blackstack-core 1.2.1

data/lib/functions.rb

@@ -0,0 +1,839 @@
+
+module BlackStack
+
+  # ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 
+  # PRY Supporting Functions
+  # ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 
+  module Debugging
+    @@allow_breakpoints = false
+    @@verbose = false
+
+    # return true if breakpoints are allowed
+    def self.allow_breakpoints
+      @@allow_breakpoints
+    end
+
+    # set breakpoints allowed if the hash contains a key :allow_breakpoints with a value of true
+    def self.set(h)
+      @@allow_breakpoints = h[:allow_breakpoints] if h[:allow_breakpoints].is_a?(TrueClass)
+      @@verbose = h[:verbose] if h[:verbose].is_a?(TrueClass)
+
+      if !@@allow_breakpoints
+        # monkey patching the pry method to not break on breakpoints
+        new_pry = lambda do
+          print "Breakpoint are not allowed" if @@verbose
+        end
+
+        Binding.class_eval do 
+          alias_method :old_pry, :pry
+          define_method :pry, new_pry
+        end
+      end
+    end
+  end
+
+  # ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 
+  # OCRA Supporting Functions
+  # ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 
+  module OCRA
+		# OCRA files run into a temp folder, where the script is unpacked.
+		# 
+		# This function is useful to require a configuration file when the
+		# script is running inside an OCRA temp folder, since the local folder
+		# of the running command is not the filder where the exe file is hosted.
+		# 
+		# More information: 
+		#	* https://stackoverflow.com/questions/1937743/how-to-get-the-current-working-directorys-absolute-path-from-irb
+		# * https://stackoverflow.com/questions/8577223/ruby-get-the-file-being-executed
+		# * https://stackoverflow.com/questions/7399882/ruby-getting-path-from-pathfilename/7400057
+		# 
+		def self.require_in_working_path(filename, path, show_path_info=false)
+			puts '' if show_path_info
+			path = File.expand_path File.dirname(path)
+			#path = Dir.pwd
+			puts "require_in_working_path.path:#{path}:." if show_path_info
+			file = "#{path}/#{filename}"
+			puts "require_in_working_path.file:#{file}:." if show_path_info
+			require file
+		end
+	end # module OCRA
+
+  # ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 
+  # DateTime Functions
+  # ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 
+  module DateTime    
+    # ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 
+    # Encoding
+    # ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 
+    module Encoding
+      # Convierte un objeto date-time a un string con formato sql-datetime (yyyy-mm-dd hh:mm:ss).
+      def self.datetime_to_sql(o)
+        return o.strftime("%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S")
+      end
+    end # module Encode
+
+    # ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 
+    # Miscelaneous
+    # ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 
+    module Misc
+      def self.datetime_values_check(year,month,day,hour,minute,second)
+        if (year.to_i<1900 || year.to_i>=2100)
+          return false
+        end
+      
+        if (month.to_i<1 || month.to_i>12)
+          return false
+        end
+      
+        # TODO: Considerar la cantidad de dias de cada mes, y los anios biciestos. Buscar alguna funcion existente.
+        if (day.to_i<1 || day.to_i>31)
+          return false
+        end
+      
+        if (hour.to_i<0 || hour.to_i>23)
+          return false
+        end
+      
+        if (minute.to_i<0 || minute.to_i>59)
+          return false
+        end
+      
+        if (second.to_i<0 || second.to_i>59)
+          return false
+        end
+      
+        return true
+      end # datetime_values_check
+    end # module Misc
+  end # module DateTime
+
+  # ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 
+  # Numeric Functions
+  # ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 
+  module Number
+    # ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 
+    # Encoding
+    # ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 
+    module Encoding
+      # Converts number to a string with a format like xx,xxx,xxx.xxxx 
+      # number: it may be int or float
+      def self.format_with_separator(number)
+        whole_part, decimal_part = number.to_s.split('.')
+        [whole_part.gsub(/(\d)(?=\d{3}+$)/, '\1,'), decimal_part].compact.join('.')
+      end
+
+      # Convierte una cantidad de minutos a una leyenda legible por el usuario.
+      # Ejemplo: "2 days, 5 hours"
+      # Ejemplo: "4 hours, 30 minutes"
+      # Ejemplo: "3 days, 4 hour"
+      def self.encode_minutes(n)
+        # TODO: validar que n sea un entero mayor a 0      
+        if (n<0)
+          return "?"
