rails 3.2.22.5 → 4.0.0.beta1

data/guides/source/nested_model_forms.md

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+Rails nested model forms
+========================
+
+Creating a form for a model _and_ its associations can become quite tedious. Therefore Rails provides helpers to assist in dealing with the complexities of generating these forms _and_ the required CRUD operations to create, update, and destroy associations.
+
+After reading this guide, you will know:
+
+* do stuff.
+
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+NOTE: This guide assumes the user knows how to use the [Rails form helpers](form_helpers.html) in general. Also, it’s **not** an API reference. For a complete reference please visit [the Rails API documentation](http://api.rubyonrails.org/).
+
+
+Model setup
+-----------
+
+To be able to use the nested model functionality in your forms, the model will need to support some basic operations.
+
+First of all, it needs to define a writer method for the attribute that corresponds to the association you are building a nested model form for. The `fields_for` form helper will look for this method to decide whether or not a nested model form should be build.
+
+If the associated object is an array a form builder will be yielded for each object, else only a single form builder will be yielded.
+
+Consider a Person model with an associated Address. When asked to yield a nested FormBuilder for the `:address` attribute, the `fields_for` form helper will look for a method on the Person instance named `address_attributes=`.
+
+### ActiveRecord::Base model
+
+For an ActiveRecord::Base model and association this writer method is commonly defined with the `accepts_nested_attributes_for` class method:
+
+#### has_one
+
+```ruby
+class Person < ActiveRecord::Base
+  has_one :address
+  accepts_nested_attributes_for :address
+end
+```
+
+#### belongs_to
+
+```ruby
+class Person < ActiveRecord::Base
+  belongs_to :firm
+  accepts_nested_attributes_for :firm
+end
+```
+
+#### has_many / has_and_belongs_to_many
+
+```ruby
+class Person < ActiveRecord::Base
+  has_many :projects
+  accepts_nested_attributes_for :projects
+end
+```
+
+### Custom model
+
+As you might have inflected from this explanation, you _don’t_ necessarily need an ActiveRecord::Base model to use this functionality. The following examples are sufficient to enable the nested model form behavior:
+
+#### Single associated object
+
+```ruby
+class Person
+  def address
+    Address.new
+  end
+
+  def address_attributes=(attributes)
+    # ...
+  end
+end
+```
+
+#### Association collection
+
+```ruby
+class Person
+  def projects
+    [Project.new, Project.new]
+  end
+
+  def projects_attributes=(attributes)
+    # ...
+  end
+end
+```
+
+NOTE: See (TODO) in the advanced section for more information on how to deal with the CRUD operations in your custom model.
+
+Views
+-----
+
+### Controller code
+
+A nested model form will _only_ be built if the associated object(s) exist. This means that for a new model instance you would probably want to build the associated object(s) first.
+
+Consider the following typical RESTful controller which will prepare a new Person instance and its `address` and `projects` associations before rendering the `new` template:
+
+```ruby
+class PeopleController < ApplicationController
+  def new
+    @person = Person.new
+    @person.built_address
+    2.times { @person.projects.build }
+  end
+
+  def create
+    @person = Person.new(params[:person])
+    if @person.save
+      # ...
+    end
+  end
+end
+```
+
+NOTE: Obviously the instantiation of the associated object(s) can become tedious and not DRY, so you might want to move that into the model itself. ActiveRecord::Base provides an `after_initialize` callback which is a good way to refactor this.
+
+### Form code
+
+Now that you have a model instance, with the appropriate methods and associated object(s), you can start building the nested model form.
+
+#### Standard form
+
+Start out with a regular RESTful form:
+
+```erb
+<%= form_for @person do |f| %>
+  <%= f.text_field :name %>
+<% end %>
+```
+
+This will generate the following html:
+
+```html
+<form action="/people" class="new_person" id="new_person" method="post">
+  <input id="person_name" name="person[name]" type="text" />
+</form>
+```
+
+#### Nested form for a single associated object
+
+Now add a nested form for the `address` association:
+
+```erb
+<%= form_for @person do |f| %>
+  <%= f.text_field :name %>
+
+  <%= f.fields_for :address do |af| %>
+    <%= af.text_field :street %>
+  <% end %>
+<% end %>
+```
+
+This generates:
+
+```html
+<form action="/people" class="new_person" id="new_person" method="post">
+  <input id="person_name" name="person[name]" type="text" />
+
+  <input id="person_address_attributes_street" name="person[address_attributes][street]" type="text" />
+</form>
+```
+
+Notice that `fields_for` recognized the `address` as an association for which a nested model form should be built by the way it has namespaced the `name` attribute.
