I have been working on some Spree based ecommerce stores lately, and I ran into this issue while creating a new Spree project. I had bumped into this a while back but did not write about it then. But, now I have decided to pen it down.

The steps to creating a new Spree project is very simple. Assuming that you have Ruby and Rails both installed, you can simply do:

$ gem install spree

$ spree mystore

$ cd mystore

$ rake db:bootstrap

$ script/server

And, voila you should have a shiny Spree store.

But, I have bumped into an issue at the step $ rake db:bootstrap as shown below:

$ rake db:bootstrap
(in c:/RoRProjs/wixspree)
rake aborted!
stack level too deep
c:/ruby/lib/ruby/gems/1.8/gems/rake-0.8.7/lib/rake.rb:2390:in `raw_load_rakefile'
(See full trace by running task with --trace)

After a little digging, I found out that Spree has a dependency on the ‘jeweler’ gem which in turn has some kind of dependency on Git.

So, although it seems like a weird solution but just by initializing a git repository on your Spree project folder i.e. mystore in my example, you will be happy to see that the problem is resolved.

So, to recap, in the above steps to create your new Spree project, add a new step before the rake step:

$ git init

$ rake db:bootstrap

You should be golden by now. Hope it helps.

Note: I am running Spree 0.9.4 on Windows Vista and Rails 2.3.5 and Ruby 1.8.6 (ruby 1.8.6 (2007-09-24 patchlevel 111) [i386-mswin32])

Note: If you do not have Git installed, you might want to do that. Here are some excellent articles which show how to do it:

http://github.com/guides/using-git-and-github-for-the-windows-for-newbies

http://kylecordes.com/2008/git-windows-go

http://www.gitcasts.com/posts/git-on-windows

I was recently working on some code for building an extension for Spree, when I ran into an issue while generating a extension controller. The error only happens on Windows.

The error in the console looks like this:

$ ruby script/generate extension_controller PromotionManager admin/promotions
c:/ruby/lib/ruby/gems/1.8/gems/rails-2.3.5/lib/rails/gem_dependency.rb:119:Warning: Gem::Dependency#
version_requirements is deprecated and will be removed on or after August 2010. Use #requirement
Loading haml-edge gem.
c:/ruby/lib/ruby/1.8/pathname.rb:709:in `relative_path_from': different prefix: "c:/" and "C:/RoRPro
js/spreestore" (ArgumentError)
from c:/ruby/lib/ruby/gems/1.8/gems/rails-2.3.5/lib/rails_generator/lookup.rb:110:in `use_co
mponent_sources!'
from c:/ruby/lib/ruby/gems/1.8/gems/rails-2.3.5/lib/rails_generator/lookup.rb:109:in `each'
from c:/ruby/lib/ruby/gems/1.8/gems/rails-2.3.5/lib/rails_generator/lookup.rb:109:in `use_co
mponent_sources!'
from c:/ruby/lib/ruby/gems/1.8/gems/rails-2.3.5/lib/rails_generator/lookup.rb:55:in `include
d'
from c:/ruby/lib/ruby/gems/1.8/gems/rails-2.3.5/lib/rails_generator.rb:38:in `include'
from c:/ruby/lib/ruby/gems/1.8/gems/rails-2.3.5/lib/rails_generator.rb:38:in `send'
from c:/ruby/lib/ruby/gems/1.8/gems/rails-2.3.5/lib/rails_generator.rb:38
from c:/ruby/lib/ruby/site_ruby/1.8/rubygems/custom_require.rb:31:in `gem_original_require'
from c:/ruby/lib/ruby/site_ruby/1.8/rubygems/custom_require.rb:31:in `require'
from c:/ruby/lib/ruby/gems/1.8/gems/activesupport-2.3.5/lib/active_support/dependencies.rb:1
56:in `require'
from c:/ruby/lib/ruby/gems/1.8/gems/activesupport-2.3.5/lib/active_support/dependencies.rb:5
21:in `new_constants_in'
from c:/ruby/lib/ruby/gems/1.8/gems/activesupport-2.3.5/lib/active_support/dependencies.rb:1
56:in `require'
from script/generate:4

The error is specifically in this line:

c:/ruby/lib/ruby/1.8/pathname.rb:709:in `relative_path_from': different prefix: "c:/" and "C:/RoRPro
js/spreestore" (ArgumentError)

After a little digging, it was evident that the ‘relative_path_from’ method in ‘/ruby/lib/ruby/1.8/pathname.rb’ file had the problem. The problem was also described as a ticket at http://redmine.ruby-lang.org/issues/show/1366 and the excerpt of the issue is shown below:

On Windows, the case of the drive letter can be either upper case or lower case (eg, "C:" or "c:") on the same machine at the same time in different Command Prompt Windows (see below for details). Dir.pwd will return either lower-case or upper-case for the drive letter (“C:/” or “c:/”) depending on the Command Prompt it is run from. However, FILE always uses lower-case drive letter. This can cause an ArgumentError when comparing Dir.pwd and FILE using Pathname#relative_path_from. This happens with version 1.9.1p0 as well. Pathname#relative_path_from should deal with the case where the case of the argument is different.

