ruby_odata 0.0.9 → 0.0.10

data/CHANGELOG.rdoc

@@ -54,4 +54,18 @@
 * Bug Fixes
   * Fixed issue with passing a service URL with a trailing slash
 * Other
-  * Cleaned up testing by adding a default task to the Rakefile that runs RSpec and Cucumber
+  * Cleaned up testing by adding a default task to the Rakefile that runs RSpec and Cucumber
+
+=== 0.0.10
+* New Features
+  * Added the ability to pass additional parameters that are appended to the query string for requests
+  * Added initial support for feed customizations (SyndicationTitle and SyndicationSummary)
+  * Enhanced ruby_odata's awareness of classes based on the metadata instead of relying on results that are returned
+* Bug Fixes
+  * Fixed issues with nested collections (eager loading)
+  * Handled ArgumentError on the Time.parse for older versions of Ruby; used DateTime.parse instead if Time.parse fails
+  * Removed the camelize method call when building the root URL for collections (Reported by mkoegel, issue #3 on github)
+  * Handled building results (classes) where the category element is missing but there is a title element instead. (Reported by mkoegel, issue #3 on github in the comments)
+* Other
+  * Change HTTP port to 8989 since 8888 conflicts with the Intel AppStore
+  * Refactored service step for HTTP calls where the service address is defined within the step making it easier to make changes in the future.

data/README.rdoc

@@ -6,10 +6,13 @@ The <b>Open Data Protocol</b> (OData) is a fantastic way to query and update dat
 
 * Source Code (hosted on GitHub): http://github.com/visoft/ruby_odata 
 * Documentation (hosted on rdoc.info): http://rdoc.info/projects/visoft/ruby_odata 
-* Issue tracking (hosted on Lighthouse): http://visoft.lighthouseapp.com/projects/54309/home 
+* Issue tracking (hosted on GitHub): https://github.com/visoft/ruby_odata/issues
 * Wiki (hosted on GitHub): http://wiki.github.com/visoft/ruby_odata/
 * Gem (hosted on Gemcutter): http://gemcutter.org/gems/ruby_odata
 * Blog articles: {Introducing a Ruby OData Client Library}[http://bit.ly/IntroRubyOData]
+                 {Ruby OData Update v0.0.7}[http://bit.ly/ruby_odata007]
+                 {Ruby OData Update v0.0.8}[http://bit.ly/ruby_odata008]
+                 {Ruby OData Update v0.0.10}[http://bit.ly/ruby_odata0010]
 
 == Installation
 You can install ruby_odata as a gem using:
@@ -17,12 +20,19 @@ You can install ruby_odata as a gem using:
 
 == Usage
 
+=== Instantiating the Service
+There are various options that you can pass when creating an instance of the service, these include:
+* username: username for http basic auth
+* password: password for http basic auth
+* verify_ssl: false if no verification, otherwise mode (OpenSSL::SSL::VERIFY_PEER is default)
+* additional_params: a hash of query string params that will be passed on all calls (query, new, update, delete, batch)
+
 === Adding
 When you point at a service, an AddTo<EntityName> method is created for you.  This method takes in the new entity to create.  To commit the change, you need to call the save_changes method on the service.  To add a new category for example, you would simply do the following:
 
   require 'ruby_odata'
   
-  svc = OData::Service.new "http://127.0.0.1:8888/SampleService/Entities.svc"
+  svc = OData::Service.new "http://127.0.0.1:8989/SampleService/Entities.svc"
   new_category = Category.new
   new_category.Name = "Sample Category"
   svc.AddToCategories(new_category)
@@ -34,7 +44,7 @@ To update an object, simply pass the modified object to the update_object method
 
   require 'ruby_odata'
     
-  svc = OData::Service.new "http://127.0.0.1:8888/SampleService/Entities.svc"
+  svc = OData::Service.new "http://127.0.0.1:8989/SampleService/Entities.svc"
   new_category = Category.new
   new_category.Name = "Sample Category"
   svc.AddToCategories(new_category)
@@ -51,7 +61,7 @@ Deleting an object involves passing the tracked object to the delete_object meth
 
   require 'ruby_odata'
   
