Section 9 Playtime – Page 139

The last task is to add a link to each item and remove it from the cart. It is suggested that you do this in a non-Ajax way first and then add the Ajax and the example on http://wiki.pragprog.com/cgi-bin/wiki.cgi/PT-D-4 covers this in detail however I found the following problems.

Not working in JavaScript disabled browser

<td>

<%= link_to_remote “remove”, :url => { :action => :remove_from_cart , :id => cart_item.product} %>

</td>

This line renders the link as an onclick event which will not work if javascript is disabled. This may be a bug in my version of Ruby on Rails where the href=”#” should render the link if javascript is disabled.

<a href=”#” onclick=”new Ajax.Request(’/store/remove_from_cart/2′, {asynchronous:true, evalScripts:true}); return false;”>remove</a>

To resolve this issue I replaced this with

<% form_remote_tag :url => {:action => :remove_from_cart, :id => cart_item.product } do %>

    <%= submit_tag “remove” %>

<% end %>

This produces a form similar to the ones used for the Index.rhtml

If using JavaScript the redirect_to_index will not work, this is because the form_remote_tag (or link_remote_tag) enable XHR request which will not force a redirect of the main browser. This should be written as form_tag (or link_tag) to work without Ajax and updated to use remote once the remove_from_cart.rjs has been created. Generally you will tend to write this in the finished format now that you know how the remote calls work.

Wow! That was easy!

After doing the normal Google -> Review -> Google some more process I was left with a long list of things to look at and also some other examples of people who have been down the same path. All of the development was completed on Windows XP SP2 (except the deployment to Linux which was running under VMWare).

1. Install Instant Rails – This will get you up and running in no time, you don’t need to know anything about Rails or Ruby at this pointOne thing that you will notice if moving from the .net world is that you don’t need to compile it
2. Read the Instant and follow the short tutorials, this is in the help\index.html directory where you installed Instant Rails
   1. Tutorial 1 – OnLamp.com
   2. Tutorial 1 – OnLamp.com
3. Consider an Editor – I used RadRails but I’m still looking for something more…
4. Watch the Screencasts to get a feel for what you should could do and how quickly (once you know Ruby)At this point you may want to purchase a Mac so that you can use the cool TextMate. I have already requested a Mac Book Pro as my next Laptop J
5. Copy the code, but hand craft it to complete the Putting Flickr on Rails screencast
   This will help you find your way around the environment, debug the application (you will get an Invalid Key error, tip ‘look at the Flickr gem code initialization’)
6. Purchase the book Agile Web Development with Rails, the second edition is out and fully up to date with version 1.2 of Instant Rails. The book details how to get the vendor version if it is not released yet. This is a really easy book to read, very well written and really does make a difference.
7. If you enjoy reading and want something a little off the wall you could try Why’s (Poignant) Guide to Ruby, I have found this funny, but difficult to get into – but the Foxes did get the Chunky Bacon into the samples (you need to read it for that one J)
8. Update Use source control – Subversion will do the trick

 

Subscribe to some feeds Planet Ruby On Rails, Loud Thinking – David Heinemeier Hansson

Going forward I’m looking at improving my html development, I need to stop using tables!, I need to improve my JavaScript (http://script.aculo.us/ ) and I am looking at Unbuntu, MySQL, SQLLite, Lighttpd, Mongrel to name but a few.

Exciting times!

My traversal into the world of Java was to be short lived, at the time Google had not been conceived and information, blogs and knowledge sharing online just did not happen. I failed miserably at the first hurdle trying to setup my development environment! The need for various versions of each separate component available from different sources was a mile away from the Microsoft bubble that I was used to. I ended my look at Java without even completing the ‘Hello World’ application L.

Now many years later and happily coding in the world of .Net (now in its version 3 flavour) I am starting to look fondly at the open source market again. This had crept up on me as I had started to bring Nant, Ndoc, CruiseControl and other open source products into my previously Microsoft only toolbox. This time my expedition is part of a project we are doing internally that we have the adopted the mantra ‘Embrace Open Source’. We have others this is the only one relevant to this blog posting!. Having done some research we are starting to settle on evaluation of Ruby, more specifically Ruby on Rails. It appears many other developers have gone down or are going down the Microsoft by day, Ruby on Rails by night – and the weekend and sometimes at work – just don’t tell the client!. One example is Netter-on-Rails.

Tomorrow will hopefully be a seminal moment in my software evolution, my thoughts views and progress will appear here to all those 1 or 2 readers that have found this blog J.