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== Welcome to Rails

Rails is a web-application and persistence framework that includes everything

needed to create database-backed web-applications according to the

Model-View-Control pattern of separation. This pattern splits the view (also

called the presentation) into "dumb" templates that are primarily responsible

for inserting pre-built data in between HTML tags. The model contains the

"smart" domain objects (such as Account, Product, Person, Post) that holds all

the business logic and knows how to persist themselves to a database. The

controller handles the incoming requests (such as Save New Account, Update

Product, Show Post) by manipulating the model and directing data to the view.

In Rails, the model is handled by what's called an object-relational mapping

layer entitled Active Record. This layer allows you to present the data from

database rows as objects and embellish these data objects with business logic

methods. You can read more about Active Record in

link:files/vendor/rails/activerecord/README.html.

The controller and view are handled by the Action Pack, which handles both

layers by its two parts: Action View and Action Controller. These two layers

are bundled in a single package due to their heavy interdependence. This is

unlike the relationship between the Active Record and Action Pack that is much

more separate. Each of these packages can be used independently outside of

Rails. You can read more about Action Pack in

link:files/vendor/rails/actionpack/README.html.

== Getting started

1. At the command prompt, start a new rails application using the rails command

and your application name. Ex: rails myapp

(If you've downloaded rails in a complete tgz or zip, this step is already done)

2. Change directory into myapp and start the web server: <tt>script/server</tt> (run with --help for options)

3. Go to http://localhost:3000/ and get "Welcome aboard: You’re riding the Rails!"

4. Follow the guidelines to start developing your application

== Web Servers

By default, Rails will try to use Mongrel and lighttpd if they are installed, otherwise

Rails will use the WEBrick, the webserver that ships with Ruby. When you run script/server,

Rails will check if Mongrel exists, then lighttpd and finally fall back to WEBrick. This ensures

that you can always get up and running quickly.

Mongrel is a Ruby-based webserver with a C-component (which requires compilation) that is

suitable for development and deployment of Rails applications. If you have Ruby Gems installed,

getting up and running with mongrel is as easy as: <tt>gem install mongrel</tt>.

More info at: http://mongrel.rubyforge.org

If Mongrel is not installed, Rails will look for lighttpd. It's considerably faster than

Mongrel and WEBrick and also suited for production use, but requires additional

installation and currently only works well on OS X/Unix (Windows users are encouraged

to start with Mongrel). We recommend version 1.4.11 and higher. You can download it from

http://www.lighttpd.net.

And finally, if neither Mongrel or lighttpd are installed, Rails will use the built-in Ruby

web server, WEBrick. WEBrick is a small Ruby web server suitable for development, but not

for production.

But of course its also possible to run Rails on any platform that supports FCGI.

Apache, LiteSpeed, IIS are just a few. For more information on FCGI,

please visit: http://wiki.rubyonrails.com/rails/pages/FastCGI

== Debugging Rails

Have "tail -f" commands running on the server.log and development.log. Rails will

automatically display debugging and runtime information to these files. Debugging

info will also be shown in the browser on requests from 127.0.0.1.

== Breakpoints

Breakpoint support is available through the script/breakpointer client. This

means that you can break out of execution at any point in the code, investigate

and change the model, AND then resume execution! Example:

class WeblogController < ActionController::Base

def index

@posts = Post.find(:all)

breakpoint "Breaking out from the list"

end

So the controller will accept the action, run the first line, then present you

with a IRB prompt in the breakpointer window. Here you can do things like:

Executing breakpoint "Breaking out from the list" at .../webrick_server.rb:16 in 'breakpoint'

>> @posts.inspect

=> "[#<Post:0x14a6be8 @attributes={\"title\"=>nil, \"body\"=>nil, \"id\"=>\"1\"}>,

#<Post:0x14a6620 @attributes={\"title\"=>\"Rails you know!\", \"body\"=>\"Only ten..\", \"id\"=>\"2\"}>]"

>> @posts.first.title = "hello from a breakpoint"

=> "hello from a breakpoint"

...and even better is that you can examine how your runtime objects actually work:

>> f = @posts.first

=> #<Post:0x13630c4 @attributes={"title"=>nil, "body"=>nil, "id"=>"1"}>

>> f.

Display all 152 possibilities? (y or n)

Finally, when you're ready to resume execution, you press CTRL-D

== Console

You can interact with the domain model by starting the console through <tt>script/console</tt>.

Here you'll have all parts of the application configured, just like it is when the

application is running. You can inspect domain models, change values, and save to the

database. Starting the script without arguments will launch it in the development environment.