Note, that I have both my ruby install folder and my project folder on c: drive. And, I am running Ruby 1.8.6  - ruby 1.8.6 (2007-09-24 patchlevel 111) [i386-mswin32]

Solution

I monkey-patched the following lines in pathname.rb file as shown below.

def relative_path_from(base_directory)
dest_directory = self.cleanpath.to_s.capitalize!
base_directory = base_directory.cleanpath.to_s.capitalize!

I added the capitalize! keyword at the end of the two lines so that both the paths are in uppercase, so that later in the code (line 708-710) shown below does not barf and give us the error we got shown in the first para. of the article.

if dest_prefix != base_prefix
raise ArgumentError, "different prefix: #{dest_prefix.inspect} and #{base_directory.inspect}"
end

The temporary solution works after the patch. Hope it helps.

I have installed RMagick and Image Magick on many Windows machines and I have stumbled across various kinds of errors, and finally I have decided to document them so that I could not only document it for myself, but for other people like me, who are stuck due to these errors.

The issues that I have faced are as follows:

A. This version of RMagick was created to run with ImageMagick 6.3.0 but ImageMagick 6.3.5 is installed on this system. You should either
1) Configure and build RMagick for ImageMagick 6.3.5, or
2) download ImageMagick 6.3.0 from http://www.imagemagick.org and install it.
B. Errors about missing CORE_.. .dll file(s).
C. Errors about missing sqlite3.dll.

Issue A. stems from the fact that you have a incompatible version of ImageMagick installed which does not work with RMagick. The solution would be to uninstall any existing ImageMagick and/or RMagick gem, and start all over as described below.

Issue B. tells me that either ImageMagick or RMagick is not installed properly.

Issue C. is a bit off and has nothing to do with ImageMagick or RMagick. It is probably being thrown by the plugin or application that you are using that needs ImageMagick or RMagick. To fix this issue, just install Sqlite3 and I have a post just for that.

Now that we have tackled the issues, let’s get to the goal – how to install RMagick + ImageMagick on Windows.

1. 1. Uninstall any Image Magick or RMagick gem from before.
2. Download rmagick-win32 for windows that has the gem and the ImageMagick installer from http://rubyforge.org/frs/download.php/64917/RMagick-2.12.0-ImageMagick-6.5.6-8-Q8.zip
3. Unzip the rmagick-win32 zip file that you downloaded above.
4. Install the ImageMagick from the installer that came in the zip i.e. run the ImageMagick-6.5.6-8-Q8-windows-dll.exe. This will install ImageMagick for you.
5. Now, we need to install the rmagic gem that came in the zip i.e. rmagick-2.12.0-x86-mswin32.gem. To do that, run the following command on a windows command line:
   > gem install <path where you downloaded and then unzipped the rmagick zip>\rmagick-2.12.0-x86-mswin32.gem
Note: When you read this post, the version nos. of the gem and the zip file may change. Please adjust your commands for that.
6. If you get Issue C., from above you probably are left with installing Sqlite3. If you need help you can look up my post.

That should get you going. Yet another big Ruby on Rails development hurdle on Windows, solved for good. If you have any other issues or questions regarding the subject, please let me know via comments. I will try my best to help you.

Themed in beautiful Winter art and pictures, Rails Magazine released their Issue #5 free digital edition to the whole Ruby and Rails community worldwide.

It is the largest issue since we started, with a whopping 65 pages in full-color, of excellent articles from various authors covering various topics.

It is a Holiday gift from Rails Magazine to all of the Ruby and Rails enthusiasts. You can download the print edition from here.