+
+When this form is posted the Rails parameter parser will construct a hash like the following:
+
+```ruby
+{
+  "person" => {
+    "name" => "Eloy Duran",
+    "address_attributes" => {
+      "street" => "Nieuwe Prinsengracht"
+    }
+  }
+}
+```
+
+That’s it. The controller will simply pass this hash on to the model from the `create` action. The model will then handle building the `address` association for you and automatically save it when the parent (`person`) is saved.
+
+#### Nested form for a collection of associated objects
+
+The form code for an association collection is pretty similar to that of a single associated object:
+
+```erb
+<%= form_for @person do |f| %>
+  <%= f.text_field :name %>
+
+  <%= f.fields_for :projects do |pf| %>
+    <%= pf.text_field :name %>
+  <% end %>
+<% end %>
+```
+
+Which generates:
+
+```html
+<form action="/people" class="new_person" id="new_person" method="post">
+  <input id="person_name" name="person[name]" type="text" />
+
+  <input id="person_projects_attributes_0_name" name="person[projects_attributes][0][name]" type="text" />
+  <input id="person_projects_attributes_1_name" name="person[projects_attributes][1][name]" type="text" />
+</form>
+```
+
+As you can see it has generated 2 `project name` inputs, one for each new `project` that was built in the controller's `new` action. Only this time the `name` attribute of the input contains a digit as an extra namespace. This will be parsed by the Rails parameter parser as:
+
+```ruby
+{
+  "person" => {
+    "name" => "Eloy Duran",
+    "projects_attributes" => {
+      "0" => { "name" => "Project 1" },
+      "1" => { "name" => "Project 2" }
+    }
+  }
+}
+```
+
+You can basically see the `projects_attributes` hash as an array of attribute hashes, one for each model instance.
+
+NOTE: The reason that `fields_for` constructed a form which would result in a hash instead of an array is that it won't work for any forms nested deeper than one level deep.
+
+TIP: You _can_ however pass an array to the writer method generated by `accepts_nested_attributes_for` if you're using plain Ruby or some other API access. See (TODO) for more info and example.

data/guides/source/plugins.md

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+The Basics of Creating Rails Plugins
+====================================
+
+A Rails plugin is either an extension or a modification of the core framework. Plugins provide:
+
+* a way for developers to share bleeding-edge ideas without hurting the stable code base
+* a segmented architecture so that units of code can be fixed or updated on their own release schedule
+* an outlet for the core developers so that they don’t have to include every cool new feature under the sun
+
+After reading this guide, you will know:
+
+* How to create a plugin from scratch.
+* How to write and run tests for the plugin.
+
+This guide describes how to build a test-driven plugin that will:
+
+* Extend core Ruby classes like Hash and String.
+* Add methods to ActiveRecord::Base in the tradition of the 'acts_as' plugins.
+* Give you information about where to put generators in your plugin.
+
+For the purpose of this guide pretend for a moment that you are an avid bird watcher.
+Your favorite bird is the Yaffle, and you want to create a plugin that allows other developers to share in the Yaffle
+goodness.
+
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+Setup
+-----
+
+Currently, Rails plugins are built as gems, _gemified plugins_. They can be shared across
+different rails applications using RubyGems and Bundler if desired.
+
+### Generate a gemified plugin.
+
+
+Rails ships with a `rails plugin new` command which creates a
+ skeleton for developing any kind of Rails extension with the ability
+ to run integration tests using a dummy Rails application. See usage
+ and options by asking for help:
+
+```bash
+$ rails plugin --help
+```
+
+Testing your newly generated plugin
+-----------------------------------
+
+You can navigate to the directory that contains the plugin, run the `bundle install` command
+ and run the one generated test using the `rake` command.
+
+You should see:
+
+```bash
+  2 tests, 2 assertions, 0 failures, 0 errors, 0 skips
+```
+
+This will tell you that everything got generated properly and you are ready to start adding functionality.
