Rails - Mar 2010 - need to parse a User uploaded file, but don't care if it's saved

parsing the file''s not the problem, just not sure what to do with it
before or after.  I was thinking about uploading the files using
Paperclip, parsing it, then deleting itfrom the database.  But, that
all seems a little unnecessary, especially if I don''t care if they are
even saved.

I then thought about grabbing them from the temp directory, but
honestly wasn''t sure how to go about doing that.  So before I really
delve into the Tempfile, should I even worry about it in the first
place?  Each user uploaded file will be like 30kb max, and I''ll only
be processing a couple hundred a month.  Also, I''m hosted on heroku,
so the s3 transfers (if I do save the file) will be free.  What ya
think?

Any advice really is appreciated

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Don''t know if this is any use - but you could just upload it yourself 
(rather than using paperclip or file_column):

http://www.tutorialspoint.com/ruby-on-rails/rails-file-uploading.htm

You can choose the directory that you want it saved in, then delete the 
file as soon as you are done with it.

Cheers
Luke
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Sorry just to add that tutorial saves it in a model - but obviously you 
don''t need to do that.
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One way would be to just process the uploaded-file data from the
request as needed and not worry about saving or doing anything else
with the tmp-saved uploaded-file itself, something like:

### in ./app/models/uploadable_file.rb
class UploadableFile

  ### for use in testing:

  def initialize(fname, contents)
    @fname = fname
    @contents = contents
  end

  def original_filename
    return @fname
  end

  def read
    return @contents
  end

  ### class meths:

  def self.parse(upfile)
    return nil if upfile.blank? or not (upfile.respond_to?
(''original_filename'')\
 and upfile.respond_to?(''read''))

    orig_fname = upfile.original_filename
    contents = upfile.read
    # parse/process contents ....
  end
end

Then just call that class meth in your controller to parse the
uploaded file for an example file form element of name "upfile":

   ### in some controller meth that handles that multipart/form-data
form:
   ...
   parsed_contents = UploadableFile.parse(params[:upfile])
   # check results ....

Jeff

On Mar 22, 9:37 pm, GoodGets
<goodg...-Re5JQEeQqe8AvxtiuMwx3w@public.gmane.org>
wrote:
> parsing the file''s not the problem, just not sure what to do with
it
> before or after.  I was thinking about uploading the files using
> Paperclip, parsing it, then deleting itfrom the database.  But, that
> all seems a little unnecessary, especially if I don''t care if they
are
> even saved.
>
> I then thought about grabbing them from the temp directory, but
> honestly wasn''t sure how to go about doing that.  So before I
really
> delve into the Tempfile, should I even worry about it in the first
> place?  Each user uploaded file will be like 30kb max, and I''ll
only
> be processing a couple hundred a month.  Also, I''m hosted on
heroku,
> so the s3 transfers (if I do save the file) will be free.  What ya
> think?
>
> Any advice really is appreciated
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@Luke:  Thanks!  Yeah, I saw that tutorial, too.  But, also like you
said, it still saves it to a model, so I''d rather just let paperclip
handle all that.  Thank you anyway though.

@Jeff:  Thank you!
For full disclosure, I''m still a little bit of a noob to Rails (and
ruby) but I think I get more than the gist of your code.  So,
definitely a big thanks.

I do have a couple questions as to what''s going on though.  Like I get
that the file is read, along with its contents, but where is it read
from?  Like, is the file actually uploaded to a temp directory, and
you''re saying that I just don''t have to expressly mess with
that
directory?  Or, is it just held in memory in a Rails process
somewhere?  Might that be worse than just storing the file, then
deleting it later?

I''m just asking, I honestly don''t know.  Also, while the file
uploads,
a Rails process is not tied up, correct?  It''s actually being buffered
by the server?

A big thank you Jeff, and to anyone else that wants to chime in.  I
think this is definitely a huge start down the right path.



On Mar 23, 11:35 am, Jeff Lewis
<jeff.bu...-Re5JQEeQqe8AvxtiuMwx3w@public.gmane.org>
wrote:
> One way would be to just process the uploaded-file data from the
> request as needed and not worry about saving or doing anything else
> with the tmp-saved uploaded-file itself, something like:
>
> ### in ./app/models/uploadable_file.rb
> class UploadableFile
>
>   ### for use in testing:
>
>   def initialize(fname, contents)
>     @fname = fname
>     @contents = contents
>   end
>
>   def original_filename
>     return @fname
>   end
>
>   def read
>     return @contents
>   end
>
>   ### class meths:
>
>   def self.parse(upfile)
>     return nil if upfile.blank? or not (upfile.respond_to?
> (''original_filename'')\
>  and upfile.respond_to?(''read''))
>
>     orig_fname = upfile.original_filename
>     contents = upfile.read
>     # parse/process contents ....
>   end
> end
>
> Then just call that class meth in your controller to parse the
> uploaded file for an example file form element of name "upfile":
>
>    ### in some controller meth that handles that multipart/form-data
> form:
>    ...
>    parsed_contents = UploadableFile.parse(params[:upfile])
>    # check results ....
>
> Jeff
>
> On Mar 22, 9:37 pm, GoodGets
<goodg...-Re5JQEeQqe8AvxtiuMwx3w@public.gmane.org> wrote:
>
>
>
> > parsing the file''s not the problem, just not sure what to do
with it
> > before or after.  I was thinking about uploading the files using
> > Paperclip, parsing it, then deleting itfrom the database.  But, that
> > all seems a little unnecessary, especially if I don''t care if
they are
> > even saved.
>
> > I then thought about grabbing them from the temp directory, but
> > honestly wasn''t sure how to go about doing that.  So before I
really
> > delve into the Tempfile, should I even worry about it in the first
> > place?  Each user uploaded file will be like 30kb max, and
I''ll only
> > be processing a couple hundred a month.  Also, I''m hosted on
heroku,
> > so the s3 transfers (if I do save the file) will be free.  What ya
> > think?
>
> > Any advice really is appreciated
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re: where is it read from?:  I use passenger to serve my rails apps
these days (all running on *nix), and per the passenger docs:

