# More flexible file column? **URL:** \ **Category:** Rails\ **Created:** [June 1, 2006, 5:45pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/more-flexible-file-column/62221 "2006-06-01T17:45:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![DJ\_Tequila](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/d/4da419/32.png) [@DJ\_Tequila](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/DJ_Tequila)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2006, 5:45pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/more-flexible-file-column/62221/1 "2006-06-01T17:45:37Z")
The file column plug-in is great, but there is a problem with it. Well, two… But the other is well documented now. :^) Consider a time when you’ve created a CMS for a client and it’s been in use for over a year. Say 1500+ images have been uploaded so far. Now the client comes back with a simple request… ‘Can you change the thumbnail size to 80/90, rather than 70/70? It shouldn’t take you more than half a day…’ ‘No problem!’ you say, ‘I’ll just change the CSS _here_, and the article model _here_ and… Oh.’ Broken images all over the place. No images at all if you use Firefox. It wasn’t quite 1500 images, but I ended up writing a script to systematically go through each image in the database and resize it to order… File column helpfully handles removing the old sizes for you. This is all a but un-rails-like though. I’d expect the plugin to automatically realise that the resized image is missing and create it on the fly. It has all the tools and data to do so, and the perfomance hit will only be felt once, by the first user who encounters the image. I’d take that to be an acceptable compromise. I have, in fact, written such code quite successfully in PHP. However, I’m new to Ruby and not completely comfortable with it yet. Has anyone done it themselves? If not, has anyone looked into the File Column code enough to give me a few pointers? Obviously if I get it working I’ll release it back to the Rails community… Or does anyone think I’ve gone mad and should stick to scripts? ;^) ---
**Author:** ![DJ\_Tequila](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/d/4da419/32.png) [@DJ\_Tequila](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/DJ_Tequila)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2006, 6:08pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/more-flexible-file-column/62221/2 "2006-06-01T18:08:17Z")
I thought file column made this sort of thing really easy. |file\_column :image, :magick =\> { :geometry =\> “800x600\>” } see: [http://wiki.rubyonrails.org/rails/pages/HowToUseFileColumn](http://wiki.rubyonrails.org/rails/pages/HowToUseFileColumn) | ---
**Author:** ![DJ\_Tequila](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/d/4da419/32.png) [@DJ\_Tequila](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/DJ_Tequila)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2006, 6:33pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/more-flexible-file-column/62221/3 "2006-06-01T18:33:24Z")
2006/6/1, DJ Tequila [removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid](mailto:removed_email_address@domain.invalid): > I have, in fact, written such code quite successfully in PHP. However, > I’m new to Ruby and not completely comfortable with it yet. Has anyone > done it themselves? If not, has anyone looked into the File Column code > enough to give me a few pointers? Obviously if I get it working I’ll > release it back to the Rails community… > > Or does anyone think I’ve gone mad and should stick to scripts? ;^) this is how i did it (all images were jpgs): lib/image\_resize.rb: require “action\_controller/test\_process” Image.find\_all.each do |i| i.path=ActionController::TestUploadedFile.new(i.path, “image/jpeg”) i.save end start: script/runner “load(‘image\_resize.rb’)” –robert ---
**Author:** ![DJ\_Tequila](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/d/4da419/32.png) [@DJ\_Tequila](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/DJ_Tequila)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2006, 6:44pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/more-flexible-file-column/62221/4 "2006-06-01T18:44:33Z")
> This is all a but un-rails-like though. I’d expect the plugin to > automatically realise that the resized image is missing and create it on > the fly. It has all the tools and data to do so, and the perfomance hit > will only be felt once, by the first user who encounters the image. I’d > take that to be an acceptable compromise. I’m building something with file\_column right now and I think this is a great idea. I have to admit at first I thought you were just asking for more features. I listened to Sebastian speak at Canada on Rails and everyone was asking him ‘can you make it do this? How about this? What about this?’ The Rails rationale was to do what was right for most of the people most of the time, and I think this fits. Unfortunately I have not the technical know-how to help out with it yet, but let me know how it goes. ---
**Author:** ![DJ\_Tequila](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/d/4da419/32.png) [@DJ\_Tequila](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/DJ_Tequila)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2006, 6:55pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/more-flexible-file-column/62221/5 "2006-06-01T18:55:01Z")
1. modify the model to support a new thumbnail size 2. Attachment.find(:all).each do |a| a.asset = File.open(a.asset) #opens each file\_column based asset a.save #rebuilds and saves - huzzah end from our friends at caboose - reference : [http://blog.caboo.se/articles/2006/01/09/file\_column-magick-and-versions](http://blog.caboo.se/articles/2006/01/09/file_column-magick-and-versions) -raja Raja Bhatia, FiveLimes, Inc. http//fivelimes.com ---
**Author:** ![DJ\_Tequila](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/d/4da419/32.png) [@DJ\_Tequila](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/DJ_Tequila)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2006, 7:28pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/more-flexible-file-column/62221/6 "2006-06-01T19:28:45Z")
On 6/1/06, DJ Tequila [removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid](mailto:removed_email_address@domain.invalid) wrote: > all if you use Firefox. > This is why image transformations should be made in the view, not in > the model. the model should hold the canonical image, and the view > should create derivative images.\> > I have, in fact, written such code quite successfully in PHP. However, > I’m new to Ruby and not completely comfortable with it yet. Has anyone > done it themselves? If not, has anyone looked into the File Column code > enough to give me a few pointers? Obviously if I get it working I’ll > release it back to the Rails community… Check out my branch at [http://svn.kylemaxwell.com/file\_column/](http://svn.kylemaxwell.com/file_column/). It implements view-side image transformations. You’ll have to look through the source, particualarly magick\_file\_column.rb, since I haven’t kept up the docs. I’m open to the idea of forking file\_column, as I am actively developing my branch. I used to work closely with Sebastian on file\_column development. This appears stalled, as a point release hasn’t happened in several months. – Kyle M. Chief Technologist E Factor Media // FN Interactive removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid 1-866-263-3261 ---
**Author:** ![DJ\_Tequila](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/d/4da419/32.png) [@DJ\_Tequila](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/DJ_Tequila)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2006, 7:13am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/more-flexible-file-column/62221/7 "2006-06-02T07:13:43Z")
> It wasn’t quite 1500 images, but I ended up writing a script to > systematically go through each image in the database and resize it to > order… File column helpfully handles removing the old sizes for you. Acts as attachment supports multiple thumbnails for a single image. I usually store the original image plus any smaller versions I may need. I’ve changed thumbnail sizes several times during the development of my current client project. I just loop through all uploaded images and re-process everything in script/console. If you’re doing this kind of thing often, maybe you need a different solution? > **[Agile Asset Management with Ruby DSLs](https://www.infoq.com/articles/Agile-Asset-Management/)** > > Ruby makes it easy to craft Domain-Specific-Languages with Ruby syntax. This article is a story about the benefits derived from implementing a Ruby DSL for a PLANET ARGON development project.