RubyGems 0.9.1

Eric Hodel | Thu, 18 Jan 2007 19:00:00 GMT

Finally, the much anticipated RubyGems version 0.9.1 is now available. This release includes a number of new features and bug fixes.

The most important change in RubyGems 0.9.1 is that RubyGems no longer allows files to be installed outside of the installation directory. A separate security bulletin with full details will be posted shortly.

RubyGems 0.9.1 is a required update. The RubyForge gem repository will soon disallow installation by older versions of RubyGems. Manual installation will still be allowed.

Upgrade note

While require_gem was deprecated in 0.9.0, the bin stubs are still using it (oops!). To get rid of the warnings printed by rake or other bin stubs simply run 'gem pristine --all'.

Changes in RubyGems 0.9.1

Major changes include:

• RubyGems no longer allows installation of files outside the gem directory
• #require_gem will now print a warning, use #gem instead
• RubyGems now requires ruby 1.8.2 or greater
• RubyGems is -w clean

Minor changes include:

• gem command changes
  • new gem pristine command
  • new gem outdated command
  • new gem sources command
  • gem uninstall can uninstall multiple gems
  • gem install uses the cache instead of downloading
  • gem install returns non-zero exit code on failure
  • gem install can now set shebang on bin stubs (env or ruby)
  • gem help output now fits in 80 columns
• many proxy installation improvements
• gem cert improvements
• RubyGems is now easier to use as a library
  • Easier programatic installs
  • Easier inspection of local and remote gems
• extension building enhancements
• error reporting enhancements (less odd exceptions)
• require now loads .jar files

Bug fixes:

• installing from scratch fixed
• gem install --force forces
• installing from read-only location works
• gem uninstall requires full name
• gem install obeys GEM_HOME for bin scripts
• RubyGems now installs on ruby 1.9
• fixed issue with Gem::Specification#hash for JRuby
• RubyGems now installs RDoc and ri for itself
• RubyGems is now tab-free

What is RubyGems?

RubyGems is a package management system for Ruby applications and libraries. RubyGems' one command download makes installing Ruby software fun and enjoyable again.

Many gems are available for download from the RubyForge site. Browse the list of gems with a "gem list --remote" command and download what you need with a simple "gem install <name-of-gem>". RubyGems takes care of the details of installing, not only the gem you requested, but also any gems needed by the software you selected.

RubyGems Statistics

• About 1250 different gems are available from RubyForge
• Over 540 thousand downloads of the RubyGems software
• Over 8 million gem downloads

If you are interested in finding out when new gems are released, I maintain an RSS feed at http://onestepback.org/gemwatch.rss.

How can I get RubyGems?

If you have a recent version of RubyGems (0.8.5 or later), then all you need to do is:

$ gem update --system # you might need to be admin/root
$ gem pristine --all # ... here too

(Note: You may have to run the command twice if you have any previosly installed rubygems-update gems).

If you have an older version of RubyGems installed, then you can still do it in two steps:

$ gem install rubygems-update # again, might need to be admin/root
$ update_rubygems # ... here too
$ gem pristine --all # and here

If you don't have any gems install, there is still the pre-gem approach to getting software, doing it manually:

1. DOWNLOAD FROM: http://rubyforge.org/frs/?group_id=126
2. UNPACK INTO A DIRECTORY AND CD THERE
3. INSTALL WITH: ruby setup.rb all (you may need admin/root privilege)

What's Next

For RubyGems 0.9.2 the RubyGems team is looking to add:

1. Integration of local and remote installation
2. Automatic installation of platform-specific gems

Thanks

Contributors to this release include:

Anatol Pomozov, Gavin Sinclair, David Lee, Ryan Davis, Robert James, Chris Morris, Sylvain Joyeux, Sava Chankov, Tom Pollard, Kevin Clark, Andy Shen.

Keep those gems coming!

Posted in Ruby, Rubygems, Software | 2 comments | no trackbacks

RubyGems Beta 0.9.0.9

Eric Hodel | Mon, 08 Jan 2007 01:28:33 GMT

Beta version 0.9.0.9 is now available with:

gem update --system --source http://onestepback.org/betagems

This will be the last beta with major changes before the release of 0.9.1.

Upgrade note

While require_gem was deprecated in 0.9.0, the bin stubs are still using it (oops!). To get rid of the warnings printed by rake or other bin stubs simply run gem pristine --all.

What’s new since 0.9.0?

Lots! Many changes both big and small! Here’s an incomplete summary:

• require_gem is deprecated and will print a warning. Use gem instead.
• RubyGems now requires ruby 1.8.2 or greater.
• gem command changes
  • new gem pristine command
  • new gem outdated command
  • new gem sources command
  • gem uninstall can uninstall multiple gems
  • gem install uses the cache instead of downloading
  • gem install returns non-zero exit code on failure
  • gem install can now set shebang on bin stubs (env or ruby)
  • gem help output now fits in 80 columns
• now -w clean
• many proxy installation improvements
• gem cert improvements
• RubyGems is now easier to use as a library
  • Easier programatic installs
  • Easier inspection of local and remote gems
• extension building enhancements
• error reporting enhancements (less odd exceptions)
• many bugs fixed or closed (0 bugs in tracker!)
• require now loads .jar files
• select bug fixes:
  • installing from scratch fixed
  • gem install --force forces
  • installing from read-only location works
  • gem uninstall requires full name
  • gem install obeys GEM_HOME for bin scripts
  • RubyGems now installs on ruby 1.9

New since beta 0.9.0.8

• fixed issue with Gem::Specification#hash for JRuby
• RubyGems now installs RDoc and ri for itself
• RubyGems is now tab-free
• require_gem warning prints file and line information

For full details, read the ChangeLog.