+        end
+        if (n<60)
+          return "#{n} minutes"
+        elsif (n<24*60)
+          return "#{(n/60).to_i} hours, #{n-60*(n/60).to_i} minutes"
+        else
+          return "#{(n/(24*60)).to_i} days, #{((n-24*60*(n/(24*60)).to_i)/60).to_i} hours"
+        end
+      end
+    end # module Encode
+  end # module Number
+
+  # ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 
+  # String Functions
+  # ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 
+  module Strings
+
+    GUID_SIZE                     = 36
+    MATCH_PASSWORD                = /(?=.*[a-zA-Z])(?=.*[0-9]).{6,}/ 
+    MATCH_GUID                    = /{?[0-9a-fA-F][0-9a-fA-F][0-9a-fA-F][0-9a-fA-F][0-9a-fA-F][0-9a-fA-F][0-9a-fA-F][0-9a-fA-F]\-[0-9a-fA-F][0-9a-fA-F][0-9a-fA-F][0-9a-fA-F]\-[0-9a-fA-F][0-9a-fA-F][0-9a-fA-F][0-9a-fA-F]-[0-9a-fA-F][0-9a-fA-F][0-9a-fA-F][0-9a-fA-F]\-[0-9a-fA-F][0-9a-fA-F][0-9a-fA-F][0-9a-fA-F][0-9a-fA-F][0-9a-fA-F][0-9a-fA-F][0-9a-fA-F][0-9a-fA-F][0-9a-fA-F][0-9a-fA-F][0-9a-fA-F]}?/
+    MATCH_FILENAME                = /[\w\-\_\.]+/
+    MATCH_EMAIL                   = /[A-Z0-9._%a-z\-]+@(?:[A-Z0-9a-z\-]+\.)+[A-Za-z]{1,25}/
+    MATCH_DOMAIN                  = /(?:[A-Z0-9a-z\-]+\.)+[A-Za-z]{2,10}/
+    MATCH_DATE_STANDARD           = /\d{4}\-(0?[1-9]|1[012])\-(0?[1-9]|[12][0-9]|3[01])/
+    MATCH_PHONE                   = /(?:\+\d{1,2}\s)?\(?\d{3}\)?[\s.-]?\d{3}[\s.-]?\d{4}/
+
+    # Note: MATCH_URL gets the URL up to '?', but it doesn't retrieves the parameters.
+    # Exmaple: 
+    #   https://foo.com/bar?param1=value1&param2=value2 --> https://foo.com/bar?
+    #   https://foo.com/bar/?param1=value1&param2=value2 --> https://foo.com/bar/?
+    MATCH_URL                     = /(https?:\/\/)?([\da-z\.-]+)([\.\:])([\da-z]{2,6})([\/[\da-z\.\-]+]*[\da-z])(\/)?(\?)?/i
+
+    MATCH_LINKEDIN_COMPANY_URL    = /(https?:\/\/)?(www\\.)?linkedin\.com\/company\//
+    MATCH_FIXNUM                  = /[0-9]+/
+    MATCH_CONTENT_SPINNING        = /{[^}]+}/
+    MATCH_SPINNED_TEXT            = /code me/ # TODO: define this regex for the issue #1226
+
+    # ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 
+    # Fuzzy String Comparsion Functions: How similar are 2 strings that are not exactly equal.
+    # ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 
+    module SQL
+      def self.string_to_sql_string(s)
+        #return s.force_encoding("UTF-8").gsub("'", "''").to_s
+        return s.gsub("'", "''").to_s
+      end
+    end
+    
+    # ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 
+    # Fuzzy String Comparsion Functions: How similar are 2 strings that are not exactly equal.
+    # ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 
+    module Comparing
+      # retorna 0 si los strings son iguales
+      # https://stackoverflow.com/questions/16323571/measure-the-distance-between-two-strings-with-ruby
+      def self.levenshtein_distance(s, t)  
+        s.downcase!
+        t.downcase!