+
+Extending Core Classes
+----------------------
+
+This section will explain how to add a method to String that will be available anywhere in your rails application.
+
+In this example you will add a method to String named `to_squawk`. To begin, create a new test file with a few assertions:
+
+```ruby
+# yaffle/test/core_ext_test.rb
+
+require 'test_helper'
+
+class CoreExtTest < Test::Unit::TestCase
+  def test_to_squawk_prepends_the_word_squawk
+    assert_equal "squawk! Hello World", "Hello World".to_squawk
+  end
+end
+```
+
+Run `rake` to run the test. This test should fail because we haven't implemented the `to_squawk` method:
+
+```bash
+    1) Error:
+  test_to_squawk_prepends_the_word_squawk(CoreExtTest):
+  NoMethodError: undefined method `to_squawk' for [Hello World](String)
+      test/core_ext_test.rb:5:in `test_to_squawk_prepends_the_word_squawk'
+```
+
+Great - now you are ready to start development.
+
+Then in `lib/yaffle.rb` add `require "yaffle/core_ext"`:
+
+```ruby
+# yaffle/lib/yaffle.rb
+
+require "yaffle/core_ext"
+
+module Yaffle
+end
+```
+
+Finally, create the `core_ext.rb` file and add the `to_squawk` method:
+
+```ruby
+# yaffle/lib/yaffle/core_ext.rb
+
+String.class_eval do
+  def to_squawk
+    "squawk! #{self}".strip
+  end
+end
+```
+
+To test that your method does what it says it does, run the unit tests with `rake` from your plugin directory.
+
+```bash
+  3 tests, 3 assertions, 0 failures, 0 errors, 0 skips
+```
+
+To see this in action, change to the test/dummy directory, fire up a console and start squawking:
+
+```bash
+$ rails console
+>> "Hello World".to_squawk
+=> "squawk! Hello World"
+```
+
+Add an "acts_as" Method to Active Record
+----------------------------------------
+
+A common pattern in plugins is to add a method called 'acts_as_something' to models. In this case, you
+want to write a method called 'acts_as_yaffle' that adds a 'squawk' method to your Active Record models.
+
+To begin, set up your files so that you have:
+
+```ruby
+# yaffle/test/acts_as_yaffle_test.rb
+
+require 'test_helper'
+
+class ActsAsYaffleTest < Test::Unit::TestCase
+end
+```
+
+```ruby
+# yaffle/lib/yaffle.rb
+
+require "yaffle/core_ext"
+require 'yaffle/acts_as_yaffle'
+
+module Yaffle
+end
+```
+
+```ruby
+# yaffle/lib/yaffle/acts_as_yaffle.rb
+
+module Yaffle
+  module ActsAsYaffle
+    # your code will go here
+  end
+end
+```
+
+### Add a Class Method
+
+This plugin will expect that you've added a method to your model named 'last_squawk'. However, the
+plugin users might have already defined a method on their model named 'last_squawk' that they use
+for something else. This plugin will allow the name to be changed by adding a class method called 'yaffle_text_field'.
+
+To start out, write a failing test that shows the behavior you'd like:
+
+```ruby
+# yaffle/test/acts_as_yaffle_test.rb
+
+require 'test_helper'
+
+class ActsAsYaffleTest < Test::Unit::TestCase
+
+  def test_a_hickwalls_yaffle_text_field_should_be_last_squawk
+    assert_equal "last_squawk", Hickwall.yaffle_text_field
+  end
+
+  def test_a_wickwalls_yaffle_text_field_should_be_last_tweet
+    assert_equal "last_tweet", Wickwall.yaffle_text_field
+  end
+
+end
+```
+
+When you run `rake`, you should see the following:
+
+```
+    1) Error:
+  test_a_hickwalls_yaffle_text_field_should_be_last_squawk(ActsAsYaffleTest):
+  NameError: uninitialized constant ActsAsYaffleTest::Hickwall
+      test/acts_as_yaffle_test.rb:6:in `test_a_hickwalls_yaffle_text_field_should_be_last_squawk'
+
+    2) Error:
+  test_a_wickwalls_yaffle_text_field_should_be_last_tweet(ActsAsYaffleTest):
+  NameError: uninitialized constant ActsAsYaffleTest::Wickwall
+      test/acts_as_yaffle_test.rb:10:in `test_a_wickwalls_yaffle_text_field_should_be_last_tweet'
+
+  5 tests, 3 assertions, 0 failures, 2 errors, 0 skips
+```
+
+This tells us that we don't have the necessary models (Hickwall and Wickwall) that we are trying to test.
