Rails: namespacing models with table_name_prefix instead of table_name
When you want to group rails models of a logical context, namespaces are your friend. However, if you have a lot of classes in the same namespace it might be tedious to specify the table name for each class seperately:
class Accounting::Invoice < ApplicationRecord
self.table_name = 'accounting_invoices'
...
end
class Accounting::Payment < ApplicationRecord
self.table_name = 'accounting_payments'
...
end
A replacement for the self.table_name-assignment is the table_name_prefix in the module definition:
modu...
RSpec: How to define classes for specs
RSpec allows defining methods inside describe/context blocks which will only exist inside them.
However, classes (or any constants, for that matter) will not be affected by this. If you define them in your specs, they will exist globally. This is because of how RSpec works (short story: instance_eval).
Negative example:
describe Notifier do
class TestRecord < ApplicationRecord # DO NOT do this!
# ...
end
let(:record) { TestRecord.new }
it { ... }
end
# TestRecord will exist here, outside of the spec!
D...
How to change the class in FactoryBot traits
FactoryBot allows a :class option to its factory definitions, to set the class to construct. However, this option is not supported for traits.
Most often, you can just define a nested factory instead of a trait, and use the :class option there.
factory :message do
factory :reply, class: Message::Reply do
# ...
end
end
If you need/want to use traits instead (for example, it might make more sense semantically), you can not use a :class on a trait.
In that case, use initialize_with to define the record's constr...
How to avoid ActiveRecord::EnvironmentMismatchError on "rails db:drop"
After loading a staging dump into development, you might get an ActiveRecord::EnvironmentMismatchError when trying to replace the database (like rails db:drop, rails db:schema:load).
$ rails db:drop
rails aborted!
ActiveRecord::EnvironmentMismatchError: You are attempting to modify a database that was last run in `staging` environment.
You are running in `development` environment. If you are sure you want to continue, first set the environment using:
bin/rails db:environment:set RAILS_ENV=development
Starting with R...
Dealing with I18n::InvalidPluralizationData errors
When localizing model attributes via I18n you may run into errors like this:
I18n::InvalidPluralizationData: translation data { ... } can not be used with :count => 1. key 'one' is missing.
They seem to appear out of the blue and the error message is more confusing than helpful.
TL;DR A model (e.g. Post) is lacking an attribute (e.g. thread) translation.
Fix it by adding a translation for that model's attribute (attributes.post.thread). The error message reveals the (wrongly) located I18n data (from `attributes.thread...
How to pair a Bose Quiet Comfort 35 with your Ubuntu computer
You need to disable "Bluetooth low energy", then follow these core steps:
- Make sure the headphones are in pairing mode.
- Pair with System Settings > Bluetooth. On 16.04 I had to choose "proceed without pairing" and enter the PIN "0000"
- Select & test the headphones in System Settings > Sound. Choose High Fidelity Playback (A2DP Sink).
I also had to install a package with sudo apt-get install pulseaudio-module-bluetooth and load it with pactl load-module module-bluetooth-discover. Put the latter command into ~/.bashrc or you'll...
Ruby: A small summary of what return, break and next means for blocks
Summary
- Use
returnto return from a method.returnaccepts a value that will be the return value of the method call. - Use
breakto quit from a block and from the method that yielded to the block.breakaccepts a value that supplies the result of the expression it is “breaking” out of. - Use
nextto skip the rest of the current iteration.nextaccepts an argument that will be the result of that block iteration.
The following method will serve as an example in the details below:
def example
puts yield
puts ...
Custom Ruby method Enumerable#count_by (use for quick statistics)
I frequently find myself needing a combination of group_by, count and sort for quick statistics. Here's a method on Enumerable that combines the three:
module Enumerable
def count_by(&block)
group_by(&block)
.transform_values(&:count)
.sort_by(&:last)
.to_h
end
end
Just paste that snippet into a Rails console and use #count_by now!
Usage examples
- Number of email addresses by domain:
> User.all.count_by { |user| user.email.sub /^.*@/, '' }
=> { "sina.cn"=>2, ..., "hotmail.co...
Rspec: around(:all) and around(:each) hook execution order
Background
-
before(:all)runs the block once before all of the examples. -
before(:each)runs the block once before each of your specs.
Summary
-
around(:suite)does not exist. -
around(:all)runs afterbefore(:all)and beforeafter(:all). -
around(:each)runs beforebefore(:each)and afterafter(:each).
As this is not 100% obvious (and not yet documented) it is written down in this card. In RSpec 3 :each has the alias :example and :all the alias :context.
Example
RSpec.configure do |config|
...
Vagrant: create entry for box in .ssh/config
If you want to ssh into your vagrant box without switching into the project directory and typing vagrant ssh, you can also create an entry directly in ~/.ssh/config. This will allow you to use ssh <my-box> from anywhere. Simply paste the information provided by vagrant ssh-config to your ~/.ssh/config-File: vagrant ssh-config >> ~/.ssh/config
Example:
$ vagrant ssh-config
Host foobar-dev
HostName 127.0.0.1
User vagrant
Port 2200
UserKnownHostsFile /dev/null
StrictHostKeyChecking no
PasswordAuthentication no
Id...
How to mount a legacy database to migrate data
There are many approaches out there how you can import data from a legacy application to a new application. Here is an approach which opens two database connections and uses active record for the legacy system, too:
1. Add you database information to you config/database.yml.
data_migration:
database: your_application_data_migration
2. Create a separate application record for the data migration, e.g. in app/data_migration/migration_record.rb. You will need to create an app/data_migration.rb class first.
class DataMig...
