User manual | Creating a Ruby Project - Rachael Boer Photography

Contents

Chapter 1: Installing NetBeans IDE with Ruby Support ..................1

Downloading the IDE ............................................................................. 1

Installing the Java Software Development Kit ...................................... 2

Installing the IDE ................................................................................... 3

Adding Ruby to an Existing NetBeans Installation .............................. 4

Summary.................................................................................................. 6

Chapter 2: Trying Out the IDE .....................................................7

Creating a Ruby Project.......................................................................... 7

Creating a Rails Project ........................................................................ 11

Summary................................................................................................ 16

Chapter 3: Configuring Your Environment ...................................17

Registering Ruby Installations ............................................................. 17

Managing Gems .................................................................................... 20

Using the Ruby Gems Manager .................................................................. 21

Gems Repository Permissions..................................................................... 22

Using the Gem Tool from the Command Line ........................................... 23

Installing Gems That Have Native Extensions ........................................... 25

Adding Servers ...................................................................................... 26

Accessing Databases from the IDE ...................................................... 27

Creating Databases from the IDE................................................................ 27

Registering Existing Databases with the IDE ............................................. 28

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Working with Databases from the IDE ....................................................... 30

Summary................................................................................................ 32

Chapter 4: Working with Ruby Projects.......................................33

Setting Up Ruby Projects ...................................................................... 33

Using the Project and Files Windows .................................................. 36

Adding Files .......................................................................................... 38

Running Ruby Applications.................................................................. 40

Running Rake Tasks ............................................................................. 43

Using Interactive Ruby (IRB)............................................................... 44

Summary................................................................................................ 46

Chapter 5: Working with Rails Projects .......................................47

Setting Up Rails Projects ...................................................................... 47

Working with Databases ....................................................................... 51

Setting Database Configurations ................................................................. 51

Using Databases with JRuby....................................................................... 55

Creating Databases ...................................................................................... 57

Creating and Changing Tables .................................................................... 58

Working with Generators...................................................................... 60

Adding Files .......................................................................................... 62

Running Rake Tasks ............................................................................. 62

Adding Plugins ...................................................................................... 63

Running Applications ........................................................................... 64

Using the Rails Console ........................................................................ 67

Summary................................................................................................ 68

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Chapter 6: Editing Files .............................................................69

Live Code Assistance............................................................................. 69

About Semantic Coloring...................................................................... 72

Using Code Completion ........................................................................ 74

Using Live Code Templates .................................................................. 77

About Hints and Quick Fixes ............................................................... 79

Refactoring Code................................................................................... 81

Navigating Code .................................................................................... 86

Navigating Within a File ............................................................................. 86

Navigating to Members ............................................................................... 88

Navigating to Files ...................................................................................... 89

Viewing RDoc........................................................................................ 96

Working with Task Lists ....................................................................... 98

Viewing Recent Changes ...................................................................... 99

Keyboard Shortcuts ............................................................................. 100

Summary.............................................................................................. 102

Chapter 7: Testing and Debugging Projects .............................. 105

Creating Tests...................................................................................... 105

Creating Unit Tests.................................................................................... 106

Adding Fixtures......................................................................................... 109

Creating RSpec Tests ................................................................................ 109

Running Tests and Specs .................................................................... 112

Using Autotest ..................................................................................... 115

Debugging Applications...................................................................... 116

Running the Debugger............................................................................... 117

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Working with Breakpoints ........................................................................ 119

Using the Debugger Window .................................................................... 122

Using the Local History Feature ........................................................ 123

Viewing Log Files ............................................................................... 124

Summary.............................................................................................. 125

Chapter 8: Working with JRuby................................................ 127

Creating JRuby Projects ..................................................................... 127

Adding Java Libraries to JRuby Projects .......................................... 129

Using Java Classes and Methods in JRuby Projects......................... 130

Setting JRuby Runtime Properties ..................................................... 132

Using JRuby in Java Projects............................................................. 134

Summary.............................................................................................. 137

Chapter 9: Deploying Rails Applications .................................... 139

Creating WAR Files with the Warbler Plugin ................................... 139