Passing an argument will specify a different environment, like <tt>script/console production</tt>.

To reload your controllers and models after launching the console run <tt>reload!</tt>

== Description of contents

app

Holds all the code that's specific to this particular application.

app/controllers

Holds controllers that should be named like weblogs_controller.rb for

automated URL mapping. All controllers should descend from ApplicationController

which itself descends from ActionController::Base.

app/models

Holds models that should be named like post.rb.

Most models will descend from ActiveRecord::Base.

app/views

Holds the template files for the view that should be named like

weblogs/index.rhtml for the WeblogsController#index action. All views use eRuby

syntax.

app/views/layouts

Holds the template files for layouts to be used with views. This models the common

header/footer method of wrapping views. In your views, define a layout using the

<tt>layout :default</tt> and create a file named default.rhtml. Inside default.rhtml,

call <% yield %> to render the view using this layout.

app/helpers

Holds view helpers that should be named like weblogs_helper.rb. These are generated

for you automatically when using script/generate for controllers. Helpers can be used to

wrap functionality for your views into methods.

config

Configuration files for the Rails environment, the routing map, the database, and other dependencies.

components

Self-contained mini-applications that can bundle together controllers, models, and views.

db

Contains the database schema in schema.rb. db/migrate contains all

the sequence of Migrations for your schema.

doc

This directory is where your application documentation will be stored when generated

using <tt>rake doc:app</tt>

lib

Application specific libraries. Basically, any kind of custom code that doesn't

belong under controllers, models, or helpers. This directory is in the load path.

public

The directory available for the web server. Contains subdirectories for images, stylesheets,

and javascripts. Also contains the dispatchers and the default HTML files. This should be

set as the DOCUMENT_ROOT of your web server.

script

Helper scripts for automation and generation.

test

Unit and functional tests along with fixtures. When using the script/generate scripts, template

test files will be generated for you and placed in this directory.

vendor

External libraries that the application depends on. Also includes the plugins subdirectory.

This directory is in the load path.

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pramook initial commit...	r0	== Welcome to Rails

		Rails is a web-application and persistence framework that includes everything
		needed to create database-backed web-applications according to the
		Model-View-Control pattern of separation. This pattern splits the view (also
		called the presentation) into "dumb" templates that are primarily responsible
		for inserting pre-built data in between HTML tags. The model contains the
		"smart" domain objects (such as Account, Product, Person, Post) that holds all
		the business logic and knows how to persist themselves to a database. The
		controller handles the incoming requests (such as Save New Account, Update
		Product, Show Post) by manipulating the model and directing data to the view.

		In Rails, the model is handled by what's called an object-relational mapping
		layer entitled Active Record. This layer allows you to present the data from
		database rows as objects and embellish these data objects with business logic
		methods. You can read more about Active Record in
		link:files/vendor/rails/activerecord/README.html.

		The controller and view are handled by the Action Pack, which handles both
		layers by its two parts: Action View and Action Controller. These two layers
		are bundled in a single package due to their heavy interdependence. This is
		unlike the relationship between the Active Record and Action Pack that is much
		more separate. Each of these packages can be used independently outside of
		Rails. You can read more about Action Pack in
		link:files/vendor/rails/actionpack/README.html.


		== Getting started

		1. At the command prompt, start a new rails application using the rails command
		and your application name. Ex: rails myapp
		(If you've downloaded rails in a complete tgz or zip, this step is already done)
		2. Change directory into myapp and start the web server: <tt>script/server</tt> (run with --help for options)
		3. Go to http://localhost:3000/ and get "Welcome aboard: You’re riding the Rails!"
		4. Follow the guidelines to start developing your application


		== Web Servers

		By default, Rails will try to use Mongrel and lighttpd if they are installed, otherwise
		Rails will use the WEBrick, the webserver that ships with Ruby. When you run script/server,
		Rails will check if Mongrel exists, then lighttpd and finally fall back to WEBrick. This ensures
		that you can always get up and running quickly.

		Mongrel is a Ruby-based webserver with a C-component (which requires compilation) that is
		suitable for development and deployment of Rails applications. If you have Ruby Gems installed,
		getting up and running with mongrel is as easy as: <tt>gem install mongrel</tt>.
		More info at: http://mongrel.rubyforge.org

		If Mongrel is not installed, Rails will look for lighttpd. It's considerably faster than
		Mongrel and WEBrick and also suited for production use, but requires additional
		installation and currently only works well on OS X/Unix (Windows users are encouraged
		to start with Mongrel). We recommend version 1.4.11 and higher. You can download it from
		http://www.lighttpd.net.