-  svc = OData::Service.new "http://127.0.0.1:8888/SampleService/Entities.svc"
+  svc = OData::Service.new "http://127.0.0.1:8989/SampleService/Entities.svc"
   new_category = Category.new
   new_category.Name = "Sample Category"
   svc.AddToCategories(new_category)
@@ -67,7 +77,7 @@ Querying is easy, for example to pull all the categories from the SampleService,
 
   require 'ruby_odata'
   
-  svc = OData::Service.new "http://127.0.0.1:8888/SampleService/Entities.svc"
+  svc = OData::Service.new "http://127.0.0.1:8989/SampleService/Entities.svc"
   svc.Categories
   categories = svc.execute
   puts categories.to_json
@@ -159,7 +169,7 @@ Basic HTTP Authentication is supported via sending a username and password as se
 
   require 'ruby_odata'
   
-  svc = OData::Service.new "http://127.0.0.1:8888/SampleService/Entities.svc", { :username => "bob", :password=> "12345" }
+  svc = OData::Service.new "http://127.0.0.1:8989/SampleService/Entities.svc", { :username => "bob", :password=> "12345" }
 
 === SSL/https Certificate Verification
 The certificate verification mode can be passed in the options hash via the :verify_ssl key. For example, to ignore verification in order to use a self-signed certificate:
@@ -177,7 +187,7 @@ Or an OpenSSL integer constant can be passed as well:
 Default verification is OpenSSL::SSL::VERIFY_PEER. Note due to the way Ruby's Request object implements certificate checking, you CAN NOT pass OpenSSL::SSL::VERIFY_NONE, you must instead pass a boolean false.
 
 == Tests
-All of the tests are written using Cucumber going against a sample service (Found in /test/SampleService/*).  The SampleService is an ASP.NET Web Site running a SQLEXPRESS 2008 R2 Database (TestDB), as well as the ADO.NET Entity Framework and a WCF Data Service.  In order to run the tests, you need to spin up the SampleService and have it running on port 8888 (http://localhost:8888/SampleService).  
+All of the tests are written using Cucumber going against a sample service (Found in /test/SampleService/*).  The SampleService is an ASP.NET Web Site running a SQLEXPRESS 2008 R2 Database (TestDB), as well as the ADO.NET Entity Framework and a WCF Data Service.  In order to run the tests, you need to spin up the SampleService and have it running on port 8989 (http://localhost:8989/SampleService).  
 
 One way to do this is to open the SampleService within Visual Studio 2010 and run it from there (must use IIS instead of development web server in order for basic auth tests to pass, however).  Another option is to use IIS Express. It is a free download from Microsoft. Once installed, there is a batch file found in /test called "iisExpress x64.bat", you can run the batch file and just close the command window. There is a also an "iisExpress x86.bat" file for those of you running a 32-bit machine.  The only difference is the path to the Program Files directory.  Once you run the batch file, the web server will spin up and you can find the instance in your systray just like if Visual Studio ran it for you.  To stop the server, right click on the icon in your systray and tell it to stop.
 

data/features/basic_auth.feature

@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 Feature: Service Should Access Basic Auth Protected Resources
   
 Background:
-  Given an ODataService exists with uri: "http://localhost:8888/SampleService/BasicAuth/Entities.svc" using username "admin" and password "passwd"
+  Given an ODataService exists with uri: "http://localhost:8989/SampleService/BasicAuth/Entities.svc" using username "admin" and password "passwd"
   And blueprints exist for the service
 
 Scenario: Service should respond to valid collections
@@ -16,9 +16,9 @@ Scenario: Entity should fill values on protected resource
   And the method "Name" on the result should equal: "Auth Test Category"
 
 Scenario: Should get 401 if invalid credentials provided to protected URL
-  Given an ODataService exists with uri: "http://localhost:8888/SampleService/BasicAuth/Entities.svc" using username "admin" and password "bad_pwd" it should throw an exception with message "401 Unauthorized"
+  Given an ODataService exists with uri: "http://localhost:8989/SampleService/BasicAuth/Entities.svc" using username "admin" and password "bad_pwd" it should throw an exception with message "401 Unauthorized"
 
 Scenario: Should get 401 if no credentials provided to protected URL
-  Given an ODataService exists with uri: "http://localhost:8888/SampleService/BasicAuth/Entities.svc" it should throw an exception with message "401 Unauthorized"
+  Given an ODataService exists with uri: "http://localhost:8989/SampleService/BasicAuth/Entities.svc" it should throw an exception with message "401 Unauthorized"
 