+      
+        m = s.length
+        n = t.length
+        return m if n == 0
+        return n if m == 0
+        d = Array.new(m+1) {Array.new(n+1)}
+      
+        (0..m).each {|i| d[i][0] = i}
+        (0..n).each {|j| d[0][j] = j}
+        (1..n).each do |j|
+          (1..m).each do |i|
+            d[i][j] = if s[i-1] == t[j-1]  # adjust index into string
+                        d[i-1][j-1]       # no operation required
+                      else
+                        [ d[i-1][j]+1,    # deletion
+                          d[i][j-1]+1,    # insertion
+                          d[i-1][j-1]+1,  # substitution
+                        ].min
+                      end
+          end
+        end
+        d[m][n]
+      end
+      
+      # retorna la cantidad de palabras con mas de 3 caracteres que se encuentran en el parametro s
+      def self.max_sardi_distance(s)
+        s.downcase!
+        s.gsub!(/-/,' ')
+        ss = s.scan(/\b([a-z]+)\b/)
+        n = 0
+        ss.each { |x|
+          x = x[0]
+          if (x.size > 3) # para evitar keywords triviales como 'and'
+            n += 1
+          end
+        }
+        n
+      end
+      
+      # retorna la cantidad de palabras con mas de 3 caracteres del parametro s que se encuentran en el parametro t
+      def self.sardi_distance(s, t)
+        s.downcase!
+        t.downcase!
+        s.gsub!(/-/,' ')
+        t.gsub!(/-/,' ')
+        max_distance = max_sardi_distance(s)  
+        ss = s.scan(/\b([a-z]+)\b/)
+        tt = t.scan(/\b([a-z]+)\b/)
+        n = 0
+        ss.each { |x|
+          x = x[0]
+          if (x.size > 3) # para evitar keywords triviales como 'and'
+            if ( tt.select { |y| y[0] == x }.size > 0 )
+              n += 1
+            end
+          end
+        }
+        return max_distance - n
+      end
+    end # module Comparing
+    
+    # ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 
+    # Encoding: Make a string nice to be shown into an HTML string.
+    # ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 
+    module Encoding
+      # Then it makes it compatible with UTF-8.
+      # More details here: https://bitbucket.org/leandro_sardi/blackstack/issues/961  
+      def self.encode_string(s)
+        s.encode("UTF-8")
+      end
+  
+      # Escape the string to be shown into an HTML screen.
+      # Then it makes it compatible with UTF-8.
+      # More details here: https://bitbucket.org/leandro_sardi/blackstack/issues/961  
+      def self.encode_html(s)
+        encode_string(CGI.escapeHTML(s.to_s))
+      end
+
+      # Generates a description string from an exception object.
+      # Eescapes the string to be shown into an HTML screen.
+      # Makes it compatible with UTF-8.
+      # More details here: https://bitbucket.org/leandro_sardi/blackstack/issues/961  
+      def self.encode_exception(e, include_backtrace=true)
+        ret = encode_html(e.to_s) 
+        if (include_backtrace == true)
+          e.backtrace.each { |s|
+            ret += "<br/>" + encode_html(s)
+          } # e.backtrace.each
+        end # if
+        ret
+      end
+
+      # Returns a string with a description of a period of time, to be shown in the screen.
+      # period: it may be 'H', 'D', 'W', 'M', 'Y'  
+      # units: it is a positive integer  
+      def self.encode_period(period, units)
+        s = "Last "
+        s += units.to_i.to_s + " " if units.to_i > 1
+        s += "Hours" if period.upcase == "H" && units.to_i != 1
+        s += "Days" if period.upcase == "D" && units.to_i != 1
+        s += "Weeks" if period.upcase == "W" && units.to_i != 1
+        s += "Months" if period.upcase == "M" && units.to_i != 1
+        s += "Years" if period.upcase == "Y" && units.to_i != 1
+        s += "Hour" if period.upcase == "H" && units.to_i == 1
+        s += "Day" if period.upcase == "D" && units.to_i == 1
+        s += "Week" if period.upcase == "W" && units.to_i == 1
+        s += "Month" if period.upcase == "M" && units.to_i == 1
+        s += "Year" if period.upcase == "Y" && units.to_i == 1
+        s
+      end
+
+      #
+      def self.encode_guid(s)
+        return s.gsub('{',"").gsub('}',"").upcase
+      end
+
+      #
+      def self.encode_javascript(s)
+        s.to_s.gsub("'", "\\\\'").gsub("\r", "' + String.fromCharCode(13) + '").gsub("\n", "' + String.fromCharCode(10) + '")
+      end
+
+    end # module Encoding
+
+    # ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 
+    # DateTime
+    # ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 
+    module DateTime     
+      # Check the string has the format yyyymmddhhmmss.
