Nuapp

Nuapp is a simple script (written in Nu, of course) that generates a skeleton Nu application. Check it out here: http://pastie.textmate.org/138976

You'll probably want to customize it. For instance, I doubt you'll want to use my "Requisite Beta Disclaimer". :-)

Snippet: Compiling XIBs into NIBs in your Nukefile

Here's a function I use in my Nukefile to compile XIBs into NIBs:

(functioncompile-xibs-from-to (xibs to_path)
(if (and (!= target "clobber") (!= target "clean"))
(then
(SH "mkdir -p #{to_path}")
((filelist xibs) each:(do (xib)
(set nib (xib stringByReplacingPathExtensionWith:"nib"))
(SH "ibtool #{xib} --compile #{to_path}/#{( nib fileName )}")))
(filelist "^#{to_path}/[^/]*.nib$"))
(elsenil)))  (set @nib_files (compile-xibs-from-to "^resources/views/[^/]*.xib$""build/nibs"))

It uses ibtool to compile the .xib into a .nib:

ibtool source.xib --compile target.nib

AJAX Is X-TREME!

Author’s Note: I actually wrote this back in 2006, but it kind of fell through the cracks. So I present it now, for your amusement/pleasure/whatever…

The term “Web 2.0” has become synonymous with AJAX. With the hype and buzz that’s surrounded “Web 2.0”, people seem to invent reasons for using it. Even when it makes no sense. Sometimes especially when it makes no sense. Just because it’s “cool!”

Oh yes, AJAX is cool. It can really enhance the user experience of your application. And yes, you can do some interesting single page applications that don’t require a server. But hopefully you’re not quite as gung-ho about it as Charlie here (from the comic above). Rails makes it easy to use AJAX. Really easy. Too easy? Perhaps. And occasionally even I’ve been sucked into the trap of throwing out a quick, AJAXified, solution rather than taking the time to build it right, to build it compatible with the “Web 1.0” (or non-JavaScript enabled) folks. But I shouldn’t have. And neither should you.

That, Charlie, is a good question. In my next post I’ll talk a bit about Comatose, and how I went about ensuring that it’s backward compatible with non-JavaScript enabled browsers.

Author’s Other Note: I will post the second part to this soon… Probably next week. Cheers.

R.I.P. Mr. Wieringo

Comatose 0.8.1

It’s been a long time coming, but it’s finally here: Comatose 0.8.1!

Over the next few days, I’ll be transitioning the project to Google Code and Google Groups please start using them for reporting bugs and such. Here are the important URLs:

• http://code.google.com/p/comatose-plugin
• http://groups.google.com/group/comatose-plugin

I’ve also updated the docs to reflect the new 0.8+ way of doing things. They’ll wind up on the wiki so that they’ll be easily maintained by all.

From the changelog:

• All includes and helpers are loaded at the end of the ComatoseController and ComatoseAdminController classes
• Fixed the ComatoseController#show action to correctly send an HTTP status of 404 even if it finds, and renders, a page at ‘/404’
• Fixed the migration to default a page’s full_path to ” instead of null
• Formalized ComatoseDrops. Use Comatose.define_drop "drop_name", do ... end. Every method within that block should return a value for use with a Liquid and/or ERB template. Usage in a comatose page: {{ drop_name.def_name }}
• Added support for a config.after_setup block that gets called after Comatose is setup (in the Dispatcher#to_prepare event)
• Added HTML comment output for calls that result in a method_missing on the ProcessingContext
• Updated page tree to remember collapsed/expanded nodes between page visits
• Fixed some errors that were caused by null revisions (usually happened after initial installation)
• Added my javascript test_runner lib for testing slugs generated by JavaScript. More JS tests to come.
• Bugfix #8640 (rubyforge bug)

For more see the devblog