http://www.modrails.com/documentation/Users%20guide.html#_passengertempdir_lt_directory_gt

...
5.10. PassengerTempDir <directory>
Specifies the directory that Phusion Passenger should use for storing
temporary files. This includes things such as Unix socket files,
buffered file uploads, etc.
...

The default for that on *nix is the /tmp dir.  So, under such a setup,
when a user uploads a file via the rails app, that uploaded file is
temporarily saved under the /tmp dir.  That''s why I was saying that if
you didn''t want to save the file in terms of the app''s
context, ie you
just want to parse/process the uploaded file''s content, you
shouldn''t
have to do anything else with that /tmp file, since the underlying os
will handle that clean up of /tmp files as necessary.

Jeff

On Mar 23, 5:29 pm, GoodGets
<goodg...-Re5JQEeQqe8AvxtiuMwx3w@public.gmane.org>
wrote:
> @Luke:  Thanks!  Yeah, I saw that tutorial, too.  But, also like you
> said, it still saves it to a model, so I''d rather just let
paperclip
> handle all that.  Thank you anyway though.
>
> @Jeff:  Thank you!
> For full disclosure, I''m still a little bit of a noob to Rails
(and
> ruby) but I think I get more than the gist of your code.  So,
> definitely a big thanks.
>
> I do have a couple questions as to what''s going on though.  Like I
get
> that the file is read, along with its contents, but where is it read
> from?  Like, is the file actually uploaded to a temp directory, and
> you''re saying that I just don''t have to expressly mess
with that
> directory?  Or, is it just held in memory in a Rails process
> somewhere?  Might that be worse than just storing the file, then
> deleting it later?
>
> I''m just asking, I honestly don''t know.  Also, while the
file uploads,
> a Rails process is not tied up, correct?  It''s actually being
buffered
> by the server?
>
> A big thank you Jeff, and to anyone else that wants to chime in.  I
> think this is definitely a huge start down the right path.
>
> On Mar 23, 11:35 am, Jeff Lewis
<jeff.bu...-Re5JQEeQqe8AvxtiuMwx3w@public.gmane.org> wrote:
>
>
>
> > One way would be to just process the uploaded-file data from the
> > request as needed and not worry about saving or doing anything else
> > with the tmp-saved uploaded-file itself, something like:
>
> > ### in ./app/models/uploadable_file.rb
> > class UploadableFile
>
> >   ### for use in testing:
>
> >   def initialize(fname, contents)
> >     @fname = fname
> >     @contents = contents
> >   end
>
> >   def original_filename
> >     return @fname
> >   end
>
> >   def read
> >     return @contents
> >   end
>
> >   ### class meths:
>
> >   def self.parse(upfile)
> >     return nil if upfile.blank? or not (upfile.respond_to?
> > (''original_filename'')\
> >  and upfile.respond_to?(''read''))
>
> >     orig_fname = upfile.original_filename
> >     contents = upfile.read
> >     # parse/process contents ....
> >   end
> > end
>
> > Then just call that class meth in your controller to parse the
> > uploaded file for an example file form element of name
"upfile":
>
> >    ### in some controller meth that handles that multipart/form-data
> > form:
> >    ...
> >    parsed_contents = UploadableFile.parse(params[:upfile])
> >    # check results ....
>
> > Jeff
>
> > On Mar 22, 9:37 pm, GoodGets
<goodg...-Re5JQEeQqe8AvxtiuMwx3w@public.gmane.org> wrote:
>
> > > parsing the file''s not the problem, just not sure what
to do with it
> > > before or after.  I was thinking about uploading the files using
> > > Paperclip, parsing it, then deleting itfrom the database.  But,
that
> > > all seems a little unnecessary, especially if I don''t
care if they are
> > > even saved.
>
> > > I then thought about grabbing them from the temp directory, but
> > > honestly wasn''t sure how to go about doing that.  So
before I really
> > > delve into the Tempfile, should I even worry about it in the
first
> > > place?  Each user uploaded file will be like 30kb max, and
I''ll only
> > > be processing a couple hundred a month.  Also, I''m
hosted on heroku,
> > > so the s3 transfers (if I do save the file) will be free.  What
ya
> > > think?
>
> > > Any advice really is appreciated
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So instead of saving the file somewhere, it''ll just grab it from the
tmp directory, parse it, then leave it up to Rails or the server to
expire the file after that request is over.  Great, that''s exactly
what I want.

