[ANN] Engines Plugin 1.2

Rails
1

Hello,

Just a quick note to say that the Engines Plugin 1.2 release is now
available to all and sundry via the script/plugin command. Sing
Hosanna! It can also be found at

http://svn.rails-engines.org/engines/tags/rel_1.2.0/

… which is where you should be pointing externals, pistons and
export commands.

I’ve posted a more detailed announcement on the Rails Engines site[1],
but for the real skinny you’ll want to read the README[2] and the
UPGRADING notes[3].

What’s new? A ton of stuff. Check out the hook while my DJ revolves it:

  • Routes in plugins. Yes.

  • Migrations from plugins integrated into the main application
    migration history. This alone is flippin’ sweet.

  • Simplified helpers for plugin assets:

    image_tag “my_hero.png”, :plugin => “acts_as_hasselhoff”

  • No more Engines.start, and no more “engines”; we’re all just plugins
    now…

  • …speaking of plugins, a more powerful notion of plugins
    programmatically in Rails. For instance, open a console and try this:

    Rails.plugins
    Rails.plugins[:my_plugin].version
    Rails.plugins[:my_plugin].about # you’ll want to have an
    about.yml file in the plugin
    Rails.plugins[:my_plugin].migrate(5) # if you’re feeling
    brave!

    or even from the shell in your app:

    $ script/about

  • As usual, if you need to share any or all of the following:
    controllers, helpers, models, stylesheets, javascripts, images,
    migrations, or routes; the engines plugin is your buddy and saves you
    from having to hook up all the necessary Rails plumbing to make these
    things work as they should.

Unfortunately, there are some things you need to be aware of:

  1. This is compatible with Rails 1.2 only. Those of you running Rails
    1.1.6 or earlier MUST use an earlier tag. Set your
    externals/export the code/piston your application accordingly.

  2. The old login and user engines aren’t making the 1.2 transition
    with us[4] - if you need these in your application, stay happy with
    Rails 1.1.6. I’m somewhat sorry about this but trust me - it’s for the
    best. However, there’s nothing to stop y’all producing your own shared
    authentication plugins that take advantage of the new, powerful moves
    that engines 1.2 brings to the party; feel free to fill this void,
    developers!

As usual, bug reports to http://dev.rails-engines.org/. If there is a
problem, yo I’ll solve it[5].

Yo man, lets get outta here. Word to yo mother. I mean, umm… thanks!

–

  • J *
    ~

[1] http://rails-engines.org/news/2007/02/04/engines-1-2-released/
[2] http://api.rails-engines.org
[3] http://svn.rails-engines.org/engines/tags/rel_1.2.0/UPGRADING
[4] http://rails-engines.org/news/2007/01/23/farewell-login_engine-/
[5] - YouTube