# Gem API **URL:** \ **Category:** Ruby\ **Created:** [January 29, 2008, 2:39am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/gem-api/127425 "2008-01-29T02:39:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![john\_old](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/j/9f8e36/32.png) [@john\_old](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/john_old)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2008, 2:39am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/gem-api/127425/1 "2008-01-29T02:39:10Z")
I’m curious is there a flag or an easy way to extend gem when calling it from the command line to do the following: remove lines such as: \n\*\*\* LOCAL GEMS _**\n\n and \n**_ REMOTE GEMS \*\*\*\n\n and to control the output formatting of gem list or of gem list -d ? I’d like to get that output in a more manageable format, but without permanently altering gem. I just want the easiest way to alter those methods when calling gem or calling gem via ruby at the command line… I don’t want to break any body’s gem tool, but I do want to use gem’s output for list. I suppose I’ll need to include a file to use as an argument… ruby -rubygems filename.rb What I am doing is building a gui wrapper in Cocoa on OS X for common gem commands. I want to later add gem install and gem uninstall, but I’m not sure what the best way would be to handle gems that have more involved install/uninstall processes, such as when the user is prompted for [y/ n]? input on whether to include a dependency or something in that install/uninstall process. Is there a consistent thing I should look for in this or some API I can dig into? Same goes for gems that on install ask for such things as platform choice (the mysql gem is an example of this). ---
**Author:** ![john\_old](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/j/9f8e36/32.png) [@john\_old](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/john_old)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2008, 12:13am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/gem-api/127425/2 "2008-01-31T00:13:10Z")
On Jan 28, 2008, at 17:37 PM, John J. wrote: > What I am doing is building a gui wrapper in Cocoa on OS X for > common gem commands. > I want to later add gem install and gem uninstall, but I’m not sure > what the best way would be to handle gems that have more involved > install/uninstall processes, such as when the user is prompted for > [y/n]? input on whether to include a dependency or something in that > install/uninstall process. Talk to Chad Wooley. He’s writing a gem installer tool. ---
**Author:** ![john\_old](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/j/9f8e36/32.png) [@john\_old](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/john_old)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2008, 5:27am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/gem-api/127425/3 "2008-01-31T05:27:06Z")
On Jan 30, 2008, at 5:12 PM, Eric H. wrote: > Talk to Chad Wooley. He’s writing a gem installer tool. Ok, thanks, one other thing, I’d rather not go hacking gem, but If possible, as a feature request, can we have a flag that turns off the headings? From digging through gem’s code it certainly looks reasonably possible. things such as \n\*\*\* LOCAL GEMS \*\*\*\n\n and Updating metadata for 13 gems… It would be convenient as heck to have those easily turned off by a command line flag so that parsing the output is cleaner. How can I contact Chad Wooly? ---
**Author:** ![john\_old](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/j/9f8e36/32.png) [@john\_old](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/john_old)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2008, 10:25am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/gem-api/127425/4 "2008-01-31T10:25:23Z")
On Jan 30, 2008, at 20:26 PM, John J. wrote: > > Talk to Chad Wooley. He’s writing a gem installer tool. > > Ok, thanks, > one other thing, > I’d rather not go hacking gem, but If possible, as a feature request, > can we have a flag that turns off the headings? No. If you’re going to be writing a tool, use the API the QueryCommand uses. If you find yourself duplicating too much, propose a patch to refactor into something more usable. > From digging through gem’s code it certainly looks reasonably > possible. > things such as > \n\*\*\* LOCAL GEMS \*\*\*\n\n > > and > Updating metadata for 13 gems… > > It would be convenient as heck to have those easily turned off by a > command line flag so that parsing the output is cleaner. The RubyGems API provides for this, investigate rubygems/ user\_interaction.rb (I think) > How can I contact Chad Wooly? Check the archives of the rubygems-developers list for details. ---
**Author:** ![john\_old](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/j/9f8e36/32.png) [@john\_old](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/john_old)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2008, 2:10pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/gem-api/127425/5 "2008-01-31T14:10:35Z")
On Jan 31, 2008, at 3:24 AM, Eric H. wrote: > > > > > The RubyGems API provides for this, investigate rubygems/ > user\_interaction.rb (I think) > > > How can I contact Chad Wooly? > > Check the archives of the rubygems-developers list for details. Many thanks! I will look into these things! (as time permits… )