+We can easily generate these models in our "dummy" Rails application by running the following commands from the
+test/dummy directory:
+
+```bash
+$ cd test/dummy
+$ rails generate model Hickwall last_squawk:string
+$ rails generate model Wickwall last_squawk:string last_tweet:string
+```
+
+Now you can create the necessary database tables in your testing database by navigating to your dummy app
+and migrating the database. First
+
+```bash
+$ cd test/dummy
+$ rake db:migrate
+$ rake db:test:prepare
+```
+
+While you are here, change the Hickwall and Wickwall models so that they know that they are supposed to act
+like yaffles.
+
+```ruby
+# test/dummy/app/models/hickwall.rb
+
+class Hickwall < ActiveRecord::Base
+  acts_as_yaffle
+end
+
+# test/dummy/app/models/wickwall.rb
+
+class Wickwall < ActiveRecord::Base
+  acts_as_yaffle yaffle_text_field: :last_tweet
+end
+
+```
+
+We will also add code to define the acts_as_yaffle method.
+
+```ruby
+# yaffle/lib/yaffle/acts_as_yaffle.rb
+module Yaffle
+  module ActsAsYaffle
+    extend ActiveSupport::Concern
+
+    included do
+    end
+
+    module ClassMethods
+      def acts_as_yaffle(options = {})
+        # your code will go here
+      end
+    end
+  end
+end
+
+ActiveRecord::Base.send :include, Yaffle::ActsAsYaffle
+```
+
+You can then return to the root directory (`cd ../..`) of your plugin and rerun the tests using `rake`.
+
+```
+    1) Error:
+  test_a_hickwalls_yaffle_text_field_should_be_last_squawk(ActsAsYaffleTest):
+  NoMethodError: undefined method `yaffle_text_field' for #<Class:0x000001016661b8>
+      /Users/xxx/.rvm/gems/ruby-1.9.2-p136@xxx/gems/activerecord-3.0.3/lib/active_record/base.rb:1008:in `method_missing'
+      test/acts_as_yaffle_test.rb:5:in `test_a_hickwalls_yaffle_text_field_should_be_last_squawk'
+
+    2) Error:
+  test_a_wickwalls_yaffle_text_field_should_be_last_tweet(ActsAsYaffleTest):
+  NoMethodError: undefined method `yaffle_text_field' for #<Class:0x00000101653748>
+      Users/xxx/.rvm/gems/ruby-1.9.2-p136@xxx/gems/activerecord-3.0.3/lib/active_record/base.rb:1008:in `method_missing'
+      test/acts_as_yaffle_test.rb:9:in `test_a_wickwalls_yaffle_text_field_should_be_last_tweet'
+
+  5 tests, 3 assertions, 0 failures, 2 errors, 0 skips
+
+```
+
+Getting closer... Now we will implement the code of the acts_as_yaffle method to make the tests pass.
+
+```ruby
+# yaffle/lib/yaffle/acts_as_yaffle.rb
+
+module Yaffle
+  module ActsAsYaffle
+   extend ActiveSupport::Concern
+
+    included do
+    end
+
+    module ClassMethods
+      def acts_as_yaffle(options = {})
+        cattr_accessor :yaffle_text_field
+        self.yaffle_text_field = (options[:yaffle_text_field] || :last_squawk).to_s
+      end
+    end
+  end
+end
+
+ActiveRecord::Base.send :include, Yaffle::ActsAsYaffle
+```
+
+When you run `rake` you should see the tests all pass:
+
+```bash
+  5 tests, 5 assertions, 0 failures, 0 errors, 0 skips
+```
+
+### Add an Instance Method
+
+This plugin will add a method named 'squawk' to any Active Record object that calls 'acts_as_yaffle'. The 'squawk'
+method will simply set the value of one of the fields in the database.
