails

Ruby Gem Setup 1.0.0

I have released a simple GitHub project called Ruby Gem Setup that makes setting up your Ruby Gems a little easier. Here are a few highlights:

• Ensures the Ruby Gem environment is at the latest version.
• Adds GitHub and Gemcutter as gem sources.
• Allows you to configure a setup.txt file that lists all your favorite gems for install.

Very handy, especially when managing gems for multiple versions of Ruby. Feel free to fork the project for your own purposes if you like or simply maintain your own setup.txt file.

MacOS Ruby Development Setup

For those wanting to set up a proper Ruby and Ruby on Rails development environment for your MacOS, I’ve created an OmniOutliner outline that I use. Its my personal guide to getting my development environment setup properly especially if one has erased and install the operating system from scratch.

When making the outline, I pulled heavily from the following articles (also found on my MacOS page) with a few modification here and there:

• A definitive upgrade guide
• Upgrade notes on developer tools
• A bunch of notes on getting your developer tools up and running without too much trouble
• How to get MySQL working

You can download the outline for your own use here:

• MacOS Ruby Development Setup 1.0.1

In the future, I hope to provide this outline in both original and HTML format but for now, I just have the OmniOutliner format. Apologies to those who don’t use OmniOutliner.

Tags: MacOS, Ruby

Mac OS X 10.6.x (Snow Leopard) Applications

I wrote about performing a clean install of MacOS 10.5.x (Leopard) Applications a while ago. With Snow Leopard out, things have changed but not by much. The following is a breakdown of apps I commonly use and their install order (from a fresh install of the MacOS):

1. MacOS 10.6.0 (Snow Leopard Disk) - Insert the DVD, click the Utilities button, and click the Restart button. You’ll be booted into the Snow Leopard install at which point you’ll want to launch Disk Utility and format your hard drive (journaled). After you have wiped your hard drive, exit Disk Utility, and continue on with the Snow Leopard install.
2. XCode Tools (Snow Leopard Disk)
3. MacOS X 10.6.x Combo Patch (download)
4. Canon Printer Drivers/Utilities (download)
5. PathFinder (download)
6. OmniFocus (download)
7. OmniOutliner (download)
8. OmniGraffle (download)
9. Firefox (download)
10. Opera (download)
11. FileZilla (download)
12. Vienna (download)
13. 1Password (download)
14. Jing (download)
15. VLC (download)
16. Caffeine (download)
17. Coconut Battery (download)
18. iStat Menus (download)
19. TextMate (download)
20. VMWare Fusion (download)
21. Billings (download)
22. MoneyWell (download)
23. Delicious Library (download)
24. OpenOffice (download)
25. Skype (download)
26. Tweetie (download)
27. Lorem Ipsum widget (download)
28. Logitech Harmony 890 remote software (download)
29. Startup Sound
30. Carbon Copy Cloner (download)
31. Software Updates (via the Apple icon, requires a couple reboots)

You can learn more about some of these apps on my Applications page. Also, since I’m one of those who likes organization, I wrote a post on data management a while back that sheds further light on how I manage my apps and the data related to them in case it is of interest (Note: even though the post was originally written for Windows some of the concepts still apply for the MacOS).

REST 1.1.0 Gem

A new version of the REST 1.1.0 gem has been released. Here are the highlights:

• Clarified the readme documentation.
• Updated the JavaScript code so that events are bound for current and future instances instead of just once.
• Fixed a JavaScript bug where deleting nested inputs on a new form would cause an exception.
• Updated the JavaScript code so that new records are initially hidden.
• Updated the JavaScript code so the last record of a form is not deleted. Contents will be cleared and hidden (if last element).
• Applied fade in/out effects when adding/destroying input forms.
• Removed the hiding of the delete link via the various resource helpers.
• Modified the JavaScript incrementNumber(string, position) function for better handling of complex nested Rails model forms.
• Renamed all forms of the “new” action UJS classes to a single “new” class. Use the data-type attribute to distinguish type.
• Applied “group” and “record” classes to distinguish between a group of records and a single record. Very handy for creating and/or destroying form elements.
• Renamed the various resource helpers to be aware of input elements (this affects the destroy helpers mostly).
• Added default option support for the Will Paginate gem requirement (use config/initializers/pagination.rb to change settings).
• Renamed all “show_” helpers to “render_” helpers.
• Added a render_show_link helper.
• Added a render_new_link helper.
• Added a render_edit_link helper.
• Added icons for show, new, edit, and destroy actions. All corresponding helpers default to these icons.
• Changed the rendering of partials to templates for all REST actions.
• Added the ability to supply an index template if you wish to override the default index action behavior.
• Added basic AJAX handling for the destroy action so that a response can be sent back to the JavaScript caller.
• Moved all JavaScript REST functionality into a proper jQuery plugin.
• Renamed the “ujs_setup” generator to “rest_setup”.

These same notes can be also be found by viewing the CHANGELOG. I also recommend viewing the OmniGraffle design document on how the form layouts are to used by the unobtrusive jQuery code when creating your views.

Tags: Ruby on Rails