Rails core - Jun 2011 - Status of Rails.application.routes.recognize_path()

Sorry if this question isn''t really "Ruby on Rails: Core"
material. I feel
it is, at least kind-of (also, I first tried asking in "Ruby on Rails:
Talk"
to no avail.).

So, while writing a gem (engine) for rails, I found that I needed to have my 
app (in a pre-filter) directly query the router. In the "old" days,
this was
done using ActionController::Routing::Routes.recognize_path(). My 2nd 
edition of "Agile Web Development with Rails" (which covers rails 1.2)
even
demonstrates how to use it in a rails console to verify your routes. This is 
now deprecated (in rails 3.0.x) as indicated by the following warning in my 
application log:

DEPRECATION WARNING: ActionController::Routing::Routes is deprecated. 
Instead, use Rails.application.routes.

So, today you use Rails.application.routes.recognize_path(). Beautiful. It 
works great.

However, when trying to re-learn or re-discover this method (I hadn''t
used
it in quite a while) I noticed it isn''t documented (
http://api.rubyonrails.org/). Rails.application.routes returns an instance 
of the ActionDispatch::Routing::RouteSet class which, looking at the source, 
has the "#:nodoc:" rdoc tag to prevent it being included in the
project
documentation.

This communicates to me that this isn''t considered part of the public
API
and is therefor subject to change, be renamed, whatever.

So my question is, is this true? Since I''m writing a gem, a rails
engine
that needs to call this method, am I in danger of a future rails point 
release breaking my gem? Or, is the lack of documentation superfluous and I 
can be assured that this method: Rails.application.routes.recognize_path(path, 
environment = {}) will always be available (with that signature and 
behavior)?

The fact that the older, deprecated way of accessing this method directs you 
to this new method in the deprecation warning, however, communicates that 
this *is* still a kind of public (perhaps just "less" public?) method.
Is
this true?

Thanks in advance for any input. I would just like to know since I''d
like to
avoid relying on internal methods that could change in a point-release.

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On Wed, Jun 22, 2011 at 03:06:46PM -0700, Kendall Gifford
wrote:
> Sorry if this question isn''t really "Ruby on Rails:
Core" material. I feel
> it is, at least kind-of (also, I first tried asking in "Ruby on Rails:
Talk"
> to no avail.).
> 
> So, while writing a gem (engine) for rails, I found that I needed to have
my
> app (in a pre-filter) directly query the router. In the "old"
days, this was
> done using ActionController::Routing::Routes.recognize_path(). My 2nd 
> edition of "Agile Web Development with Rails" (which covers rails
1.2) even
> demonstrates how to use it in a rails console to verify your routes. This
is
> now deprecated (in rails 3.0.x) as indicated by the following warning in my
> application log:
> 
> DEPRECATION WARNING: ActionController::Routing::Routes is deprecated. 
> Instead, use Rails.application.routes.
> 
> So, today you use Rails.application.routes.recognize_path(). Beautiful. It 
> works great.
> 
> However, when trying to re-learn or re-discover this method (I
hadn''t used
> it in quite a while) I noticed it isn''t documented (
> http://api.rubyonrails.org/). Rails.application.routes returns an instance 
> of the ActionDispatch::Routing::RouteSet class which, looking at the
source,
> has the "#:nodoc:" rdoc tag to prevent it being included in the
project
> documentation.
> 
> This communicates to me that this isn''t considered part of the
public API
> and is therefor subject to change, be renamed, whatever.
> 
> So my question is, is this true? Since I''m writing a gem, a rails
engine
> that needs to call this method, am I in danger of a future rails point 
> release breaking my gem? Or, is the lack of documentation superfluous and I
> can be assured that this method:
Rails.application.routes.recognize_path(path,
> environment = {}) will always be available (with that signature and 
> behavior)?
> 
> The fact that the older, deprecated way of accessing this method directs
you
> to this new method in the deprecation warning, however, communicates that 
> this *is* still a kind of public (perhaps just "less" public?)
method. Is
> this true?
> 
> Thanks in advance for any input. I would just like to know since
I''d like to
> avoid relying on internal methods that could change in a point-release.
I think this will change in the future, but you should be safe to rely
on it for 3.0.x and 3.1.x.

-- 
Aaron Patterson
http://tenderlovemaking.com/

On 22 Jun 2011, at 23:06, Kendall Gifford wrote:
> Thanks in advance for any input. I would just like to know since
I''d like to avoid relying on internal methods that could change in a
point-release.
Just for the record, the RouteSet class was not marked as :nodoc: as part of
Rails 3 - it has been :nodoc: for years. What''s been deprecated is
accessing the routes by using the constant ActionController::Routing::Routes
which was aliased to ActionController::Routing::RouteSet.


Andrew White

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On Friday, June 24, 2011 8:06:44 AM UTC-6, Andy White
wrote:
>
>
> On 22 Jun 2011, at 23:06, Kendall Gifford wrote:
>
> > Thanks in advance for any input. I would just like to know since
I''d like
> to avoid relying on internal methods that could change in a point-release.
>
> Just for the record, the RouteSet class was not marked as :nodoc: as part 
> of Rails 3 - it has been :nodoc: for years. What''s been deprecated
is
> accessing the routes by using the constant
ActionController::Routing::Routes
> which was aliased to ActionController::Routing::RouteSet.
>
Ah yes, my observation of the :nodoc: marker was, for sure, just on the 
current version. I didn''t mean to imply it had ever been otherwise. It
was,
in fact, the book "Agile Web Development with Rails" (2nd Edition)
which
credits Dave Thomas and, more importantly (to a lay reader) David Heinemeier 
Hansson, lending it an "official" quality, that I cited as my original
source of knowledge of the method.

Just for kicks, I just checked the 3rd edition. It also still has, "Use the
recognize_path method to see how routing would parse a particular
incoming path..." (p 428). The third edition adds Sam Ruby as an author, in
addition to Dave Thomas and DHH. However, the currnet (4th) edition has no 
mention of it anywhere.

Well, I''m sure you''re all very interested in this trivia :).

On Thursday, June 23, 2011 4:18:08 PM UTC-6, Aaron Patterson
wrote:
> 
> I think this will change in the future, but you should be safe to rely
> on it for 3.0.x and 3.1.x.
> 
Cool. Any chance that this or another similar method will ever become part 
of the official public API? I know it is rarely needed but, while searching 
both the "Ruby on Rails: Talk" and the "Ruby on Rails: Core"
archives, there
have been a few others (though not many) in the last couple of years
who''ve
apparently had a use-case for it, just as I do now.

Well, either way, thanks for your time Aaron and Andy. I seriously 
appreciate it!

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