+      # => Return true if success. Otherwise, return false.
+      # => Year cannot be lower than 1900.
+      # => Year cannot be higher or equal than 2100. 
+      def self.datetime_api_check(s)
+        return false if (s.size!=14)      
+        year = s[0..3]
+        month = s[4..5]
+        day = s[6..7] 
+        hour = s[8..9] 
+        minute = s[10..11] 
+        second = s[12..13]       
+        BlackStack::DateTime::Misc::datetime_values_check(year,month,day,hour,minute,second)
+      end # def datetime_api_check
+
+      # Check the string has the format yyyy-mm-dd hh:mm:ss.
+      # => Return true if success. Otherwise, return false.
+      # => Year cannot be lower than 1900.
+      # => Year cannot be higher or equal than 2100. 
+      def self.datetime_sql_check(s)
+        return false if (s.size!=19)
+        year = s[0..3]
+        month = s[5..6]
+        day = s[8..9] 
+        hour = s[11..12] 
+        minute = s[14..15] 
+        second = s[17..18] 
+        BlackStack::DateTime::Misc::datetime_values_check(year,month,day,hour,minute,second)
+      end # def datetime_sql_check
+      
+      # Convierte un string con formato api-datatime (yyyymmddhhmmss) a un string con formato sql-datetime (yyyy-mm-dd hh:mm:ss).
+      def self.datetime_api_to_sql(s)
+        raise "Wrong Api DataTime Format." if (datetime_api_check(s)==false)
+        year = s[0..3]
+        month = s[4..5]
+        day = s[6..7] 
+        hour = s[8..9] 
+        minute = s[10..11] 
+        second = s[12..13] 
+        ret = "#{year}-#{month}-#{day} #{hour}:#{minute}:#{second}" 
+        return ret
+      end # def datetime_api_to_sql 
+      
+      # Convierte un string con formato sql-datatime a un string con formato sql-datetime.
+      def self.datetime_sql_to_api(s)
+        raise "Wrong SQL DataTime Format." if (datetime_sql_check(s)==false)
+        year = s[0..3]
+        month = s[5..6]
+        day = s[8..9] 
+        hour = s[11..12] 
+        minute = s[14..15] 
+        second = s[17..18] 
+        ret = "#{year}#{month}#{day}#{hour}#{minute}#{second}" 
+        return ret
+      end # def datetime_sql_to_api
+    end # module DateTime
+
+
+    # ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 
+    # Spinning
+    # ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 
+    module Spinning
+      # Esta funcion retorna una variacion al azar del texto que se pasa.
+      # Esta funcion se ocupa de dividir el texto en partes, para eviar el error "too big to product" que arroja la libraría.
+      def self.random_spinning_variation(text)
+        ret = text
+        
+        text.scan(MATCH_CONTENT_SPINNING).each { |s|
+          a = ContentSpinning.new(s).spin
+          rep = a[rand(a.size)]
+          ret = ret.gsub(s, rep)
+          a = nil
+        }
+      
+        return ret
+      end
+      
+      # retorna true si la sintaxis del texto spineado es correcta
+      # caso contrario retorna false
+      # no soporta spinnings anidados. ejemplo: {my|our|{a car of mine}}
+      def self.valid_spinning_syntax?(s)
+        # valido que exste
+        n = 0
+        s.split('').each { |c|
+          n+=1 if c=='{'  
+          n-=1 if c=='}'
+          if n!=0 && n!=1
+            #raise "Closing spining char '}' with not previous opening spining char '{'." if n<0
+            #raise "Opening spining char '{' inside another spining block." if n>1
+            return false if n<0 # Closing spining char '}' with not previous opening spining char '{'.
+            return false if n>1 # Opening spining char '{' inside another spining block.
+          end  
+        }
+              
+        return false if n!=0
+        
+        # obtengo cada uno de los spinnings
+        s.scan(MATCH_CONTENT_SPINNING).each { |x|
+          a = x.split('|')
+          raise "No variations delimited by '|' inside spinning block." if a.size <= 1
+        }
+              
+        true
+      end
+      
+      # returns true if the text is spinned.