Installing the Warbler Plugin .................................................................... 139

Configuring Warbler ................................................................................. 142

Creating the WAR File.............................................................................. 143

Deploying to Application Servers ....................................................... 143

Deploying to the GlassFish Application Server........................................ 143

Deploying to Tomcat................................................................................. 145

Summary.............................................................................................. 145

Chapter 10: Customizing the IDE ............................................. 146

Working with Editor Options.............................................................. 146

Tuning the Code Completion Pop-Up....................................................... 146

Setting Formatting Options ....................................................................... 148

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Customizing Live Code Templates ..................................................... 150

Adjusting Hints.......................................................................................... 152

Creating Code Shortcuts............................................................................ 153

Changing Fonts and Colors ............................................................... 155

Modifying Keyboard Shortcuts........................................................... 158

Modifying File Templates ................................................................... 160

Editing a Template .................................................................................... 161

Using Template Properties ........................................................................ 162

Adding Licenses to a Template ................................................................. 164

Setting Task List Patterns ................................................................... 165

Working with Nodes, Files, and Folders............................................ 166

Displaying the Physical File Structure in the Projects Window ............... 167

Adding Ruby Script File Extensions......................................................... 168

Changing the Location of the Ruby Source Files Folder .......................... 168

Editing Hidden Files in the IDE ................................................................ 169

Tweaking Under the Hood.................................................................. 169

IDE Options............................................................................................... 170

Editor Options ........................................................................................... 172

Troubleshooting the IDE .................................................................... 173

Summary.............................................................................................. 174

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Chapter 1: Installing NetBeans IDE with

Ruby Support

Installing the NetBeans IDE is fairly easy. Depending on your operating system, it may be as simple as running a command to fetch the IDE from a repository. Otherwise, you simply download the installation package from the NetBeans web site, ensure that you have the necessary Java

Development Kit (JDK) software on your system, and run the IDE’s installer. If you already have a 6.5 version of the IDE and want to add

Ruby support, skip to the section titled "Adding Ruby to an Existing

NetBeans Installation," later in this chapter.

Downloading the IDE

To get the NetBeans software, go to the NetBeans download page at http://www.netbeans.org/downloads and click the Download

NetBeans IDE button. Choose a language and a platform, then click the

Download button for either the Ruby bundle or the All bundle (see Figure

1-1). Because the Ruby download has a small footprint, it is the best option to choose if you are only doing Ruby programming. If you plan to use the

IDE to develop programs with the other supported languages, the All download bundle is the better choice. You can also choose a different download, such as the Java bundle, and add Ruby support after you install the download. Alternatively, look farther down the web page for the link to the MySQL GlassFish Bundle, which adds the MySQL database server to the download.

Be sure to install version 6.5 or later. Several of the features described in this book do not exist in earlier versions.

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Figure 1-1. The NetBeans Download Page

Tip You can download and install the IDE and its JDK software dependencies in a single step on an OpenSolaris system using the Package

Manager GUI, or from a terminal window using the following command: pkg install netbeans

. For Linux systems, you might want to check the

Linux repositories to see if they offer NetBeans IDE 6.5 packages.

Installing the Java Software Development Kit

For most of the bundles you must have JDK software on your system before installing the IDE. The NetBeans download page has a link to the

JDK download page as well as to a NetBeans IDE download that includes the JDK. On Ubuntu, you can install the JDK 6 package from Multiverse.

If you have Ubuntu 8.04 or later you can also use the Open JDK 6 packages from the Universe repository.

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Tip If you install the Ruby-only version of the IDE and will not use any of the IDE’s Java features, you can install the Java Runtime

Environment (JRE) instead of the JDK. However, if you do not have the JDK you will not be able to use the Warbler plugin to generate WAR files. The

JDK includes the JAR command, which is used by Warbler.

The installation instructions on the download page provide steps for the various operating systems. For example, on Windows you run the JDK installer.