 

data/features/batch_request.feature

@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ Feature: Batch request
   I want to be able to batch changes (Add/Update/Delete) and persist the batch instead of one at a time
   
 Background:
-  Given an ODataService exists with uri: "http://localhost:8888/SampleService/Entities.svc"
+  Given a sample HTTP ODataService exists
   And blueprints exist for the service
 
 Scenario: Save Changes should allow for batch additions

data/features/complex_types.feature

@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ Feature: Complex types
   I want to be able to manage objects with complex types
 
 Background:
-  Given an ODataService exists with uri: "http://localhost:8888/SampleService/Entities.svc"
+  Given a sample HTTP ODataService exists
   And blueprints exist for the service
 
 Scenario: The proxy must generate classes for complex types if they exist

data/features/query_builder.feature

@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ Feature: Query Builder
   I want to be able to perform valid OData protocol operations 
 
 Background:
-  Given an ODataService exists with uri: "http://localhost:8888/SampleService/Entities.svc"
+  Given a sample HTTP ODataService exists
   And blueprints exist for the service
 
 # Expand	

data/features/service.feature

@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ Feature: Service Should Generate a Proxy
   I want to be able to access data
 
 Background:
-  Given an ODataService exists with uri: "http://localhost:8888/SampleService/Entities.svc"
+  Given a sample HTTP ODataService exists
   And blueprints exist for the service
 
 Scenario: Service should respond to valid collections

data/features/service_manage.feature

@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ Feature: Service management
   I want to be able to add, edit, and delete entities
 
 Background:
-  Given an ODataService exists with uri: "http://localhost:8888/SampleService/Entities.svc"
+  Given an ODataService exists with uri: "http://localhost:8989/SampleService/Entities.svc"
   And blueprints exist for the service
 
 Scenario: Service should respond to AddToEntityName for adding objects

data/features/step_definitions/service_steps.rb

@@ -2,6 +2,10 @@ Given /^an ODataService exists with uri: "([^\"]*)"$/ do |uri|
   @service = OData::Service.new(uri)
 end
 
+Given /^a sample HTTP ODataService exists$/ do
+  @service = OData::Service.new("http://localhost:#{HTTP_PORT_NUMBER}/SampleService/Entities.svc")
+end
+
 Given /^an ODataService exists with uri: "([^\"]*)" using username "([^\"]*)" and password "([^\"]*)"$/ do |uri, username, password|
   @service = OData::Service.new(uri, { :username => username, :password => password })
 end

data/features/support/env.rb

@@ -11,4 +11,6 @@ root_dir = File.expand_path(File.join(File.dirname(__FILE__), "../..", "test/Sam
 if !File.exists?("#{root_dir}/TestDB.mdf")
   FileUtils.copy("#{root_dir}/_TestDB.mdf", "#{root_dir}/TestDB.mdf")
   FileUtils.copy("#{root_dir}/_TestDB_Log.ldf", "#{root_dir}/TestDB_Log.ldf")
-end
+end
+
+HTTP_PORT_NUMBER = 8989

data/features/support/hooks.rb

@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
 Before do
   Sham.reset
-  RestClient.post "http://localhost:8888/SampleService/Entities.svc/CleanDatabaseForTesting", {}
+  RestClient.post "http://localhost:#{HTTP_PORT_NUMBER}/SampleService/Entities.svc/CleanDatabaseForTesting", {}
 end

data/features/type_conversion.feature

@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ Feature: Type conversion
   I want types returned to be accurately represented
 
 Background:
-  Given an ODataService exists with uri: "http://localhost:8888/SampleService/Entities.svc"
+  Given a sample HTTP ODataService exists
   And blueprints exist for the service
 
 Scenario: Integers should be Fixnums

data/lib/ruby_odata.rb

@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@ require 'nokogiri'
 require 'bigdecimal'
 require 'bigdecimal/util'
 
