Ruby on Rails Enterprise Application Development: Plan, Program, Extend Table of Contents

Back to BOOK PAGE

Table of Contents

Preface
Chapter 1: Introduction
Chapter 2: The Initial Problem
Chapter 3: Laying the Foundations
Chapter 4: Working with Rails
Chapter 5: Building the User Interface
Chapter 6: Into Production
Chapter 7: Improving the User Experience
Chapter 8: Extending the Application
Chapter 9: Advanced Deployment
Chapter 10: Down the Track
Appendix A: Running Your Own Gem Server
Index

• Preface

• Chapter 1: Introduction
  • Why this Book?
  • Why Develop?
  • Why a Client/Server Based Web Application?
  • But why Ruby on Rails?
    • Rails Handles Menial Tasks
    • Clear Code
    • Text Based File
    • Open Source
    • Plentiful Documentation
    • Built-in Safe Test Environment
  • Ruby on Rails in Detail
  • Summary

• Chapter 2: The Initial Problem
  • A Normal Day in the Office
  • Examining the Data
  • Data Objects
    • Database Table Design Rules
  • Separating the Data
  • Naming Conventions
    • Use Meaningful Names
    • Use a Consistent Naming Convention
    • Ruby on Rails Naming Conventions
      • Constants and Classes
      • Variables
      • Methods and Properties
      • Special Method and Property Suffixes
      • Reserved Words
  • Back to the Data
  • Review the Result
    • Project Preparation Steps
  • How Good is the Source Data?
  • Tracking Who does What
    • No Log-On and No Authentication
    • Simple Password Access
    • User Log-On
    • Recording Access History
    • Access Control for Rory's Application
  • Data Validation
    • The Minimum Required Data is Entered
    • Each Record can be Uniquely Identified
    • Identify Fields that Need to Have a Particular Format
    • References to Data in Other Tables Point to Actual Data
  • Rory's Data
    • Person
    • Company
    • Address
  • Summary

• Chapter 3: Laying the Foundations
  • Supporting Rails Development
  • Addressing the Challenges
  • Setting Up a Rails Stack
    • Installing a Rails Stack Using a Bundle
  • Installing a Custom Rails Stack
    • Installing Ruby and Rubygems
      • Ruby on Windows
      • Ruby on Linux
      • Ruby on Mac OS X
    • Installing Rails
      • A Note on Rails Documentation
    • Other Libraries
      • Capistrano for Easier Deployment
      • Mongrel: A Better Way to Run Rails Applications
    • Choosing a Database Platform
      • Installing MySQL
      • Checking Your MySQL Installation
      • MySQL GUI Tools
      • Ruby-MySQL: Making Ruby and MySQL Work Better Together
    • Installing an IDE
      • Eclipse
      • EasyEclipse
    • Instructions for Masochists
    • In the Back Rooms at Acme…
  • Setting Up a Team Server
    • Quick Gem Installation
  • Remote Access via SSH
    • Adding Users
  • Version Control with Subversion
    • Subversion Standard Practices
    • Setting Up a Subversion Repository
    • Setting Up a Project in Subversion
    • Browsing Subversion from Eclipse
    • Other Subversion Clients
  • Using Other People's Servers
  • Back at Acme

• Summary

• Chapter 4: Working with Rails
  • The World According to Rails
    • Model-View-Controller Architecture
    • Convention over Configuration
      • Rails and MVC
  • Setting Up a New Rails Application
    • Using Mongrel to Serve Your Application
  • Connecting Rails to a Database
    • Creating a Database and System Account
    • Setting Up a Database Connection
      • Configuring the Rails Environments
      • Testing the Database Connection
      • Troubleshooting a MySQL Connection
  • ActiveRecord, Migrations, and Models
    • Model == Table
    • Which Comes First: The Model or The Table?
    • Building a Model with Migrations
      • Converting a Data Structure into a Migration
      • Defining Columns in Migrations
      • Other Operations Available in a Migration
    • Running a Migration
    • Rolling Back to a Previous Version of the Database
  • The Scaffold
  • Completing the Database
    • The companies Table
    • The addresses Table
    • Generating the Remaining Tables
  • Models in Detail
    • Creating New Records in a Table via Models
    • Finders
      • Finding All of the Records in a Table
      • Virtual Attributes
      • Sorting Records
      • Finding a Single Record
      • Finding Records Matching Search Criteria
      • Finding Records Using Attribute-Based Finders
      • Finding Records by Raw SQL
      • Writing a Custom Finder
      • Viewing the SQL
      • Viewing Logs in Eclipse
    • Validation
      • Validating People
      • Validating Companies
      • Validating Addresses
      • Other Types of Validation
    • Testing
      • Setting Up for Testing
      • Anatomy of a Test Case
      • What Should be Tested?
      • Fixtures
      • Tests for the Person Model
      • Other Types of Assertion
      • Becoming Driven by Testing
    • Associations between Models
      • Parent to children (one-to-many): addresses to people
      • Parent to child (one-to-one): addresses to companies
      • Parent to children (one-to-many): companies to people
      • Many-to-many relationships
      • Dependencies
      • Testing Associations
  • Putting the Project into Context
    • Storing a Project in Subversion
      • Ignoring Temporary Files
      • Committing Code to the Repository
    • Processing Data
      • Exporting the Data from Outlook
      • Mapping a Text File to Database Tables
      • Coding the Script
  • Summary