Although you can install the IDE using JDK 5.0 software, installing with the JDK 6 release or later is recommended. For example, the LCD subpixel antialiasing changes in version 6 greatly improve the way fonts are displayed in the IDE on Windows. If you are on Ubuntu you should install, at a minimum, version 6 update 10 of the JDK software due to Abstract

Window Toolkit (AWT) issues with the Beryl and Compiz desktops.

Tip If you are not sure of your JDK version, execute the following in a command window: java-version

.

Installing the IDE

When you have downloaded the NetBeans installer and have the necessary

JDK installed on your system, you are ready to install the IDE. The method for installing depends on your operating system, as described here:

ƒ Windows: Double-click the file that has the .exe

extension.

ƒ Solaris, OpenSolaris, and Linux platforms (assuming you haven’t

installed from a repository): The installer file has an

.sh

extension. Before you run the installer file, execute the following command to make the file

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executable: chmod +x ./<installer-file-name>

. On Ubuntu, make sure your JDK release is the 6 update 10 release or later. Otherwise you could get a blank screen.

ƒ Mac OS X: The installer file has a .dmg

extension. After you run the installer the panel that opens displays a package icon with an

.mpkg

extension. Click this icon to start the installation wizard.

When the installer displays the JDK option, make sure the installer is using the JDK 6 release or later. If the installer cannot locate the JDK installation you want to use, try starting the installer again, but this time pass

–-javahome <path-to-jdk> to the installer.

The Ruby, Java, and All bundles include the GlassFish V3 server. The default username is anonymous and the password is blank. The Java and

All bundles also include the GlassFish V2 server. The default username and password for the V2 server are admin and adminadmin.

The download instructions on the NetBeans download page provide more detailed instructions for each operating system.

Tip If you upgrade the JDK after you install the IDE, you might want to open the

netbeans-install-dir

/etc/netbeans.conf

file and edit the netbeans_jdkhome

property to point the new installation.

Adding Ruby to an Existing NetBeans Installation

If you have a NetBeans IDE 6.5 installation without Ruby support (that is, there is no Ruby category when you go to create a new project), you can easily add Ruby support to the IDE by doing the following:

1. If your network uses a proxy, choose Tools h Options from the main menu, select Manual Proxy Settings, type the HTTP Proxy and Port for your proxy, and click OK.

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2. Open the Plugins manager by choosing Tools h Plugins from the main menu.

3. Click the Available Plugins tab and click the Category header to sort the list.

4. Select the check box next to the Ruby modules of interest (see Figure 1-2). At a minimum, select Ruby and Rails, which provides all of the NetBeans support for Ruby and Ruby on Rails (projects, editing, and so forth).

5. Unless you already have a Ruby or JRuby runtime installed, you will also want to select JRuby and Rails Distribution.

6. The other plugins in the Ruby category are optional, but there's really no reason not to install them as well, especially the GlassFish V3 JRuby

Integration plugin.

7. Click the Install button to launch the Plugin Installer.

8. Accept the license and click Install to complete the installation.

Figure 1-2. Plugins Manager

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Summary

In this chapter, you learned how to obtain and install the NetBeans 6.5 IDE with Ruby support, as well as the JDK software. The installation process is fairly automated, regardless of whether you are developing on Windows,

Mac, Solaris, or some flavor of Linux. In addition, the IDE enables you to install a Ruby-only version or a different configuration with added Ruby support.

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Chapter 2: Trying Out the IDE

At this point you are probably anxious to give the IDE a test run. Since the

NetBeans IDE provides everything you need to create Ruby and Rails applications out of the box, we thought we’d take you for a quick test drive before we dive into the details. As we go along through this chapter, we’ll reference the chapters that go more in-depth on various topics.

Creating a Ruby Project

Follow these steps to create a new Ruby project:

If you haven’t done so already, start the IDE by clicking the NetBeans icon.

1. To create a project, select File h New Project from the main menu. A New

Project wizard appears from which you specify the type of project you want to create.

2. Select Ruby in the Categories list, select Ruby Application in the Projects list

(see Figure 2-1), and click Next.

3. For this tour, use all the default settings. Note the assigned Project Name and

Project Location and click Finish. You will learn more about using the New

Project wizard for Ruby projects in Chapter 4.