+require lib + '/ruby_odata/property_metadata'
 require lib + '/ruby_odata/query_builder'
 require lib + '/ruby_odata/class_builder'
 require lib + '/ruby_odata/operation'

data/lib/ruby_odata/property_metadata.rb

@@ -0,0 +1,28 @@
+module OData
+  # Internally used helper class for storing an entity property's metadata.  This class shouldn't be used directly.
+  class PropertyMetadata
+    # The property name
+    attr_accessor :name
+    # The property EDM type
+    attr_accessor :type
+    # Is the property nullable?
+    attr_accessor :nullable
+    # Feed customization target path
+    attr_accessor :fc_target_path
+    # Should the property appear in both the mapped schema path and the properties collection
+    attr_accessor :fc_keep_in_content
+    
+    # Creates a new instance of the Class Property class
+    #
+    # ==== Required Attributes
+    # property_element: The property element from the EDMX 
+    
+    def initialize(property_element)      
+      @name =                 property_element['Name']
+      @type =                 property_element['Type']
+      @nullable =             (property_element['Nullable'] && property_element['Nullable'] == "true") || false
+      @fc_target_path =       property_element['FC_TargetPath']
+      @fc_keep_in_content  =  (property_element['FC_KeepInContent']) ? (property_element['FC_KeepInContent'] == "true") : nil
+    end
+  end
+end

data/lib/ruby_odata/query_builder.rb

@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@ module OData
 # The query builder is used to call query operations against the service.  This shouldn't be called directly, but rather it is returned from the dynamic methods created for the specific service that you are calling.
 #
 # For example, given the following code snippet:
-# 		svc = OData::Service.new "http://127.0.0.1:8888/SampleService/Entities.svc"
+# 		svc = OData::Service.new "http://127.0.0.1:8989/SampleService/Entities.svc"
 # 		svc.Categories
 # The *Categories* method would return a QueryBuilder 
 class QueryBuilder
@@ -10,13 +10,16 @@ class QueryBuilder
   #
   # ==== Required Attributes
   # - root: The root entity collection to query against
-  def initialize(root)
+  # ==== Optional 
+  # Hash of additional parameters to use for a query
+  def initialize(root, additional_params = {})
     @root = root.to_s
     @expands = []
     @filters = []
     @order_bys = []
     @skip = nil
     @top = nil
+    @additional_params = additional_params
   end
   
   # Used to eagerly-load data for nested objects, for example, obtaining a Category for a Product within one call to the server
@@ -96,11 +99,12 @@ class QueryBuilder
     query_options << "$orderby=#{@order_bys.join(',')}" unless @order_bys.empty?
     query_options << "$skip=#{@skip}" unless @skip.nil?
     query_options << "$top=#{@top}" unless @top.nil?
+    query_options << @additional_params.to_query unless @additional_params.empty?
     if !query_options.empty?
       q << "?"
       q << query_options.join('&')	
     end
-    return q	
+    return q
   end
 end
 

data/lib/ruby_odata/service.rb

@@ -1,9 +1,7 @@
-require 'logger'
-
 module OData
   
 class Service
-  attr_reader :classes
+  attr_reader :classes, :class_metadata, :options
   # Creates a new instance of the Service class
   #
   # ==== Required Attributes
@@ -12,12 +10,14 @@ class Service
   # - username: username for http basic auth
   # - password: password for http basic auth
   # - verify_ssl: false if no verification, otherwise mode (OpenSSL::SSL::VERIFY_PEER is default)
+  # - additional_params: a hash of query string params that will be passed on all calls
   def initialize(service_uri, options = {})
     @uri = service_uri.gsub!(/\/?$/, '')
     @options = options    
     @rest_options = { :verify_ssl => get_verify_mode, :user => @options[:username], :password => @options[:password] }
     @collections = []
     @save_operations = []
+    @additional_params = options[:additional_params] || {}
     build_collections_and_classes
   end
   
@@ -25,9 +25,9 @@ class Service
   def method_missing(name, *args)
     # Queries
     if @collections.include?(name.to_s)
-      root = "/#{name.to_s.camelize}"
+      root = "/#{name.to_s}"
       root << "(#{args.join(',')})" unless args.empty?
-      @query = QueryBuilder.new(root)
+      @query = QueryBuilder.new(root, @additional_params)
       return @query
     # Adds	
     elsif name.to_s =~ /^AddTo(.*)/
@@ -129,7 +129,9 @@ class Service
   # Build the classes required by the metadata
   def build_collections_and_classes
     @classes = Hash.new
-    doc = Nokogiri::XML(RestClient::Resource.new("#{@uri}/$metadata", @rest_options).get)
+    @class_metadata = Hash.new # This is used to store property information about a class
+    
+    doc = Nokogiri::XML(RestClient::Resource.new(build_metadata_uri, @rest_options).get)
     