• Chapter 5: Building the User Interface
  • Controllers and Views: A Recap
  • Creating a Simple Controller and Its Views
    • Views and Layouts
      • Adding a View to the Application
      • Displaying Model Instances in a View
      • Pagination
      • Linking to Another View
      • Adding a Layout
      • Adding a Stylesheet
  • Adding a Controller for Companies
    • Create the CompaniesController
    • Create the Index View
    • Test It!
    • Summary
  • Advanced View Techniques
    • Custom Helpers
      • Default Messages for Empty Fields
      • Date Formatting
    • Showing Associated Records
      • Refining Using a Helper
      • Showing an Address with a Partial
    • Rendering Pagination Links with a Partial
    • Adding a Menu
  • C*UD (Create, Update, Delete)
    • Creating a Person
      • Refining with a Helper
      • Validation Errors
      • The Flash
      • Finishing Touches
    • Updating a Person
    • Opportunities for Refactoring
      • Using Filters
      • Creating Application-Level Controller Methods
    • Deleting a Person
    • Adding Edit and Delete Links to a Person's Profile
  • Editing Multiple Models Simultaneously
    • Adding a New Address for a Person
      • Using Functional Testing for Complex Actions
    • Updating a Person and Their Address
    • Summary
  • Fleshing Out Companies and Addresses
    • Managing Companies
      • Stubbing Out the Navigation
      • A Shared View to Confirm Deletions
      • Attaching a Person to a Company
      • Creating and Updating Companies
    • Managing Addresses
      • Adding a Callback to Company Deletions
      • A Very Quick Interface for Addresses
  • Summary

• Chapter 6: Into Production
  • An Application Ready for Production
  • The Application Server
    • Memory
    • Central Processor Unit–CPU
    • Hard Disks
    • Network Interface Card–NIC
    • Don't Forget Backup
    • Your First Production Server
  • Setting up the Server
    • Installing Ruby and Rails
    • Copying the Files to the Server
    • Using Subversion to Transfer the Application to the Production Environment
    • Excluding Files from the Repository
    • The Production Database
    • Separating Development and Production Databases
      • Localhost database–single database.yml
      • Separate Development and Production database.yml files
      • Using Migration in Production
      • The Rails Database User
    • The Web Server
      • Mongrel
      • Mongrel Service on Windows
      • Limitations of Mongrel
      • Mongrel behind Apache
      • Installing Apache
      • Apache on Linux and Mac OS X
      • Apache on Windows
      • Domain Name System (DNS)
      • Configuring Apache to Act as a Proxy for a Rails Application
  • Rory's Production Installation
    • Using Two Host Names to Simplify Routing
    • Rory Puts his Intranet Application into Production
  • Errors in Production
    • Slow List Rendering due to Placement of Additional Data Processing in Loop
      • Symptom
      • Cause
      • Fix
    • Application Error Following the Transferring of New Code to Production
      • Symptom
      • Cause
      • Solution
  • Back Up Rails
    • Backing Up the Code Repository
    • Back Up the Database
    • Combining Your Backup Scripts
  • Summary

