EasyRails and PortableRails : Ruby on Rails always on you :)

Rails
1

This is just a small ad for two packages I’ve made : EasyRails and
PortableRails.

EasyRails is an installation package that installs all the needed
software to begin development with Ruby on Rails on a Windows system.
You don’t need to download, configure or install anything else, just
download EasyRails, install and let’s rails!

Although this package was created for beginners, it is suitable for
expert users as well as it currently allows to setup a Windows Rails
environment far more quickly than manually…

PortableRails is a package that always you to have a full Ruby on Rails
environment on a USB key or any writable media (Flash, hard drive, etc).
It always you to run and develop Ruby & Ruby on Rails applications on a
Windows system, without installing or changing anything on the system.
It works even if you don’t have admin rights (like on public computers).

All the magic is done thanks to a small Windows executable that
initializes a Rails environment on the fly.

EasyRails is available on my blog on : http://www.easyrails.org, on
BerliOS :
https://developer.berlios.de/projects/easyrails/
(soon I’ll put PortableRails on it too, if you want PortableRails now,
just download it here :
http://www.easyrails.org/download/portablerails.zip).

Good development with Ruby and Ruby on Rails.
Nicolas.

2

Hi Nicolas,

Nicolas B. wrote:

Interesting stuff. A couple of questions below.

EasyRails is an installation package that installs
all the needed software to begin development
with Ruby on Rails on a Windows system.

I checked out the sites. I only read English, so I was limited to the
developer site. I was trying to find out what you mean, specifically, by
‘all the software.’ I couldn’t find a list so I’ll ask. Exactly what
software is included in the installation? I’ve been using Instant
Rails.
The package is getting kind of big with a lot of the stuff I don’t use
for
development so I’d consider an alternative.

PortableRails is a package that always you to have a full Ruby on Rails
environment on a USB key or any writable media (Flash, hard drive, etc).
It always you to run and develop Ruby & Ruby on Rails applications on a
Windows system, without installing or changing anything on the system.
It works even if you don’t have admin rights (like on public computers).

This looks like it could be really interesting. Is it the same package
as
above?

All the magic is done thanks to a small Windows executable that
initializes a Rails environment on the fly.

What do you mean by “initializes a Rails environment on the fly”? I’m
assuming that, at least from a developer perspective, it works pretty
much
like the Instant Rails Manager. Is that right?

Thanks,
Bill

3

Hi,

@Bill: Nicolas provides a english version of his blog post at [1]

@Nicolas: Nice work. Recently i had to work with rails on windows and
the
setup was terrible. I’ll try your stuff.

Bye,
Tino

[1]
http://blog.slainer68.org/1/3/2007/easyrails-a-all-in-1-windows-package-installer-for-ruby-on-rails

4

All the magic is done thanks to a small Windows executable that
initializes a Rails environment on the fly.

What do you mean by “initializes a Rails environment on the fly”? I’m
assuming that, at least from a developer perspective, it works pretty
much
like the Instant Rails Manager. Is that right?

In order for ruby/rails/mongrel to work directly from the removable
media (usb key, flash, external hard drive, etc), portablerails includes
a small windows executable named portablerails.exe. You have to run it.

When it is started, it will modify some ruby files and some RadRails
configuration files according to the windows environment and the drive
letter of the media.

Then it will start a MS DOS command with some modified variables (like
PATH, GEM_PATH) so that you can use the main ruby commands from any
directory you access from that command line.

These modified variables are temporary and only for that MS-DOS command.

Because portablerails does not modify the system, it should run even
with standard user rights on public computers.

Nicolas.

5

Hi Nicolas,

I have this new xp installation in Parallels.
Now I use that for testing IE.
So I will try your installer and let you know.
Very curious doing Rails in windows.
Never done that because I am a Mac guy.

So thanks.

Peter

Bonjour

6

Nicolas B. wrote:

letter of the media.
Cool. So it basically does what IR does at installation, only it does
it
every time you fire it up. I asked this on your site, but will ask it
here
too. I didn’t see any mention of database in the list of contents. Is
one
included in the package?

Thanks,
Bill