     # Get the edm namespace
     edm_ns = doc.xpath("edmx:Edmx/edmx:DataServices/*", "edmx" => "http://schemas.microsoft.com/ado/2007/06/edmx").first.namespaces['xmlns'].to_s
@@ -151,12 +153,22 @@ class Service
     entity_types.each do |e|
       name = e['Name']
       props = e.xpath(".//edm:Property", "edm" => edm_ns)
+      @class_metadata[name] = build_property_metadata(props)
       methods = props.collect { |p| p['Name'] } # Standard Properties
       nprops =  e.xpath(".//edm:NavigationProperty", "edm" => edm_ns)			
-      nav_props = nprops.collect { |p| p['Name'] } # Standard Properties
+      nav_props = nprops.collect { |p| p['Name'] } # Navigation Properties
       @classes[name] = ClassBuilder.new(name, methods, nav_props).build unless @classes.keys.include?(name)
     end
   end
+  
+  def build_property_metadata(props)
+    metadata = {}
+    props.each do |property_element|
+      prop_meta = PropertyMetadata.new(property_element)
+      metadata[prop_meta.name] = prop_meta
+    end
+    metadata
+  end
 
   # Helper to loop through a result and create an instance for each entity in the results
   def build_classes_from_result(result)
@@ -175,10 +187,22 @@ class Service
   def entry_to_class(entry)
     # Retrieve the class name from the fully qualified name (the last string after the last dot)
     klass_name = entry.xpath("./atom:category/@term", "atom" => "http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom").to_s.split('.')[-1]
-    return nil if klass_name.empty?
-
-    properties = entry.xpath(".//m:properties/*", { "m" => "http://schemas.microsoft.com/ado/2007/08/dataservices/metadata" })
+    
+    # Is the category missing? See if there is a title that we can use to build the class
+    if klass_name.nil?
+      title = entry.xpath("./atom:title", "atom" => "http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom").first
+      return nil if title.nil?
+      klass_name = title.content.to_s
+    end
         
+    return nil if klass_name.nil?
+
+    # If we are working against a child (inline) entry, we need to use the more generic xpath because a child entry WILL 
+    # have properties that are ancestors of m:inline. Check if there is an m:inline child to determine the xpath query to use
+    has_inline = entry.xpath(".//m:inline", { "m" => "http://schemas.microsoft.com/ado/2007/08/dataservices/metadata" }).any?
+    properties_xpath = has_inline ? ".//m:properties[not(ancestor::m:inline)]/*" : ".//m:properties/*"
+    properties = entry.xpath(properties_xpath, { "m" => "http://schemas.microsoft.com/ado/2007/08/dataservices/metadata" })
+
     klass = @classes[klass_name].new
     
     # Fill metadata
@@ -191,35 +215,71 @@ class Service
       klass.send "#{prop_name}=", parse_value(prop)
     end
     
+    # Fill properties represented outside of the properties collection
+    @class_metadata[klass_name].select { |k,v| v.fc_keep_in_content == false }.each do |k, meta|
+      if meta.fc_target_path == "SyndicationTitle"
+        title = entry.xpath("./atom:title", "atom" => "http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom").first
+        klass.send "#{meta.name}=", title.content
+      elsif meta.fc_target_path == "SyndicationSummary"
+        summary = entry.xpath("./atom:summary", "atom" => "http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom").first
+        klass.send "#{meta.name}=", summary.content
+      end
+    end
+    
     inline_links = entry.xpath("./atom:link[m:inline]", { "m" => "http://schemas.microsoft.com/ado/2007/08/dataservices/metadata", "atom" => "http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom" })
     