This issue covers various topics and builds upon earlier articles in the series. The following is a synopsis of the material available in this issue:

• Authentication with Gigya by Curtis Jennings Schofield
• Background Processing in Rails by Erik Andrejko
• On Your Rails (and Ruby) Education by Bob Martens
• Sinatra: Fast Web Application in Ruby by Carlo Pecchia
• Sprockets by Starr Horne
• Adding Pre-made Extensions to Radiant CMS by Casper Fabricius
• Protecting Your Application From Impostors by Gavin Morrice
• Geography division select tag by Satish Kota
• RailsBridge: Rebooting the Rails Community by Mike Gunderloy
• Prince: Powerful PDF Generation by Michael Bleigh
• Ruby C Extension Development by Claudio Fiorini
• Using the Twitter API with Ruby by Brian Rivard
• Continuous Integration Tools in Rails by Saurabh Bhatia
• Active Scaffold by Payal Gupta
• Implement a Full Text Search Engine with Xapian by Amit Mathur

Keeping up with the spirit, we are trying to get the schedule for the magazine a bit more predictable. We are hoping we can get out 6 issues or even 12 issues for the coming year. Time will tell. But, whatever the schedule is or however many issues we can release, we will surely make sure we get quality content over to our readers.

We welcome new authors to write for us. Please contact me (rupak /dot/ ganguly /at/ railsmagazine /dot/ com) or Olimpiu Metiu (editor /at/  railsmagazine /dot/ com for details. You can also visit the official website for Rails Magazine.

If you have any feedback, please do write to us or participate in the survey to tells us what you want to read.

Dubbed as “Future of Rails”, Rails Magazine released Issue #4 in print. You can download the print edition from here. This issue brings 32-pages, filled with exclusive RubyKaigi 2009 conference coverage, in-depth articles, interviews with David Heinemeier Hansson, Matz, Yehuda Katz, Tom Enebo and Koichi Sasada.

The RubyKaigi 2009 coverage provides a nice roundup about the conference with articles, photos and session information. The interviews are great giving insights into Rails 3, Ruby 1.9 and JRuby. And, last but not the least, this issue also brings a wealth of knowledge via the fine articles on various topics.

I thoroughly enjoyed interviewing Yehuda Katz and Tom Enebo and I thank them both for their participation.

If you have any feedback, please do write to us or participate in the survey to tells us what you want to read.

Please be on the lookout for the free downloadable digital version which will be released soon!

Table of Contents:

A Word From the Editor by Olimpiu Metiu

Background Processing with Delayed_Job by James Harrison

Generating PDF with ODF templates by Rodrigo Rosenfeld Rosas

Interview with Yehuda Katz by Yehuda Katz and Rupak Ganguly

Interview with David Heinemeier Hansson by Mark Coates

Feel the Radiance with Radiant CMS by Saurabh Bhatia

Interview with Thomas Enebo by Thomas Enebo and Rupak Ganguly

Oracle Tips and Tricks by Greg Donald

Ruby Kaigi Rails Magazine Exclusive Coverage by Khaled al Habache

RubyKaigi 2009 Roundup by Ehab El-Badry

Interview with Matz by Yukihiro Matsumoto and Muhammad Ali

Interview with Koichi Sasada by Koichi Sasada and Muhammad Ali

Although, the usage of nested forms with has_many associations is well documented, I found that especially the call ..build that works for has_many associations do not work for has_one associations. For the code to work for has_one associations, use this instead:
.build_
E.g book.build_author where book has_one association to author.

Hope this helps.

In a previous post, I talked about How to: Deploy application from Git repo to Heroku. Now, let’s be a little more adventurous and see if we can make changes to code using an online code editor at HerokuGarden. That gives us immense freedom to make changes to our application from anywhere you are as long as you have an internet connection and a browser. Let’s see step-by-step how that can be done.

Install HerokuGarden

1. First, let’s install HerokuGarden gem on our local machine

By issuing the following command, we will install the herokugarden gem.

Rupak@RG4WIX /c/MyStuff/SvnCode/GitRepo/qparty
$ gem install herokugarden

---> Installing herokugarden v0.4.2
---> Migrate local checkouts using the git:transition command:

     cd myapp/
     herokugarden git:transition

Successfully installed herokugarden-0.4.2
1 gem installed
Installing ri documentation for herokugarden-0.4.2...
Installing RDoc documentation for herokugarden-0.4.2...

Note that if you had a cloned your Heroku repo to your local machine, you could issue the command as below to move that code to HerokuGarden. So, in our case we get an error as our local machine is not cloned from Heroku repo but cloned from Unfuddle/GitHub repo.

Rupak@RG4WIX /c/MyStuff/SvnCode/GitRepo/qparty
$ herokugarden git:transition

The current directory does not contain a known Heroku app.

I personally like my master copy of the application code to be in my choice of git repo provider and not Heroku. The Heroku repo is only used as a temporary repo for deployment purposes.

2. So, let’s see what herokugarden gem has to offer. The following command lists all the available commands along with their usages.