• Chapter 7: Improving the User Experience
  • Easy Access to the Application
    • Use Routes to Simplify the Entry Point URL
    • Build a Fast, Clear Home Page
  • Users Need to be Able to Find Items Easily
    • Use the Index View as the Core of the Search View
    • Search–The First Attempt
    • Do Not Trust User Input
    • Handle Nothing
    • Users Need to be Able to Search Without Knowing Exactly What They Are Looking for
    • A Less Specific Search
    • Case Insensitive Searches
  • Adding AJAX to the Mix
    • Make the AJAX Libraries Available to our Rails Application
      • Enhancing Search with Auto-complete
      • Auto-complete—Wow!, but...
    • Use of AJAX—the Lessons Learned from Auto-Complete
  • Show and Hide Company Address Using link_to_remote
    • A Simple link_to_remote
      • A DOM Object to Update
      • Create a say_hello Action
    • Increasing the Functionality of link_to_remote
      • Show and Hide
      • Alternating link_to_remote Elements
      • Alternative Actions
      • Debugging JavaScript
      • Show/Hide within the Company Index List
    • Using AJAX to Edit a Field in Line
      • Render an AJAX Form via link_to_remote
    • A Little script.aculo.us: Drag and Drop
      • Make an Element Draggable
      • A Place to Drop the Element
    • Further AJAX
  • Help!
    • RDoc–Documentation for the Developer
    • Help for the User
      • Instiki Wiki Help
      • The Best User Help Systems
  • Keep Talking to Users
  • Summary

• Chapter 8: Extending the Application
  • Dealing with User Feedback
  • Adding a Search Facility
  • Handling Errors
    • Catching Missing Record Errors
    • Catching UnknownAction and Routing Errors
    • Catching General Application-Level Errors
    • Catching "Rails has Fallen Over" Errors
  • Adding an Authentication System
    • Cookies and Sessions in Rails
    • Building the Authentication System
      • The User Model
      • Displaying the Login Form
      • Checking Submitted Credentials
      • Logging Out
      • Protecting Actions
  • Adding Simple Task Tracking
    • The Task Model
    • The Tasks Controller
    • Task Views
    • Showing Tasks for a Person
    • Redirecting to a Person after Adding or Editing a Task
    • Redirecting after a Deletion
    • Handling the Cancel Link
    • Setting a Default Person for a New Task
    • Summary
  • Uploading and Attaching Files
    • Using Plugins
    • Using acts_as_attachment for File Uploads
    • Managing File Attachments for a Task
      • Adding a Form for Attaching a File to a Task
      • Adding a File Attachment to a Task
      • Listing File Attachments for a Task
      • Deleting File Attachments for a Task
      • Protecting File Attachment Actions
  • Summary

• Chapter 9: Advanced Deployment
  • Deployment with Capistrano
    • Getting Started with Capistrano
      • A Complete Deployment Recipe
    • Preparing the Production Database
    • First Deployment
    • Migrating the Production Database
    • Running Other Commands on the Server with invoke
    • Managing Mongrel from Capistrano
    • Centralizing File Uploads
      • Upgrading the Application
      • Cleaning Up Obsolete Releases
    • Downgrading the Application
  • Troubleshooting Deployment
    • Incompatible Rails Versions
    • Missing Libraries
    • Incorrect Subversion Password or Repository Permissions
    • User Doesn't Have SSH Access to the Server
    • Inaccessible Application Server
    • Inaccessible Database Server
    • Dealing with the Inexplicable
    • Getting Back to a Clean Slate
  • Housekeeping
    • Starting Mongrel Automatically
    • Clearing Out Stale Sessions
    • Keeping Log Files Manageable
      • Reducing Log Detail
  • Optimizing a Rails Application
    • Finding Bottlenecks
      • Controller Action Profiling Using around_filter
      • Profiling Everything
      • The Rails Profiler
    • Improving Application Performance with Caching
      • How Cache Elements are Named
      • Deciding What to Cache
      • Preparing for Caching
      • Page Caching
      • Action Caching
      • Fragment Caching
      • Fragment Caching for Actions
      • Avoiding Database Calls for Cached Fragments
      • Clearing out the Cache
    • Optimizing How Rails Uses the Database
      • Ordering for Eager Loading
    • Scaling Your Rails Infrastructure
      • Using Apache to Serve Static Assets
      • Proxying to a Mongrel Cluster
    • Advanced Scaling
  • Summary

• Chapter 10: Down the Track
  • Going off the Rails
  • SQL
    • Gathering Data from a Daughter Object's Daughter
      • Using a model’s ActiveRecord connection
      • Using GROUP BY to Summarize Data
      • A Deeper Look at Aggregate Functions
  • Business Processes
    • To Be Successful, Build Successful Business Applications
      • Automate Simple Repetitive Jobs
      • Rapid and Detailed Reporting
      • Ensure Customers Pay for the Goods and Services that the Business Provides
      • Review of Business Activity Examples
    • Dealing with Success
      • Just Because You Can, Doesn't Mean You Should
      • Bought in solutions Provide their Own Opportunities
      • Ensure There is Time to Complete Each Task
  • The Final Destination

• Appendix A: Running Your Own Gem Server
  • Serving Installed Gems
    • Setting Your Gem Server as the Default
  • Creating a Gem Server Manually

• Index

Back to BOOK PAGE