Understanding Scope in Ruby
Scope is all about where something is visible. It’s all about what (variables, constants, methods) is available to you at a given moment. If you understand scope well enough, you should be able to point at any line of your Ruby program and tell which variables are available in that context, and more importantly, which ones are not.
The article gives detailed explanation on the variable scope in ruby with examples that are easy to understand. Every ruby developer should at least know the first part of the article by heart. The second half ...
JavaScript: Polyfill native Promise API with jQuery Deferreds
You should prefer native promises to jQuery's Deferreds. Native promises are much faster than their jQuery equivalent.
Native promises are supported on all browsers except IE <=11, Android <= 4.4 and iOS <= 7.
If you need Promise support for these old browsers y...
JavaScript: How to query the state of a Promise
Native promises have no methods to inspect their state.
You can use the promiseState function below to check whether a promise is fulfilled, rejected or still pending:
promiseState(promise, function(state) {
// `state` now either "pending", "fulfilled" or "rejected"
});
Note that the callback passed to promiseState will be called asynchronously in the next [microtask](https://jakearchibald.com/2015/tasks-microtasks-queues-and-schedules/...
How to use a local gem in your Gemfile
You can use local copies of gems in your Gemfile like this:
gem 'spreewald', path: '~/gems/spreewald'
As soon as you have bundled your project with the local copy of the gem, all code changes in the copy will be available on your project. So you can for example set a debugger or add console output in the gem and use it from your project.
If you checked out the gem with your versioning tool, you can easily reset your changes afterwards or make a pull request for the gem if you improved it.
Don't commit a Gemfile with local path...
IRB: last return value
In the ruby shell (IRB) and rails console the return value of the previous command is saved in _ (underscore). This might come in handy if you forgot to save the value to a variable and further want to use it.
Example:
irb(main):001:0> 1 + 2
=> 3
irb(main):002:0> _
=> 3
irb(main):003:0> a = _
=> 3
RSpec's hash_including matcher does not support nesting
You can not use the hash_including argument matcher with a nested hash:
describe 'user' do
let(:user) { {id: 1, name: 'Foo', thread: {id: 1, title: 'Bar'} }
it do
expect(user).to match(
hash_including(
id: 1, thread: {id: 1}
)
)
end
end
The example will fail and returns a not very helpful error message:
expected {:id => 1, :name => "Foo", :thread => {:id => 1, :title => "Bar"}} to...
Selenium cannot obtain stable Firefox connection
When using geordi for integration tests you might get the following error when trying to run geordi cucumber:
unable to obtain stable firefox connection in 60 seconds (127.0.0.1:7055) (Selenium::WebDriver::Error::WebDriverError)
This means, that the vnc window the tests is talking to has no proper firefox version running. To figure out the issue this might help you:
- Check if the
.firefox-version(e.g.24.0) is the same as~/bin/firefoxes/24.0/firefoxsays in the browser - Maybe [rest...
Ubuntu: Share internet connections with other computers
You can configure a Ubuntu system as a gateway in order to share it's internet connection (maybe via WLAN or tethering) with other computers on the network.
On the gateway
- Enable ip traffic forwarding:
-
Open
/etc/sysctl.conf -
Uncomment the line
net.ipv4.ip_forward=1 -
Reload using
sudo sysctl -p /etc/sysctl.conf
-
- Reconfigure ip_tables to allow NAT:
- Download the attached file
- Replace
online_devicewith the name of the network device that provides the internet connection
...
Capistrano: Doing things on rollback
Capistrano has the concept of a "rollback" that comes in really handy in case of errors. When you notice that your recent deploy was faulty, run cap deploy:rollback and you're back with the previous release. In case of an error during a deployment, Capistrano will rollback itself.
But, you may ask, how can it know how to revert all the custom stuff I'm doing during deployment? It can't. But you can tell it how to.
Capistrano 3
Deploy and rollback are nearly identi...
How to make Webpacker compile once for parallel tests, and only if necessary
Webpack is the future. We're using it in our latest Rails applications.
For tests, we want to compile assets like for production.
For parallel tests, we want to avoid 8 workers compiling the same files at the same time.
When assets did not change, we do not want to spend time compiling them.
Here is our solution for all that.
Its concept should work for all test suites.
Copy the following to config/initializers/webpacker_compile_once.rb. It will patch Webpacker, but only for the test environment:
# Avoid hardcoded asset host...
Cucumber: Test that an element is not overshadowed by another element
I needed to make sure that an element is visible and not overshadowed by an element that has a higher z-index (like a modal overlay).
Here is the step I wanted:
Then the very important notice should not be overshadowed by another element
This is the step definition:
Then(/^(.*?) should not be overshadowed by another element$/) do |locator|
selector = selector_for(locator)
expect(page).to have_css(selector)
js = <<-JS
var selector = #{selector.to_json};
var elementFromSelector = document.querySelector(selector)...
Ruby: define a class with Struct.new
This card will show you a cool way to define a class using Struct.new.
A common usecase for Structs are temporary data structures which just hold state and don't provide behaviour. In many cases you could use a simple hash as a data structure instead. However, a Struct provides you with a nice constructor, attribute accessors and complains if you try to access undefined attributes. Structs are easy to compare (by attributes). A struct gives meaning to the data.
Disclaimer
Structs are great...
How to: Rails cache for individual rspec tests
Rails default config uses the ActiveSupport::Cache::NullStore and disables controller caching for all environments except production:
config.action_controller.perform_caching = false
config.cache_store = :null_store
If you want to test caching you have at least two possibilities:
- Enable caching for every test (not covered by this card and straightforward)
- Enable caching for individual test
Enable caching for individual test (file cache)
1. Leave the defau...