Real beginner question here. I don’t really know rake, so I’m stumbling.
As I set a dir to hold my feature files, etc., I’m simply copying the
files structure I see in
/usr/lib/ruby/gems/1.8/gems/cucumber-0.1.13/examples/i18n/en/
I know we need a Rake file ME little dir tree, but I don’t think I can
just copy the one in the examples tree - or rather, I think I have to
alter the first line:
$:.unshift(File.dirname(FILE) + ‘/…/…/…/lib’)
I don’t know if this is bash or some ruby thing I haven’t figured out,
but mostly I don’t know what to do with the ‘/…/…/…/lib’) part. It
looks like its trying to locate the source dir, but if so, why not just
specify + ‘lib’…? After staring at it a bit, I have to admit I don’t
grasp what’s going on.
Can someone clue me in?
Tom
–
Tom C., MS MA, LMHC - Private practice Psychotherapist
Bellingham, Washington, U.S.A: (360) 920-1226
<< [email protected] >> (email)
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On Thu, Jan 15, 2009 at 4:07 AM, Tom C. [email protected] wrote:
$:.unshift(File.dirname(FILE) + ‘/…/…/…/lib’)
I don’t know if this is bash or some ruby thing I haven’t figured out, but
mostly I don’t know what to do with the ‘/…/…/…/lib’) part. It looks like
its trying to locate the source dir, but if so, why not just specify +
‘lib’…? After staring at it a bit, I have to admit I don’t grasp what’s
going on.
Can someone clue me in?
It has to find the source dir relative to that file. ‘/…/…/…/lib’
means to go back up the dir structure three levels and then look for
lib there.
Pat
On Thu, Jan 15, 2009 at 4:16 PM, Pat M. [email protected] wrote:
copy the one in the examples tree - or rather, I think I have to alter
the
first line:
$:.unshift(File.dirname(FILE) + ‘/…/…/…/lib’)
This is a very, very common idiom in Ruby.
$: is a global variable. It’s an alias for $LOAD_PATH. This is an Array
of
directories where Ruby scans for libraries when you do a require.
Similar to
Java’s CLASSPATH.
File.dirname(FILE) returns the directory of the current script
unshift puts an element at position 0 in an Array.
It has to find the source dir relative to that file. ‘/…/…/…/lib’
means to go back up the dir structure three levels and then look for
lib there.
When you have cucumber as a gem you can delete that line.
On Thu, Jan 15, 2009 at 9:16 AM, Pat M. [email protected] wrote:
$:.unshift(File.dirname(FILE) + ‘/…/…/…/lib’)
I don’t know if this is bash or some ruby thing I haven’t figured out, but
mostly I don’t know what to do with the ‘/…/…/…/lib’) part.
That line is there because these examples are in the cucumber
directory tree, and that ensures that the features are run with the
code in that tree (and not an installed cucumber gem). So you should
be able to blow that line away.
HTH,
David
Tom C. wrote:
I did NOT know that the line was optional, though. It’s not documented
anywhere that I’ve seen, although I suppose that to those more
knowledgeable than I that fact may be obvious.
My experience is that, while copious, Ruby documentation suffers from
excessive terseness of expression. It is almost as if the brevity of
Ruby code influences the writers’ ability to express themselves in
English.
If you have not done so already then I suggest that you obtain a couple
of books on Ruby. Two that I have found extremely well written and
valuable are:
The Ruby Way, Second Edition: Solutions and Techniques in Ruby
Programming by Hal F. (2006); and
Ruby for Rails: Ruby Techniques for Rails Developers by David Black
(2006).
Despite its title, Ruby for Rails is an expansive look at Ruby with the
Rails framework providing an example of how Ruby is meant to be used
(and sometimes misused).
The Ruby canon of course is the pickaxe book, now revised for Ruby
1.9/2.0. You would find the second edition very useful.
Programming Ruby: The Pragmatic Programmers’ Guide, Second Edition by
Fowler, Hunt and Thomas (2005)
Myself, I prefer David Black’s book to all the rest. His work is
perhaps the best written textbook that I have ever encountered.
David C. wrote:
I know we need a Rake file ME little dir tree, but I don’t think I can just
directory tree, and that ensures that the features are run with the
‘lib’…? After staring at it a bit, I have to admit I don’t grasp what’s
rspec-users mailing list
[email protected]
http://rubyforge.org/mailman/listinfo/rspec-users
rspec-users mailing list
[email protected]
http://rubyforge.org/mailman/listinfo/rspec-users
Thanks to all for the generosity of response to my query, which I only
just now noticed.
I did figure out all the details in that “$:” line, when I finally had a
chance to study it.
I did NOT know that the line was optional, though. It’s not documented
anywhere that I’ve seen, although I suppose that to those more
knowledgeable than I that fact may be obvious.
Thanks again!
t.
–
Tom C., MS MA, LMHC - Private practice Psychotherapist
Bellingham, Washington, U.S.A: (360) 920-1226
<< [email protected] >> (email)
<< TomCloyd.com >> (website)
<< sleightmind.wordpress.com >> (mental health weblog)