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Figure 2-1. Choosing the Project Type

4. On the left side of the IDE is a panel that contains tabs for the Projects, Files, and Services windows. You will work in the Projects window (see Figure 2-

2). If you don't see the Projects window click the Projects tab to display it, or select Window h Projects from the main menu. You should now see your

Ruby project in the Projects window, with the main.rb node nested under the

Source Files node.

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Figure 2-2. Projects Window

Note The Projects window shows a project's logical view; its pop-up menu contains actions you typically use to develop applications. The Files window shows the project's physical structure and has a pop-up menu for managing files.

5. In the main section of the IDE is the editor window. After the IDE creates the project it opens the

main.rb

file in this window (see Figure 2-3). The code in this file calls the

puts

method to display the string “Hello World.” You will learn how to use the editor in Chapter 6.

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Figure 2-3. Editor Window

6. To run the application, right-click the project’s node in the Projects window and choose Run from the pop-up menu. The IDE displays the output in the

Output window at the bottom of the IDE (see Figure 2-4).

Figure 2-4. Output Window

7. You can delete this project by right-clicking the project’s node in the Projects window, then choosing Delete from the pop-up menu, selecting the Also

Delete Sources check box, and clicking Yes.

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Creating a Rails Project

Now follow these steps to create a Rails project:

1. Select File h New Project from the main menu.

2. Select Ruby on Rails Application from the Projects list and click Next.

3. The New Project wizard for a Rails application has more steps, which you will learn about in Chapter 5, but we will skip them for this project. As you did when creating the Ruby project, make note of the Project Name and

Project Location and click Finish. As part of the project creation process, the

IDE runs the rails

command to create a new Rails project and displays the output in the Output window (see Figure 2-5). The output shows the names of the created files as links. You can open any of these files in the editor by clicking the file's link.

Figure 2-5. Rails Command Results in the Output Window

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4. For this project you need to edit the environment.rb

file to remove the

Active Record framework from the environment configuration. Because you are not using a database in this application, you need to prevent Rails from trying to access the database specified in the database.yml

file. Scroll through the Rails output until you see the line that says create config/environment.rb

and then click the line to open the file in the editor window. Scroll to the following line in the source (around line 21):

# config.frameworks -= [ :active_record,

:active_resource,

:action_mailer ]

Tip To display line numbers, right-click in the left margin of the editor and choose Show Line Numbers from the pop-up menu.

5. Click the config.frameworks

line and click the Uncomment button on the editing tool bar to remove the

#

character from that line.

6. An asterisk (*) on the tab indicates the file has been modified. Click the Save

All button on the main toolbar to save your changes.

7. If you are using a Rails 2.1 version, which is the case with the bundled JRuby software, you must also remove the Active Record references in new_rails_defaults.rb

. Scroll through the Rails output until you see that line that says create config/initializers/ new_rails_defaults.rb

, then click that line to open the file in the editor window. Select each of the two

ActiveRecord::Base

settings and click the Comment button to comment out the lines, as shown here:

#ActiveRecord::Base.include_root_in_json = true

#ActiveRecord::Base.store_full_sti_class = true

8. Click the Save All button on the main toolbar.

9. Now look at the Projects window, which shows a logical view of the Rails project, as shown in Figure 2-6.

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Figure 2-6. Rails Project in the Projects Window

10. For this simple project you will create a controller and a view. In the Projects window, right-click the Controllers node and choose Generate from the popup menu. The IDE displays the Rails Generator dialog box with controller selected in the Generate drop-down list (see Figure 2-7). Set the Name to

Welcome, set the Views to index, and click OK. The Rails Generator dialog box is a GUI interface to the Rails generate

command. You will learn more about the Rails Generator in Chapter 5.

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Figure 2-7. Rails Generator

11. The IDE opens the welcome_controller.rb

file in the editor. Right-click in the file's source and choose Run File from the pop-up menu. The IDE starts the server, runs the index action in the controller, and displays the index view in your browser. You should see a page that looks similar to Figure 2-8.

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