+      # otherwise, returns false.
+      def self.spintax?(s)
+        s.scan(MATCH_CONTENT_SPINNING).size > 0
+      end
+    end # module Spinning
+    
+    
+    # ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 
+    # Miscelaneus
+    # ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 
+    module Misc
+      # make a Ruby string safe for a filesystem.
+      # References:
+      # => https://stackoverflow.com/questions/1939333/how-to-make-a-ruby-string-safe-for-a-filesystem
+      # => http://devblog.muziboo.com/2008/06/17/attachment-fu-sanitize-filename-regex-and-unicode-gotcha/
+      def self.sanitize_filename(filename)
+        ret = filename.strip do |name|
+          # NOTE: File.basename doesn't work right with Windows paths on Unix
+          # get only the filename, not the whole path
+          name.gsub!(/^.*(\\|\/)/, '')
+      
+          # Strip out the non-ascii character
+          name.gsub!(/[^0-9A-Za-z.\-]/, '_')
+        end
+        return ret
+      end
+    end # module Misc
+
+
+    # ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 
+    # Email Appending Functions
+    # ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 
+    module Appending
+      APPEND_PATTERN_FNAME_DOT_LNAME = 0
+      APPEND_PATTERN_FNAME = 1
+      APPEND_PATTERN_LNAME = 2
+      APPEND_PATTERN_F_LNAME = 3
+      APPEND_PATTERN_F_DOT_LNAME = 4
+
+      # 
+      def self.name_pattern(pattern, fname, lname)
+        if (pattern==APPEND_PATTERN_FNAME_DOT_LNAME)
+          return "#{fname}.#{lname}"
+        elsif (pattern==APPEND_PATTERN_FNAME)
+          return "#{fname}"
+        elsif (pattern==APPEND_PATTERN_LNAME)
+          return "#{lname}"
+        elsif (pattern==APPEND_PATTERN_F_LNAME)
+          return "#{fname[0]}#{lname}"
+        elsif (pattern==APPEND_PATTERN_F_DOT_LNAME)
+          return "#{fname[0]}.#{lname}"
+        else
+          raise "getNamePattern: Unknown pattern code."
+        end
+      end
+
+      # 
+      def self.get_email_variations(first_name, last_name, domain, is_a_big_company)
+        variations = Array.new
+        variations << first_name + "." + last_name + "@" + domain
+        variations << first_name[0] + last_name + "@" + domain
+        variations << first_name + "_" + last_name + "@" + domain
+        variations << first_name[0] + "." + last_name + "@" + domain      
+        if (is_a_big_company == false)
+          variations << last_name + "@" + domain
+          variations << first_name + "@" + domain
+        end
+        #variations << first_name + "." + last_name + "@" + domain
+        #variations << first_name + "_" + last_name + "@" + domain
+        #variations << last_name + "." + first_name + "@" + domain
+        #variations << last_name + "_" + first_name + "@" + domain
+        #variations << first_name[0] + "." + last_name + "@" + domain
+        #variations << first_name + "." + last_name[0] + "@" + domain
+        #variations << last_name[0] + "." + first_name + "@" + domain
+        #variations << last_name + "." + first_name[0] + "@" + domain
+        #variations << first_name[0] + last_name + "@" + domain
+        #variations << first_name + last_name[0] + "@" + domain
+        #variations << last_name[0] + first_name + "@" + domain
+        #variations << last_name + first_name[0] + "@" + domain
+        #variations << first_name + "@" + domain
+        #variations << last_name + "@" + domain
+        return variations
+      end
+    end # module Appending
+  end # module String
+  
+  # ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 
+  # Network
+  # ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 
+  module Netting
+    CALL_METHOD_GET = 'get'
+    CALL_METHOD_POST = 'post'
+    DEFAULT_SSL_VERIFY_MODE = OpenSSL::SSL::VERIFY_NONE
+    SUCCESS = 'success'
+    
+    @@lockfiles = []   
+
+    @@max_api_call_channels = 0 # 0 means infinite
+    
+    def self.max_api_call_channels()
+      @@max_api_call_channels
+    end
+
+    def self.lockfiles()
+      @@lockfiles
+    end
+
+    def self.set(h)
+      @@max_api_call_channels = h[:max_api_call_channels]
+      @@lockfiles = []
+      
+      i = 0
+      while i<@@max_api_call_channels
+        @@lockfiles << File.open("./apicall.channel_#{i.to_s}.lock", "w")
+        i+=1
+      end
+    end
+
+
+    class ApiCallException < StandardError
+      attr_accessor :description
+      
+      def initialize(s)
+        self.description = s
+      end
+      
+      def to_s
+        self.description
+      end
+    end
+    
+    # New call_get
+    def self.call_get(url, params = {}, ssl_verify_mode=BlackStack::Netting::DEFAULT_SSL_VERIFY_MODE, support_redirections=true) 
+      uri = URI(url)
+      uri.query = URI.encode_www_form(params)
+      Net::HTTP.start(uri.host, uri.port, :use_ssl => uri.scheme == 'https', :verify_mode => ssl_verify_mode) do |http|
+        req = Net::HTTP::Get.new uri
+        #req.body = body if !body.nil?