Posted in Ruby, Rubygems, Software | no comments | no trackbacks

rbayes 1.0.0 Released

Eric Hodel | Sun, 07 Jan 2007 06:24:31 GMT

rbayes version 1.0.0 has been released!

rbayes-1.0.0 documentation.

An bayesian filter fed by a tokenizer that throws crap out you’d find in emails. Originally by Dan Peterson

Changes:

1.0.0 / 2007-01-06

• Birthday!
• Fully refactored from Dan Peterson’s original to be in a single class.

Posted in Ruby, Software | 2 comments | no trackbacks

RubyGems Beta 0.9.0.8

Eric Hodel | Tue, 26 Dec 2006 10:17:48 GMT

Beta version 0.9.0.8 is now available with:

gem update --system --source http://onestepback.org/betagems

Merry christmas from the RubyGems project!

If you find any bugs, report them on the RubyGems bug tracker.

Upgrade note

While require_gem was deprecated in 0.9.0, the bin stubs are still using it (oops!). To get rid of the warnings printed by rake or other bin stubs simply reinstall the gem. In the next beta ‘gem pristine—all’ will fix all your gem bin stubs.

What’s new since 0.9.0?

Lots! Many changes both big and small! Here’s an incomplete summary:

• require_gem is deprecated and will print a warning. Use gem instead.
• RubyGems now requires ruby 1.8.2 or greater.
• gem command changes
  • new gem pristine command
  • new gem outdated command
  • new gem sources command
  • gem uninstall can uninstall multiple gems
  • gem install uses the cache instead of downloading
  • gem install returns non-zero exit code on failure
  • gem install can now set shebang on bin stubs (env or ruby)
  • gem help output now fits in 80 columns
• now -w clean
• many proxy installation improvements
• gem cert impromevents
• RubyGems is now easier to use as a library.
  • Easier programatic installs
  • Easier inspection of local and remote gems
• extension building enhancements
• error reporting enhancements (less odd exceptions)
• many bugs fixed or closed (0 bugs in tracker!)
• require now loads .jar files
• select bug fixes:
  • installing from scratch fixed
  • gem install—force forces
  • installing from read-only location works
  • gem uninstall requires full name
  • gem install obeys GEM_HOME for bin scripts
  • RubyGems now installs on ruby 1.9

For full details, read the ChangeLog.

Posted in Ruby, Rubygems, Software | no comments | no trackbacks

Onward Hoe!

Eric Hodel | Sat, 28 Oct 2006 05:15:57 GMT

I used Hoe to release the paginator files… and I have to say that’s the easiest, least painful release I’ve ever done. As Ryan said at the conference, it makes it easy to release often—and that is spectacular!

As a self-described Rake nerd, I find Hoe to be truly compelling from a technical standpoint—but its possible effect on the community is even more exciting. Quicker, smaller releases are better for everyone, and with the addition of sow to the library, getting up and running is easier than ever.

My thanks to Ryan Davis and Ara Howard (not to mention the bevy of other contributers) for making something like this available to the community.

—Onward Hoe! via Codefluency – Home

Posted in Ruby, Seattle.rb, Software | no comments | no trackbacks

RingyDingy 1.1.0 Released

Eric Hodel | Tue, 24 Oct 2006 15:59:00 GMT

RingyDingy version 1.1.0 has been released!

http://seattlerb.rubyforge.org/RingyDingy

RingyDingy automatically re-registers your DRb service with a RingServer should communication with the RingServer stop.

Changes:

• Added ring_server executable (Rinda::RingServer wrapper)
  • Daemon mode
  • Rinda::RingServer service listingph
  • Remote verbose mode enable-disable
• Switched to Hoe

Posted in Conference, DRb, Seattle.rb, Software | no comments | no trackbacks

RingyDingy-1.0.0

Eric Hodel | Sat, 09 Sep 2006 23:29:00 GMT

RingyDingy is a little boat that keeps your DRb service afloat!

RingyDingy automatically registers a service with a RingServer. If communication between the RingServer and the RingyDingy is lost, RingyDingy will re-register its service with the RingServer when it reappears.

Similarly, the RingServer will automatically drop registrations by a RingyDingy that it can't communicate with after a short timeout.

Installing RingyDingy

Just install the gem: gem install RingyDingy

Using RingyDingy

You'll need a Rinda::RingServer, you can download one here.

Once you've got that running you can have a service register itself:

require 'rubygems'
require 'ringy_dingy'
require 'my_drb_service'

my_drb_service = MyDRbService.new

RingyDingy.new(my_drb_service).run

DRb.thread.join

Full documentation is available from ri once you've installed the gem.