Rupak@RG4WIX /c/MyStuff/SvnCode/GitRepo/qparty
$ herokugarden
=== Heroku Garden Commands
  list - list your apps
  create [<name>] - create a new app
  info <app> - show app info, like web url and git repo
  update <app> - update the app
    --name <newname>
    --public (true|false)
    --mode (production|development)
  sharing <app> - manage collaborators
    --add <email>
    --remove <email>
    --access (edit|view)
  rake <app> <command> - remotely execute a rake command
  destroy <app> - destroy the app permanently
  keys - manage your user's ssh public keys for git access
    --add [<path to keyfile>]
    --remove <keyname or all>

Example story:
  herokugarden create myapp
  git clone git@herokugarden.com:myapp.git
  cd myapp
  (...make edits...)
  git add .
  git commit -m "changes"
  git push
  herokugarden update myapp --public true --mode production

Create a new application

3. Now, let’s create a new application at HerokuGarden. Well, I know, we already have an application “QParty” with so much code. Don’t worry, we just need to create an application at HerokuGarden so that HerokuGarden creates a repo for us. We will overwrite all the application code that HerokuGarden generates by default, with our latest code from our Unfuddle/GitHub master code repo. I will show you how in a moment.

Rupak@RG4WIX /c/MyStuff/SvnCode/GitRepo/qparty
$ herokugarden create qparty
Created http://qparty.herokugarden.com/ | git@herokugarden.com:qparty.git 

4. Let’s see if our app is created at HerokuGarden.

Rupak@RG4WIX /c/MyStuff/SvnCode/GitRepo/qparty
$ herokugarden list
Enter your Heroku credentials.
Email: rupakg@gmail.com
Password:
Uploading ssh public key C:\Users\Rupak/.ssh/id_rsa.pub
qparty

5. Now, recall that to push to a git repo we need to tell git about a remote. We already have two remotes as below:

a) Unfuddle/GitHub (master code repo)

b) Heroku (deployment repo)

We need to add the repo for HerokuGarden (online code repo) created automatically in step 3. when we created the app on HerokuGarden. We will add a remote to this third repo by issuing the following command:

Rupak@RG4WIX /c/MyStuff/SvnCode/GitRepo/qparty
$ git remote add herokugarden git@herokugarden.com:qparty.git

6. Now, that we have a remote setup we can easily push our latest code to the online code repo at HerokuGarden.  The following commands do exactly that:

Rupak@RG4WIX /c/MyStuff/SvnCode/GitRepo/qparty
$ git push -f herokugarden master
Counting objects: 620, done.
Compressing objects: 100% (431/431), done.
Writing objects: 100% (620/620), 359.36 KiB | 55 KiB/s, done.
Total 620 (delta 188), reused 544 (delta 151)
refs/heads/master: 34dcb40a5a6b24d05a9cf9f709ce0236643a79e3 -> 64d9cfb515701f4faee62d703b9
0d195e998416e
HEAD is now at 64d9cfb... fixed title yet again
master -> master (forced update)it
Running migrations...
App restarting...
######################################################################## 100.0%

Deployed to http://qparty.herokugarden.com

7. Let’s see if our code has been successfully deployed to HerokuGarden. Go to http://qparty.herokugarden.com and we see our code online. Yeah.

That’s it. You have connected to your git rep, deployed code to HerokuGarden online editor. Now, you have the freedom to code anywhere and instantly deploy you changes. Enjoy!

Well, I am sure you have looked for a less expensive (maybe free!) Rails hosting solution. I use a solution that lets me test drive or deploy an idea I want to show to a client or a friend quickly. Anyway, the point of this article is a quick and possibly free deployment solution that does the job. It focuses on getting the application deployed rather than worry about the setup, database migrations and configuration involved at the hosting provider. I found Heroku to fit the bill perfectly. So, here is a run down on how you could try it as well.

Beyond the basic Heroku deployment scenario

I am assuming you can get up and running on the basics of Heroku by following the quick start instructions here, but I will be talking about a scenario which has a little twist. My scenario is that I have an existing app. on a remote repo (Unfuddle in my case or GitHub in your case or any other for that matter). I have my local machine setup with a clone from my remote repo. I have it all worked out and I make changes and push them to my remote repo.

Goal: I want to deploy my application “QParty” to Heroku. It is just a fun little  Follow my step-by-step directions to the goal.

1. Sync local repo to remote repo

Check to see if the local git repo is synced with remote master code repo at Unfuddle/GitHub.