+        res = http.request req
+        case res
+        when Net::HTTPSuccess then res
+        when Net::HTTPRedirection then BlackStack::Netting::call_get(URI(res['location']), params, false) if support_redirections
+        else
+          res.error!
+        end
+      end
+    end
+    
+    # Call the API and return th result.
+    # url: valid internet address
+    # params: hash of params to attach in the call
+    # ssl_verify_mode: you can disabele SSL verification here. 
+    # max_channels: this method use lockfiles to prevent an excesive number of API calls from each datacenter. There is not allowed more simultaneous calls than max_channels.
+    # TODO: setup max_simultaneus_calls in the configurtion file.
+    # TODO: parameter support_redirections has been deprecated.
+    def self.call_post(url, params = {}, ssl_verify_mode=BlackStack::Netting::DEFAULT_SSL_VERIFY_MODE, support_redirections=true)
+=begin
+      # build the lockfile name
+      x = 0
+      if BlackStack::Netting.max_api_call_channels.to_i > 0
+        raise "Max Channels cannot be higher than #{BlackStack::Netting.lockfiles.size.to_s}" if BlackStack::Netting.max_api_call_channels > BlackStack::Netting.lockfiles.size
+        x = rand(BlackStack::Netting.max_api_call_channels)
+        # lock the file
+        BlackStack::Netting.lockfiles[x].flock(File::LOCK_EX) if use_lockfile
+      end
+=end
+      begin
+#puts 
+#puts "call_post:#{url}:."
+        # do the call
+        uri = URI(url)
+        ret = Net::HTTP.start(uri.host, uri.port, :use_ssl => uri.scheme == 'https', :verify_mode => ssl_verify_mode) do |http|
+          req = Net::HTTP::Post.new(uri)
+          req['Content-Type'] = 'application/json'
+          req.set_form_data(params)
+          #req.body = body if !body.nil?
+          res = http.request req
+          case res 
+          when Net::HTTPSuccess then res
+          #when Net::HTTPRedirection then BlackStack::Netting::call_post(URI(res['location']), params, BlackStack::Netting::DEFAULT_SSL_VERIFY_MODE, false) if support_redirections
+          else
+            res.error!
+          end
+        end
+        
+        # release the file
+#        BlackStack::Netting.lockfiles[x].flock(File::LOCK_UN) if use_lockfile && BlackStack::Netting.max_api_call_channels.to_i > 0
+      rescue => e
+        # release the file
+#        BlackStack::Netting.lockfiles[x].flock(File::LOCK_UN) if use_lockfile && BlackStack::Netting.max_api_call_channels.to_i > 0
+        
+        # elevo la excepcion
+        raise e
+      ensure
+        # release the file
+#        BlackStack::Netting.lockfiles[x].flock(File::LOCK_UN) if use_lockfile && BlackStack::Netting.max_api_call_channels.to_i > 0
+      end
+      
+      # return 
+      ret
+    end
+
+    # 
+    def self.api_call(url, params={}, method=BlackStack::Netting::CALL_METHOD_POST, ssl_verify_mode=BlackStack::Netting::DEFAULT_SSL_VERIFY_MODE, max_retries=5)
+      nTries = 0
+      bSuccess = false
+      parsed = nil
+      sError = ""
+      while (nTries < max_retries && bSuccess == false)
+        begin
+          nTries = nTries + 1
+          uri = URI(url)
+          res = BlackStack::Netting::call_post(uri, params, ssl_verify_mode) if method==BlackStack::Netting::CALL_METHOD_POST
+          res = BlackStack::Netting::call_get(uri, params, ssl_verify_mode) if method==BlackStack::Netting::CALL_METHOD_GET
+          parsed = JSON.parse(res.body)
+          if (parsed['status']==BlackStack::Netting::SUCCESS)
+            bSuccess = true
+          else
+            sError = "Status: #{parsed['status'].to_s}. Description: #{parsed['value'].to_s}." 