I plan on knocking this out tomorrow, and although I may have a
question or two once I delve into it more, I at least understand
what''s going on now.
Big thanks Jeff, really do apreciate the help.


On Mar 24, 1:26 pm, Jeff Lewis
<jeff.bu...-Re5JQEeQqe8AvxtiuMwx3w@public.gmane.org>
wrote:
> re: where is it read from?:  I use passenger to serve my rails apps
> these days (all running on *nix), and per the passenger docs:
>
> http://www.modrails.com/documentation/Users%20guide.html#_passengerte...
>
> ...
> 5.10. PassengerTempDir <directory>
> Specifies the directory that Phusion Passenger should use for storing
> temporary files. This includes things such as Unix socket files,
> buffered file uploads, etc.
> ...
>
> The default for that on *nix is the /tmp dir.  So, under such a setup,
> when a user uploads a file via the rails app, that uploaded file is
> temporarily saved under the /tmp dir.  That''s why I was saying
that if
> you didn''t want to save the file in terms of the app''s
context, ie you
> just want to parse/process the uploaded file''s content, you
shouldn''t
> have to do anything else with that /tmp file, since the underlying os
> will handle that clean up of /tmp files as necessary.
>
> Jeff
>
> On Mar 23, 5:29 pm, GoodGets
<goodg...-Re5JQEeQqe8AvxtiuMwx3w@public.gmane.org> wrote:
>
>
>
> > @Luke:  Thanks!  Yeah, I saw that tutorial, too.  But, also like you
> > said, it still saves it to a model, so I''d rather just let
paperclip
> > handle all that.  Thank you anyway though.
>
> > @Jeff:  Thank you!
> > For full disclosure, I''m still a little bit of a noob to
Rails (and
> > ruby) but I think I get more than the gist of your code.  So,
> > definitely a big thanks.
>
> > I do have a couple questions as to what''s going on though.
 Like I get
> > that the file is read, along with its contents, but where is it read
> > from?  Like, is the file actually uploaded to a temp directory, and
> > you''re saying that I just don''t have to expressly
mess with that
> > directory?  Or, is it just held in memory in a Rails process
> > somewhere?  Might that be worse than just storing the file, then
> > deleting it later?
>
> > I''m just asking, I honestly don''t know.  Also, while
the file uploads,
> > a Rails process is not tied up, correct?  It''s actually being
buffered
> > by the server?
>
> > A big thank you Jeff, and to anyone else that wants to chime in.  I
> > think this is definitely a huge start down the right path.
>
> > On Mar 23, 11:35 am, Jeff Lewis
<jeff.bu...-Re5JQEeQqe8AvxtiuMwx3w@public.gmane.org> wrote:
>
> > > One way would be to just process the uploaded-file data from the
> > > request as needed and not worry about saving or doing anything
else
> > > with the tmp-saved uploaded-file itself, something like:
>
> > > ### in ./app/models/uploadable_file.rb
> > > class UploadableFile
>
> > >   ### for use in testing:
>
> > >   def initialize(fname, contents)
> > >     @fname = fname
> > >     @contents = contents
> > >   end
>
> > >   def original_filename
> > >     return @fname
> > >   end
>
> > >   def read
> > >     return @contents
> > >   end
>
> > >   ### class meths:
>
> > >   def self.parse(upfile)
> > >     return nil if upfile.blank? or not (upfile.respond_to?
> > > (''original_filename'')\
> > >  and upfile.respond_to?(''read''))
>
> > >     orig_fname = upfile.original_filename
> > >     contents = upfile.read
> > >     # parse/process contents ....
> > >   end
> > > end
>
> > > Then just call that class meth in your controller to parse the
> > > uploaded file for an example file form element of name
"upfile":
>
> > >    ### in some controller meth that handles that
multipart/form-data
> > > form:
> > >    ...
> > >    parsed_contents = UploadableFile.parse(params[:upfile])
> > >    # check results ....
>
> > > Jeff
>
> > > On Mar 22, 9:37 pm, GoodGets
<goodg...-Re5JQEeQqe8AvxtiuMwx3w@public.gmane.org> wrote:
>
> > > > parsing the file''s not the problem, just not sure
what to do with it
> > > > before or after.  I was thinking about uploading the files
using
> > > > Paperclip, parsing it, then deleting itfrom the database.
 But, that
> > > > all seems a little unnecessary, especially if I
don''t care if they are
> > > > even saved.
>
> > > > I then thought about grabbing them from the temp directory,
but
> > > > honestly wasn''t sure how to go about doing that.
 So before I really
> > > > delve into the Tempfile, should I even worry about it in the
first
> > > > place?  Each user uploaded file will be like 30kb max, and
I''ll only
> > > > be processing a couple hundred a month.  Also, I''m
hosted on heroku,
> > > > so the s3 transfers (if I do save the file) will be free.
 What ya
> > > > think?
>
> > > > Any advice really is appreciated
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