Rupak@RG4WIX /c/MyStuff/SvnCode/GitRepo/qparty
$ git push unfuddle master
Counting objects: 19, done.
Compressing objects: 100% (13/13), done.
Writing objects: 100% (14/14), 1.21 KiB, done.
Total 14 (delta 8), reused 0 (delta 0)
To git@xxx.unfuddle.com:xxx/qparty.git
   593aae6..64d9cfb  master -> master

2. Install Heroku

The following command will install the Heroku gem if you don’t have it already.

Rupak@RG4WIX /c/MyStuff/SvnCode/GitRepo/qparty
$ gem install heroku
Successfully installed rest-client-1.0.3
Successfully installed configuration-0.0.5
Successfully installed launchy-0.3.3
Successfully installed json-1.1.7-x86-mswin32
Successfully installed heroku-1.0
5 gems installed
Installing ri documentation for rest-client-1.0.3...
Installing ri documentation for launchy-0.3.3...
Installing ri documentation for json-1.1.7-x86-mswin32...
Installing ri documentation for heroku-1.0...
Installing RDoc documentation for rest-client-1.0.3...
Installing RDoc documentation for launchy-0.3.3...
Installing RDoc documentation for json-1.1.7-x86-mswin32...
Installing RDoc documentation for heroku-1.0...

3. Create a fresh new app at Heroku

Rupak@RG4WIX /c/MyStuff/SvnCode/GitRepo/qparty
$ heroku create qparty
Enter your Heroku credentials.
Email: xxx@yyy.com
Password:
Uploading ssh public key C:\Users\Rupak/.ssh/id_rsa.pub
Created http://qparty.heroku.com/ | git@heroku.com:qparty.git 
Git remote heroku added

4. Push your code to Heroku and also deploy it

Rupak@RG4WIX /c/MyStuff/SvnCode/GitRepo/qparty
$ git push heroku master
Counting objects: 13, done.
Compressing objects: 100% (7/7), done.
Writing objects: 100% (7/7), 1.89 KiB, done.
Total 7 (delta 6), reused 0 (delta 0)

-----> Heroku receiving push
-----> Rails app detected
       Compiled slug size is 252K

-----> Launching..... done http://qparty.heroku.com deployed to Heroku 
   64d9cfb..bfed5c3  master -> master

5. Check to see if your app is deployed at Heroku

Rupak@RG4WIX /c/MyStuff/SvnCode/GitRepo/qparty
$ heroku list
favlist
qparty

Yeah, it is listed. Now, test the app at http://qparty.heroku.com in your favorite browser.

By the way, if you like to see some more information about your app at Heroku, do the following:

Rupak@RG4WIX /c/MyStuff/SvnCode/GitRepo/qparty
$ heroku info
=== qparty
Web URL:        http://qparty.heroku.com/ 
Git Repo:       git@heroku.com:qparty.git
Repo size:      484k
Slug size:      248k
Data size:      0K in 0 table
Owner:          xxx@yyy.com

That’s it. You have connected to your git repo, uploaded code to Heroku and deployed your application to Heroku in a snap.

I found this great screencast that shows how easily you can install SQLite3 on Windows. So, here you go:

Beginner Books

• Agile Web Development with Rails Edition 3
• Build Your Own Ruby on Rails Web Applications by Patrick Lenz

Advanced Books

• Advanced Rails Recipes: 84 New Ways to Build Stunning Rails Apps, by Mike Clark
• The Rails Way
• The Ruby Way by Hal Fulton

Free eBooks

http://freecomputerbooks.com/langRubyBooks.html

But, I would also suggest you check out these other free resources which keeps up to date with the technology.

Screencasts and Podcasts

• Railscasts by Ryan Bates – http://www.railscasts.com
• Learning Rails – http://www.buildingwebapps.com/podcasts
• Peepcode Screencasts – http://www.peepcode.com

Learning Sites

Ruby Learning Hub – http://www.rubylearning.org/class/ by Satish Talim. They have a lot of free courses on various subjects but one should do the Ruby course first.

Magazines

Rails Magazine – www.railsmagazine.com

Top Blogs

• http://www.loudthinking.com/ by David Heinemeier Hansson (creator of Rails)
• http://www.rubyinside.com/ by Peter Cooper.
• http://mephistoblog.com/ by Rick Olson and Justin Palmer
• http://hivelogic.com/ by Dan Benjamin
• http://redhanded.hobix.com/ by _why the lucky stiff
• http://nubyonrails.com/ by Geoffrey Grosenbach
• http://errtheblog.com by PJ Hyett and Chris Wanstrath
• http://www.slash7.com by Amy Hoy
• http://weblog.rubyonrails.org by the Rails core team
• http://weblog.jamisbuck.org/ by Jamis Buck
• http://www.railsenvy.com/ by Gregg Pollack