     for	link in inline_links
       inline_entries = link.xpath(".//atom:entry", "atom" => "http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom")
-      
-      if inline_entries.length == 1
-        property_name = link.attributes['title'].to_s
-        
-        build_inline_class(klass, inline_entries[0], property_name)
+
+      # TODO: Use the metadata's associations to determine the multiplicity instead of this "hack"  
+      property_name = link.attributes['title'].to_s
+      if inline_entries.length == 1 && singular?(property_name)
+        inline_klass = build_inline_class(klass, inline_entries[0], property_name)
+        klass.send "#{property_name}=", inline_klass
       else
-        # TODO: Test handling multiple children
+        inline_classes = []
         for inline_entry in inline_entries
-          property_name = link.xpath("atom:link[@rel='edit']/@title", "atom" => "http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom")
-          
           # Build the class
           inline_klass = entry_to_class(inline_entry)
-          
-          # Add the property
-          klass.send "#{property_name}=", inline_klass
+
+          # Add the property to the temp collection
+          inline_classes << inline_klass
         end
+
+        # Assign the array of classes to the property
+        property_name = link.xpath("@title", "atom" => "http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom")
+        klass.send "#{property_name}=", inline_classes
       end
     end
     
-    return klass
+    klass
   end
 
+  # Build URIs
+  def build_metadata_uri
+    uri = "#{@uri}/$metadata"
+    uri << "?#{@additional_params.to_query}" unless @additional_params.empty?
+    uri
+  end
   def build_query_uri
     "#{@uri}#{@query.query}"
   end
+  def build_save_uri(operation)
+    uri = "#{@uri}/#{operation.klass_name}"
+    uri << "?#{@additional_params.to_query}" unless @additional_params.empty?
+    uri
+  end
+  def build_resource_uri(operation)
+    uri = operation.klass.send(:__metadata)[:uri]
+    uri << "?#{@additional_params.to_query}" unless @additional_params.empty?
+    uri
+  end
+  def build_batch_uri
+    uri = "#{@uri}/$batch"
+    uri << "?#{@additional_params.to_query}" unless @additional_params.empty?
+    uri    
+  end
+  
   def build_inline_class(klass, entry, property_name)
     # Build the class
     inline_klass = entry_to_class(entry)
@@ -229,17 +289,17 @@ class Service
   end
   def single_save(operation)
     if operation.kind == "Add"
-      save_uri = "#{@uri}/#{operation.klass_name}"
+      save_uri = build_save_uri(operation)
       json_klass = operation.klass.to_json(:type => :add)
       post_result = RestClient::Resource.new(save_uri, @rest_options).post json_klass, {:content_type => :json}
       return build_classes_from_result(post_result)
     elsif operation.kind == "Update"
-      update_uri = operation.klass.send(:__metadata)[:uri]
+      update_uri = build_resource_uri(operation)
       json_klass = operation.klass.to_json
       update_result = RestClient::Resource.new(update_uri, @rest_options).put json_klass, {:content_type => :json}
       return (update_result.code == 204)
     elsif operation.kind == "Delete"
-      delete_uri = operation.klass.send(:__metadata)[:uri]
+      delete_uri = build_resource_uri(operation)
       delete_result = RestClient::Resource.new(delete_uri, @rest_options).delete
       return (delete_result.code == 204) 
     end		
@@ -252,7 +312,7 @@ class Service
   def batch_save(operations)	
     batch_num = generate_guid
     changeset_num = generate_guid
-    batch_uri = "#{@uri}/$batch"
+    batch_uri = build_batch_uri
     
     body = build_batch_body(operations, batch_num, changeset_num)
     
@@ -353,14 +413,27 @@ class Service
 
       # Assume this is UTC if no timezone is specified
       sdate = sdate + "Z" unless sdate.match(/Z|([+|-]\d{2}:\d{2})$/)
-
-      return Time.parse(sdate)
+      
+      # This is to handle older versions of Ruby (e.g. ruby 1.8.7 (2010-12-23 patchlevel 330) [i386-mingw32])
+      # See http://makandra.com/notes/1017-maximum-representable-value-for-a-ruby-time-object
+      # In recent versions of Ruby, Time has a much larger range
+      begin
+        result = Time.parse(sdate)  
+      rescue ArgumentError
+        result = DateTime.parse(sdate)
+      end
+      
+      return result
     end
 
     # If we can't parse the value, just return the element's content
     property_xml.content
   end
 
+  # Helpers
+  def singular?(value)
+    value.singularize == value
+  end
 end
 
 end # module OData