Hello Rails experts…
I have an interesting problem…I’m sure there are many solutions to
this
but I can’t seem to figure it out -
I have an existing set of HTML5/CSS3/jquery/javascript pages - no logic
just the UI with content, etc. And I also have the schema for mysql
project. I want to build the entire framework using Ruby on Rails 3.2 -
I
decided to go with Ruby on Rails rather than PHP or Node.js/Express.
However, I’d rather start something from existing than build from ground
up
using new rails project. I do not want to waste effort that I’ve put in
building the HTML5 front-end - again has no logic because there’s no
backend. I wanted to start with front-end to generate lot of ideas and
create proper UX. and then build the backend using Ruby on Rails. How
would I start with this?
So far, here’s what I did.
I created a new rails 3.2 project - then created a folder called
“javascripts” under public directory and copied all my javascripts
there.
But what about all my HTML files? Shall I just drop them in Views
folder
and rename each one with .erb extension. And copy all CSS files in
layouts
main directory?
And then how about the database? Or do I need to start fresh on creating
schema? Do you recommend MySQL or PostgresSQL? My web application
would
be similar to ticketmaster website.
Hello Rails experts…
I have an interesting problem…I’m sure there are many solutions to this but I
can’t seem to figure it out -
I have an existing set of HTML5/CSS3/jquery/javascript pages - no logic - just
the UI with content, etc. And I also have the schema for mysql project. I want to
build the entire framework using Ruby on Rails 3.2 - I decided to go with Ruby on
Rails rather than PHP or Node.js/Express. However, I’d rather start something from
existing than build from ground up using new rails project. I do not want to waste
effort that I’ve put in building the HTML5 front-end - again has no logic because
there’s no backend. I wanted to start with front-end to generate lot of ideas and
create proper UX. and then build the backend using Ruby on Rails. How would I
start with this?
So far, here’s what I did.
I created a new rails 3.2 project - then created a folder called “javascripts”
under public directory and copied all my javascripts there. But what about all my
HTML files? Shall I just drop them in Views folder and rename each one with .erb
extension. And copy all CSS files in layouts main directory?
And then how about the database? Or do I need to start fresh on creating schema?
Do you recommend MySQL or PostgresSQL? My web application would be similar to
ticketmaster website.
Any help would be appreciated…
Here’s what I would do. Just as you started your “flat” prototype with
nothing and worked toward a UX you liked, start with nothing (none of
your designed pages) and let the Rails generators make the stubs they
will. Once these are generated, they never change, so you won’t have to
worry about any of your fancy code being overwritten. Then start copying
and pasting fragments from one to the other. Owing to the way that Rails
composes pages out of fragments, with responsibility for rendering
passing from the nearest most responsible model object up and out to the
main page template, you will find that there are portions of your code
that need to be in different places. Read up on how the Rails View works
– Rails Guides are great start, as well as (if you haven’t built a few
Rails apps already) the Rails Tutorial at http://railstutorial.org.
I have an existing set of HTML5/CSS3/jquery/javascript pages - no logic -
just the UI with content, etc. And I also have the schema for mysql project.
And then how about the database? Or do I need to start fresh on creating
schema?
Probably. You already got some good advice on dealing with the
UI. And actually, I’ve done something very similar, moving markup
from an existing non-Rails app to Rails: tedious, but straightforward.
But without knowing exactly what you have in terms of db schema
and how it translates to Rails conventions, I’d say that’s where the
bulk of the work will be. Especially if this is your first Rails app.
I would definitely try building out a skeleton app first to play with
the models and process flow before even thinking about markup.