To learn more about Rinda::RingServer, you can read my handy tutorial How to use Ruby's Rinda::Ring.

Posted in DRb, Ruby, Software | no comments

mem_inspect and png

Eric Hodel | Thu, 31 Aug 2006 22:52:00 GMT

I'm pleased to announce to new libraries written by members of the Seattle Ruby Brigade, mem_inspect and png!

mem_inspect

mem_inspect is ObjectSpace.each_object on crack. mem_inspect gives you the contents of each slot in Ruby's heap. mem_inspect also includes viewers that let you visualize the contents of Ruby's heap.

To install:

sudo gem install mem_inspect

Then you'll need to build a patched ruby:

ruby_mem_inspect_build

You'll then have a ruby capable of running mem_inspect in mem_inspect_ruby_1_8.

You can make an image with:

mem_inspect_ruby_1_8/ruby_mem_inspect -S ruby_mem_dump

Which will give you a PNG in your current directory named: mem_inspect.PID.TIMESTAMP.png

You'll get an image that looks something like this:

http://flickr.com/photos/drbrain/229482312/

Bigger:

http://flickr.com/photo_zoom.gne?id=229482312&size=o

To dump a PDF any time you want:

require 'meminspect/png_viewer'

MemInspect::PNGViewer.new(1024, 768).draw

You can also dump to an AquaTerm plot window if you have RubyCocoa and AquaTerm installed.

require 'meminspect/aquaterm_viewer'

MemInspect::AquatermViewer.new(1024, 768).draw

png

png is a pure-ruby PNG writing library written by Ryan Davis.

To install:

sudo gem install png

To use:

require 'png'

canvas = PNG::Canvas.new 200, 200

# Set a point to a color
canvas[100, 100] = PNG::Color::Black

# draw an anti-aliased line
canvas.line 50, 50, 100, 50, PNG::Color::Blue

png = PNG.new canvas
png.save 'blah.png'

Posted in Hacking, Ruby, Software | no comments

Subclassing vs include

Eric Hodel | Wed, 23 Aug 2006 18:15:00 GMT

In memcached Basics for Rails Rob Sanheim asked:

[W]hy make the cached model a class to extend instead of a module? Whether or not a model is cached should be an implementation detail, and shouldn’t define the hierarchy for a class. I know I would rather not use the power of (single!) inheritance just to cache something, when a mix-in should be plenty powerful to do it.

The short answer is:

Using a class the correct way to overlay features on top of another class.

Here’s my long answer:

When you use a class you get super, and super is a beautiful thing. It automatically walks your class’ ancestors and calls the right method in the right order.

A module doesn’t have this property so you can’t use it to overlay features on top of a class. The class’ implementation will always be called before the module’s implementation.

Now you’re going to say something about using alias to shuffle methods around. You could do that, but you’ll have to do this for each method you want to overlay (five in CachedModel) which involves lots of extra typing “do_the_thingy_without_the_stuff” that you could have had for free (and more-prettily) with “super”.

You also get another problem that may cause subtle bugs. When you use alias to overlay features the order of execution is dependent upon the order the files are required in! Intentionally writing code where the behavior may change file load order gives me the heebie-jeebies.

Having to do all that work to get the benefits of a subclass tells me that a module isn’t powerful enough to do what a subclass can, so a module isn’t the right way to add a cache.

I avoid* using modules to overlay features of a class, but do use them to add orthogonal or complementary features. Typically when I write a module it ends up being used like Comparable, Enumerable or Singleton. When I need to do something invasive a subclass is better.

Finally, making the argument that adding caching to ActiveRecord::Base via a subclass shouldn’t define the inheritance argument is very subjective. I could justify using a subclass by saying that ActiveRecord is a data storage class, and CachedModel is just another data store. If you want caching, inherit from CachedModel. If you don’t want caching, inherit from ActiveRecord::Base.

Except void or where prohibited by law. Your milage may vary. Break glass in case of emergency.

Posted in Rails, Ruby, Software | 9 comments

ar_mailer 1.1

Eric Hodel | Sat, 19 Aug 2006 22:41:15 GMT

ar_mailer allows you to queue ActionMailer emails in the database that will be sent with a separate process. ar_mailer gives drastic speed-ups when you need to send many emails.

To install ar_mailer: sudo gem install ar_mailer. You can also download ar_mailer from Rubyforge.

For instructions on how to convert from the regular delivery methods to using ar_mailer see the ar_mailer documentation.

ar_mailer-1.1.0 follows quick on the heels of ar_mailer 1.0. I’ve got several important features and bug fixes:

Features

• Added—chdir to set rails directory
• Added—environment to set RAILS_ENV
• Exits cleanly on TERM or INT signals
• Added FreeBSD rc.d script
• Exceptions during SMTP sending are now logged
• No longer waits if sending email took too long

Bugs fixed

• Fixed last send attempt in—mailq
• Better SMTP error handling
  • Messages are removed from the queue on 5xx errors
  • Added Net::SMTP.reset to avoid needing to recreate the connection

Posted in Rails, Software | no comments