+          end
+        rescue Errno::ECONNREFUSED => e
+          sError = "Errno::ECONNREFUSED:" + e.to_console
+        rescue => e2
+          sError = "Exception:" + e2.to_console
+        end
+      end # while
+    
+      if (bSuccess==false)
+        raise "#{sError}"
+      end
+    end # apicall
+
+    # Download a file from an url to a local folder.
+    # url: must be somedomain.net instead of somedomain.net/, otherwise, it will throw exception.
+    # to: must be a valid path to a folder.
+    def self.download(url, to)
+      uri = URI(url)
+      domain = uri.host.start_with?('www.') ? uri.host[4..-1] : uri.host    
+      path = uri.path
+      filename = path.split("/").last
+      Net::HTTP.start(domain) do |http|
+        resp = http.get(path)
+        open(to, "wb") do |file|
+          file.write(resp.body)
+        end
+      end
+    end
+
+    # Return the extension of the last path into an URL.
+    # Example: get_url_extension("http://connect.data.com/sitemap_index.xml?foo_param=foo_value") => ".xml"  
+    def self.get_url_extension(url)
+      return File.extname(URI.parse(url).path.to_s)
+    end
+
+    # Removes the 'www.' from an URL.
+    def self.get_host_without_www(url)
+      url = "http://#{url}" if URI.parse(url).scheme.nil?
+      host = URI.parse(url).host.downcase
+      host.start_with?('www.') ? host[4..-1] : host
+    end
+
+    # Get the final URL if a web page is redirecting.
+    def self.get_redirect(url)
+      uri = URI.parse(url)
+      protocol = uri.scheme
+      host = uri.host.downcase
+      res = Net::HTTP.get_response(uri)
+      "#{protocol}://#{host}#{res['location']}"
+    end
+
+    # returns the age in days of the given file
+    def self.file_age(filename)
+      (Time.now - File.ctime(filename))/(24*3600)
+    end
+
+
+    # TODO: Is not guaranteed this function works with 100% of the redirect-urls. This problem requires analysis and development of a general purpose algorith
+    # This function gets the final url from a redirect url.
+    # Not all the redirect-urls works the same way.
+    # Below are 3 examples. Each one works with 1 of the 2 strategies applied by this funcion.
+    # => url = "https://www.google.com.ar/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0CB0QFjAAahUKEwjCg8zMsNvGAhXMMj4KHWBfA50&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.linkedin.com%2Fpub%2Fdavid-bell%2F5%2F76a%2F12&ei=IGalVcLzFMzl-AHgvo3oCQ&usg=AFQjCNGMbF2vRIOWsRjF-bjjoG6Nl1wg_g&sig2=ZP6ZbZxpmTHw82rIP7YYew&bvm=bv.97653015,d.cWw"
+    # => url = "https://www.google.com.ar/url?q=https://www.linkedin.com/pub/mark-greene/2/bb8/b59&sa=U&ved=0CDoQFjAIahUKEwiqivi5sdvGAhWJg5AKHSzkB5o&usg=AFQjCNGE09H9hf92mfvwPVnComssDjBBCw"
+    # If the url is not a redirect-url, this function returns the same url.
+=begin
+    def get_redirect(url)
+      begin
+        res = nil
+        httpc = HTTPClient.new
+        resp = httpc.get(url)
+        res = resp.header['Location']
+        
+        if res.size == 0
+          uri = URI.parse(url)
+          uri_params = CGI.parse(uri.query)
+          redirected_url = uri_params['url'][0]            
+          
+          if ( redirected_url != nil )
+            res = redirected_url
+          else
+            res = url
+          end
+        else
+          res = res[0]
+        end
+      rescue
+        res = url
+      end
+      return res
+    end
+=end
+    # returns a hash with the parametes in the url
+    def self.params(url)
+      # TODO: Corregir este parche:
+      # => El codigo de abajo usa la URL de una busqueda en google. Esta url generara una excepcion cuando se intenta parsear sus parametros.