		And finally, if neither Mongrel or lighttpd are installed, Rails will use the built-in Ruby
		web server, WEBrick. WEBrick is a small Ruby web server suitable for development, but not
		for production.

		But of course its also possible to run Rails on any platform that supports FCGI.
		Apache, LiteSpeed, IIS are just a few. For more information on FCGI,
		please visit: http://wiki.rubyonrails.com/rails/pages/FastCGI


		== Debugging Rails

		Have "tail -f" commands running on the server.log and development.log. Rails will
		automatically display debugging and runtime information to these files. Debugging
		info will also be shown in the browser on requests from 127.0.0.1.


		== Breakpoints

		Breakpoint support is available through the script/breakpointer client. This
		means that you can break out of execution at any point in the code, investigate
		and change the model, AND then resume execution! Example:

		class WeblogController < ActionController::Base
		def index
		@posts = Post.find(:all)
		breakpoint "Breaking out from the list"
		end
		end

		So the controller will accept the action, run the first line, then present you
		with a IRB prompt in the breakpointer window. Here you can do things like:

		Executing breakpoint "Breaking out from the list" at .../webrick_server.rb:16 in 'breakpoint'

		>> @posts.inspect
		=> "[#<Post:0x14a6be8 @attributes={\"title\"=>nil, \"body\"=>nil, \"id\"=>\"1\"}>,
		#<Post:0x14a6620 @attributes={\"title\"=>\"Rails you know!\", \"body\"=>\"Only ten..\", \"id\"=>\"2\"}>]"
		>> @posts.first.title = "hello from a breakpoint"
		=> "hello from a breakpoint"

		...and even better is that you can examine how your runtime objects actually work:

		>> f = @posts.first
		=> #<Post:0x13630c4 @attributes={"title"=>nil, "body"=>nil, "id"=>"1"}>
		>> f.
		Display all 152 possibilities? (y or n)

		Finally, when you're ready to resume execution, you press CTRL-D


		== Console

		You can interact with the domain model by starting the console through <tt>script/console</tt>.
		Here you'll have all parts of the application configured, just like it is when the
		application is running. You can inspect domain models, change values, and save to the
		database. Starting the script without arguments will launch it in the development environment.
		Passing an argument will specify a different environment, like <tt>script/console production</tt>.

		To reload your controllers and models after launching the console run <tt>reload!</tt>

		To reload your controllers and models after launching the console run <tt>reload!</tt>



		== Description of contents

		app
		Holds all the code that's specific to this particular application.

		app/controllers
		Holds controllers that should be named like weblogs_controller.rb for
		automated URL mapping. All controllers should descend from ApplicationController
		which itself descends from ActionController::Base.

		app/models
		Holds models that should be named like post.rb.
		Most models will descend from ActiveRecord::Base.

		app/views
		Holds the template files for the view that should be named like
		weblogs/index.rhtml for the WeblogsController#index action. All views use eRuby
		syntax.

		app/views/layouts
		Holds the template files for layouts to be used with views. This models the common
		header/footer method of wrapping views. In your views, define a layout using the
		<tt>layout :default</tt> and create a file named default.rhtml. Inside default.rhtml,
		call <% yield %> to render the view using this layout.

		app/helpers
		Holds view helpers that should be named like weblogs_helper.rb. These are generated
		for you automatically when using script/generate for controllers. Helpers can be used to
		wrap functionality for your views into methods.

		config
		Configuration files for the Rails environment, the routing map, the database, and other dependencies.

		components
		Self-contained mini-applications that can bundle together controllers, models, and views.

		db
		Contains the database schema in schema.rb. db/migrate contains all
		the sequence of Migrations for your schema.

		doc
		This directory is where your application documentation will be stored when generated
		using <tt>rake doc:app</tt>

		lib
		Application specific libraries. Basically, any kind of custom code that doesn't
		belong under controllers, models, or helpers. This directory is in the load path.

		public
		The directory available for the web server. Contains subdirectories for images, stylesheets,
		and javascripts. Also contains the dispatchers and the default HTML files. This should be
		set as the DOCUMENT_ROOT of your web server.

		script
		Helper scripts for automation and generation.

		test
		Unit and functional tests along with fixtures. When using the script/generate scripts, template
		test files will be generated for you and placed in this directory.

		vendor
		External libraries that the application depends on. Also includes the plugins subdirectory.
		This directory is in the load path.

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