+
+To start out, write a failing test that shows the behavior you'd like:
+
+```ruby
+# yaffle/test/acts_as_yaffle_test.rb
+require 'test_helper'
+
+class ActsAsYaffleTest < Test::Unit::TestCase
+
+  def test_a_hickwalls_yaffle_text_field_should_be_last_squawk
+    assert_equal "last_squawk", Hickwall.yaffle_text_field
+  end
+
+  def test_a_wickwalls_yaffle_text_field_should_be_last_tweet
+    assert_equal "last_tweet", Wickwall.yaffle_text_field
+  end
+
+  def test_hickwalls_squawk_should_populate_last_squawk
+    hickwall = Hickwall.new
+    hickwall.squawk("Hello World")
+    assert_equal "squawk! Hello World", hickwall.last_squawk
+  end
+
+  def test_wickwalls_squawk_should_populate_last_tweet
+    wickwall = Wickwall.new
+    wickwall.squawk("Hello World")
+    assert_equal "squawk! Hello World", wickwall.last_tweet
+  end
+end
+```
+
+Run the test to make sure the last two tests fail with an error that contains "NoMethodError: undefined method `squawk'",
+then update 'acts_as_yaffle.rb' to look like this:
+
+```ruby
+# yaffle/lib/yaffle/acts_as_yaffle.rb
+
+module Yaffle
+  module ActsAsYaffle
+    extend ActiveSupport::Concern
+
+    included do
+    end
+
+    module ClassMethods
+      def acts_as_yaffle(options = {})
+        cattr_accessor :yaffle_text_field
+        self.yaffle_text_field = (options[:yaffle_text_field] || :last_squawk).to_s
+
+        include Yaffle::ActsAsYaffle::LocalInstanceMethods
+      end
+    end
+
+    module LocalInstanceMethods
+      def squawk(string)
+        write_attribute(self.class.yaffle_text_field, string.to_squawk)
+      end
+    end
+  end
+end
+
+ActiveRecord::Base.send :include, Yaffle::ActsAsYaffle
+```
+
+Run `rake` one final time and you should see:
+
+```
+  7 tests, 7 assertions, 0 failures, 0 errors, 0 skips
+```
+
+NOTE: The use of `write_attribute` to write to the field in model is just one example of how a plugin can interact with the model, and will not always be the right method to use. For example, you could also use `send("#{self.class.yaffle_text_field}=", string.to_squawk)`.
+
+Generators
+----------
+
+Generators can be included in your gem simply by creating them in a lib/generators directory of your plugin. More information about
+the creation of generators can be found in the [Generators Guide](generators.html)
+
+Publishing your Gem
+-------------------
+
+Gem plugins currently in development can easily be shared from any Git repository. To share the Yaffle gem with others, simply
+commit the code to a Git repository (like GitHub) and add a line to the Gemfile of the application in question:
+
+```ruby
+gem 'yaffle', git: 'git://github.com/yaffle_watcher/yaffle.git'
+```
+
+After running `bundle install`, your gem functionality will be available to the application.
+
+When the gem is ready to be shared as a formal release, it can be published to [RubyGems](http://www.rubygems.org).
+For more information about publishing gems to RubyGems, see: [Creating and Publishing Your First Ruby Gem](http://blog.thepete.net/2010/11/creating-and-publishing-your-first-ruby.html)
+
+RDoc Documentation
+------------------
+
+Once your plugin is stable and you are ready to deploy do everyone else a favor and document it! Luckily, writing documentation for your plugin is easy.
+
+The first step is to update the README file with detailed information about how to use your plugin. A few key things to include are:
+
+* Your name
+* How to install
+* How to add the functionality to the app (several examples of common use cases)
+* Warnings, gotchas or tips that might help users and save them time
+
+Once your README is solid, go through and add rdoc comments to all of the methods that developers will use. It's also customary to add '#:nodoc:' comments to those parts of the code that are not included in the public API.
+
+Once your comments are good to go, navigate to your plugin directory and run:
+
+```bash
+$ rake rdoc
+```
+
+### References
+
+* [Developing a RubyGem using Bundler](https://github.com/radar/guides/blob/master/gem-development.md)
+* [Using .gemspecs as Intended](http://yehudakatz.com/2010/04/02/using-gemspecs-as-intended/)
+* [Gemspec Reference](http://docs.rubygems.org/read/chapter/20)
+* [GemPlugins: A Brief Introduction to the Future of Rails Plugins](http://www.intridea.com/blog/2008/6/11/gemplugins-a-brief-introduction-to-the-future-of-rails-plugins)