+      # => Ejecutar las 2 lineas de abajo para verificar.
+      # => url = "https://www.google.com/webhp#q=[lead+generation]+%22John%22+%22Greater+New+York+City+Area+*+Financial+Services%22+site:linkedin.com%2Fpub+-site:linkedin.com%2Fpub%2Fdir"
+      # => p = CGI::parse(URI.parse(url).query)
+      # => La linea de abajo hace un gsbub que hace que esta url siga funcionando como busqueda de google, y ademas se posible parsearla.
+      url = url.gsub("webhp#q=", "webhp?q=")
+    
+      return CGI::parse(URI.parse(url).query)
+    end
+    
+    # Add a parameter to the url. It doesn't validate if the param already exists.
+    def self.add_param(url, param_name, param_value)
+      uri = URI(url)
+      params = URI.decode_www_form(uri.query || '')
+      
+      if (params.size==0)
+        params << [param_name, param_value]
+        uri.query = URI.encode_www_form(params)
+        return uri.to_s
+      else
+        uri.query = URI.encode_www_form(params)
+        return uri.to_s + "&" + param_name + "=" + param_value    
+      end
+    end
+    
+    # Changes the value of a parameter in the url. It doesn't validate if the param already exists.
+    def self.change_param(url, param_name, param_value)
+      uri = URI(url)
+    #  params = URI.decode_www_form(uri.query || [])
+      params = CGI.parse(uri.query)
+      params["start"] = param_value
+      uri.query = URI.encode_www_form(params)
+      uri.to_s
+    end
+    
+    # Change or add the value of a parameter in the url, depending if the parameter already exists or not.
+    def self.set_param(url, param_name, param_value)
+      params = BlackStack::Netting::params(url) 
+      if ( params.has_key?(param_name) == true )
+        newurl = BlackStack::Netting::change_param(url, param_name, param_value)
+      else
+        newurl = BlackStack::Netting::add_param(url, param_name, param_value)
+      end
+      return newurl
+    end
+    
+    # get the domain from any url
+    def self.getDomainFromUrl(url)
+      if (url !~ /^http:\/\//i && url !~ /^https:\/\//i) 
+        url = "http://#{url}"
+      end
+      
+      if (URI.parse(url).host == nil)
+        raise "Cannot get domain for #{url}" 
+      end
+    
+      if (url.to_s.length>0)
+        return URI.parse(url).host.sub(/^www\./, '')
+      else
+        return nil
+      end
+    end
+  
+    def self.getDomainFromEmail(email)
+      if email.email?
+        return email.split("@").last
+      else
+        raise "getDomainFromEmail: Wrong email format."
+      end
+    end
+  
+    def self.getWhoisDomains(domain, allow_heuristic_to_avoid_hosting_companies=false)
+      a = Array.new
+      c = Whois::Client.new
+      r = c.lookup(domain)
+    
+      res = r.to_s.scan(/Registrant Email: (#{BlackStack::Strings::MATCH_EMAIL})/).first
+      if (res!=nil)
+        a << BlackStack::Netting::getDomainFromEmail(res[0].downcase)
+      end
+    
+      res = r.to_s.scan(/Admin Email: (#{BlackStack::Strings::MATCH_EMAIL})/).first
+      if (res!=nil)
+        a << BlackStack::Netting::getDomainFromEmail(res[0].downcase)
+      end
+    
+      res = r.to_s.scan(/Tech Email: (#{BlackStack::Strings::MATCH_EMAIL})/).first
+      if (res!=nil)
+        a << BlackStack::Netting::getDomainFromEmail(res[0].downcase)
+      end
+    
+      # remover duplicados
+      a = a.uniq
+    
+      # 
+      if (allow_heuristic_to_avoid_hosting_companies==true)
+        # TODO: develop this feature
+      end
+    
+      return a
+    end
+
+  end # module Netting
+  
+end # module BlackStack