Hi, Newbie here :) Can someone help explain the difference between "plugins" (put in the /vendor/plugins directory) and "components" (put into the /components directory)? Is it just that "plugins" have an init.rb file that is automatically loaded? Also, how can I dynamically find out which files/controllers are available in the /components directory? Thanks, Estelle.
On Sat, 2006-02-25 at 16:00 -0800, Estelle Winterflood wrote:> Hi, > > Newbie here :) > > Can someone help explain the difference between "plugins" (put in the > /vendor/plugins directory) and "components" (put into the /components > directory)? > > Is it just that "plugins" have an init.rb file that is automatically loaded? > > Also, how can I dynamically find out which files/controllers are > available in the /components directory?---- I can''t really do that because I don''t know what is meant by components unless you are referring to the specific rails components themselves. I do know however (and I had to patch to make this work) that if you run commands for your ''rails root''... rake apidoc rake appdoc rake plugindoc you will get folders in your doc/ directory that will list the various apis, etc. derived from the appropriate sources which I found to be marginally helpful but I am still very much newbie myself. I hope this helps - as you can imagine my eagerness to help the one who helped me. Craig
Thanks for your help Craig :) Basically, the main thing I want to do, is from within one of my main controllers I want to find out what files and/or directories exist in the /components directory. Perhaps using the File class... but I can''t find any examples on how to get a list of files within a directory? By "plugins" I am referring to the things on this page: http://wiki.rubyonrails.com/rails/pages/Plugins, of which I have installed Globalize and Liquid and they are both contained within the /vendor/plugin directory of my application. I think the difference between "plugins" and "components" (p.174 and p.362 of AWD) is that components are meant to be parts of my application which may possibly be reused elsewhere, whereas "plugins" are often developed by a 3rd party and are more generic perhaps... Also "plugins" have an init.rb file whereas components do not... Regards, Estelle.> I can''t really do that because I don''t know what is meant by components > unless you are referring to the specific rails components themselves. > > I do know however (and I had to patch to make this work) that if you run > commands for your ''rails root''... > > rake apidoc > rake appdoc > rake plugindoc > > you will get folders in your doc/ directory that will list the various > apis, etc. derived from the appropriate sources which I found to be > marginally helpful but I am still very much newbie myself. > > I hope this helps - as you can imagine my eagerness to help the one who > helped me. > > Craig > > _______________________________________________ > Rails mailing list > Rails@lists.rubyonrails.org > http://lists.rubyonrails.org/mailman/listinfo/rails >
On Sat, 2006-02-25 at 19:34 -0800, Estelle Winterflood wrote:> Thanks for your help Craig :) > > Basically, the main thing I want to do, is from within one of my main > controllers I want to find out what files and/or directories exist in > the /components directory. > > Perhaps using the File class... but I can''t find any examples on how > to get a list of files within a directory? > > By "plugins" I am referring to the things on this page: > http://wiki.rubyonrails.com/rails/pages/Plugins, of which I have > installed Globalize and Liquid and they are both contained within the > /vendor/plugin directory of my application. > > I think the difference between "plugins" and "components" (p.174 and > p.362 of AWD) is that components are meant to be parts of my > application which may possibly be reused elsewhere, whereas "plugins" > are often developed by a 3rd party and are more generic perhaps... > Also "plugins" have an init.rb file whereas components do not...---- afaict there is not set ''File'' class as part of rails base but can be added - a quick perusal of rubyforge... http://rubyforge.org/softwaremap/trove_list.php?form_cat=142 suggests that one of these (Rio?) could probably do what you want. Thanks for the education...I''ve already figured out plugins and have been using one for a little over a week now. Components...well I probably read p.362 at least once but it obviously hasn''t stuck with me and I am a child of the 60''s which probably explains it. Craig
There is a File and Dir class as part of the standard ruby library. I
haven''t tried it yet, but it looks like something like this should
work:
Dir.entries("/components") # => returns an array containing the
filenames
Then I should be able to dynamically use the controllers and actions
in the components directory.
Regards,
Estelle.
P.s. I''m only just beginning to grasp components and plugins (at least
I hope so :P). Still totally confused about gems and generators
(http://rails-engines.org/wiki/pages/Engines+vs.+Generators). I think
"engines" are the same as what I''ve been calling
"plugins".... but
yeah, still learning the terminology and trying to get a grip on how
everything hangs together.
You might find this useful: http://rails-engines.org/wiki/pages/Components+vs.+Plugins+vs.+Engines - james On 2/26/06, Estelle Winterflood <estelle.winterflood@gmail.com> wrote:> There is a File and Dir class as part of the standard ruby library. I > haven''t tried it yet, but it looks like something like this should > work: > > Dir.entries("/components") # => returns an array containing the filenames > > Then I should be able to dynamically use the controllers and actions > in the components directory. > > Regards, > Estelle. > > P.s. I''m only just beginning to grasp components and plugins (at least > I hope so :P). Still totally confused about gems and generators > (http://rails-engines.org/wiki/pages/Engines+vs.+Generators). I think > "engines" are the same as what I''ve been calling "plugins".... but > yeah, still learning the terminology and trying to get a grip on how > everything hangs together. > _______________________________________________ > Rails mailing list > Rails@lists.rubyonrails.org > http://lists.rubyonrails.org/mailman/listinfo/rails >-- * J * ~