 | Level: Introductory Robi Sen (robisen@gmail.com), Freelance Writer, Department13
12 Aug 2008 Almost three years ago, developerWorks published "Using the Ruby
Development Tools plug-in for Eclipse," which introduced some of the features
found in the Ruby Development Tools (RDT) plug-in for Eclipse. Current at the
time was V0.5. We revisit that tool in this article. Today, RDT is called
Aptana RadRails and is available as a plug-in for Aptana Studio or Eclipse.
This article introduces some of the plug-in's new features.
The name of the Ruby Development Tools (RDT) plug-in and where to find the
code have changed, but the basic function and licensing terms have remained
essentially unchanged. If you are new to the idea of developing Ruby
applications on Eclipse, start with Neal Ford's article titled "Using
the Ruby Development Tools plug-in for Eclipse" to learn how to create Ruby files,
how to customize the Ruby editor, how to set up the Debugger and run Ruby
from Eclipse, as well as initiate tests from Eclipse. In this article, we expand on Ford's article and look at:
- Code folding — Folding can be enabled for classes and methods.
- Outline view — A more-detailed look at the outline view and how you can use it.
- RI view — Use Ruby's Interactive documentation utility from an RDT view.
- Task tags — Create tasks for configurable keywords (like TODO, FIXME) in Ruby comments.
- Ruby browser — A new feature in the RDT that allows you
to easily see all Ruby resources available in a project and browse them.
- Editor improvements — Auto-complete of brackets,
parentheses, and single/double quotes; and better code-assist.
Getting started
RDT, now called now called Aptana RadRails V1.0.3, is available at Aptana.com. To download a new version or
update your Eclipse plug-in, follow Aptana's RadRails instructions,
which will be familiar to Eclipse users. Note that if you have not installed an Aptana
plug-in into your Eclipse workspace before, you should follow Aptana's instructions for
Plugging
Aptana into an existing Eclipse configuration. Also consult Aptana's RadRails documentation during
installation to see resolutions to OS-specific issues.
Code folding
Almost all Integrated Development Environments (IDEs), such as Eclipse, support the
concept of code folding. Code folding allows you to collapse sections of a source-code
file while working in other parts of it. This allows you to manage larger amounts of
code within one window without losing the trees for the forest. To turn on or off code
folding in RadRails, simply make sure you're in the Ruby perspective and select
Window > Preferences. The Preferences window should pop up. Scroll down the
left-hand pane until you reach the Ruby plug-in options and expand it with Ruby >
Editor > Folding. You should see something like Figure 1.
Figure 1. Eclipse Window Preferences
allow you to customize the look, feel, and feature set of Eclipse perspectives
Be sure to check Enable folding when opening a new editor and select OK.
In "Using the Ruby
Development Tools plug-in for Eclipse," we created a Ruby project. If you have not done so already,
create a project. If you do not want to refer to that article, the code is
shown in Listing 1. Create a Ruby file that consists of what is shown in
Listing 1. We also need the Ruby class called hr.rb.
Listing 1. hr.rb
class Employee
def initialize(name, salary, hire_year)
@name = name
@salary = salary
@hire_year = hire_year
end
def to_s
"Name is #(@name), salary is #(@salary), " +
"hire year is #(@hire_year)"
end
def raise_salary_by(perc)
@salary += (@salary * 0.10)
end
end
class Manager < Employee
def initialize(name, salary, hire_year, asst)
super(name, salary, hire_year)
@asst = asst
end
def to_s
super + ",\tAssistan info: #{@asst}"
end
def raise_salary_by(perc)
perc += 2007 - @hire_year
super(perc)
end
end
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You should see a series of minus signs like those in Figure 2 when viewing
the class in Eclipse. Each of these minus signs represents a folding
point. By selecting them, you can fold the code at this point. Try
selecting the fold points for all the methods in the Employee class in hr.rb.
Figure 2. RDT support for code folding in Ruby
If you selected all the method fold points for the Employee class, you should see something like Figure 3.
Figure 3. Methods in the Employee class folded
As you can see, code folding allows you to manage and control your work
environment, letting you focus on code you are interested in. If you
go back to the Preferences screen to look at the Ruby code-folding
settings, you will also notice that you have the option of having the RDT
fold comments, methods, or inner classes on initial opening of files. Many
people find this a way to see the basic structure of a class quickly
without getting distracted by large amounts of code. Nevertheless, as you
will see in the next section, there is an even easier
way to get an overview of your code.
Outline view
In "Using the Ruby
Development Tools plug-in for Eclipse," the outline view was mentioned as
one method of navigating to elements in a Ruby source file. The outline
view also allows you to quickly see a tree-like representation of your
classes, inner classes, methods, variables, etc. If, for some reason, you
do not see the outline view in your Ruby perspective, you can easily open it
up by going to Window > Show View > Outline, which will open a
dockable outline view of your code. For the hr.rb file, you should see
something like Figure 4 when the Outline is expanded fully.
Figure 4. The outline view showing an expanded tree visualization of the hr.rb file
Each one of the symbols and colors of the symbols has a specific meaning
that may or many not be obvious. If it is not, you can find information on
this easily by going to Window > Preferences and selecting Ruby
> Appearance > Members Sort Order, which provides a key to the
outline view and lets you adjust and sort the order of how the outline view
symbols are represented. You should see something like Figure 5.
Figure 5. Members Sort Order
The code outline view is a powerful tool for helping you understand how your code is structured. But what do you do when you forget what a function or class does? In the next section, we learn how to access Ruby documentation from Eclipse.
The Ruby Interactive view
Unless you possess an incredible memory, chances are you will forget some
of the classes, methods, and modules Ruby offers. Ruby supplies
documentation as well as Ruby Interactive (RI), an interactive
documentation reader that lets you search and find information in the Ruby
docs quickly. To use RI with Eclipse, you need to configure the RadRails
plug-in to access it by going to Window > Preferences and
selecting Ruby > RI/rdoc. Here you will see two fields: RDoc path
and Ri path. Each expects the full path to the rdoc and ri scripts, which,
if your Ruby install is on the C drive, would be something like
C:\ruby\bin\rdoc and C:\ruby\bin\ri respectively, as shown below. (Mac OS X
and Linux® users will need to adjust their paths accordingly.) Enter the correct paths and select OK.
Figure 6. Setting up the Ruby Interactive documentation reader
Once you have done this, you should be able to see an RI tab in the lower
portion of your Eclipse Ruby perspective. If you for some reason do not,
simply go to Window > Show View and select RI, then select that
tab and type Array in the input field. The RI
will try to find a match for what you are looking for or you can simply
scroll through the available options and click on an item. In the case of
Array, you should see something like Figure 7.
Figure 7. Example output of a query into RI for Array class
The RI view can be very helpful by allowing you to stay focused and within
your development environment, instead of switching to a Web browser or
another application to view the documentation. Sometimes though, you'll run
into a problem you just cannot solve at the moment or do not have the time
to deal with. Oftentimes, developers leave themselves a comment in the
code, but these are easy to forget. In the next section, we look at using
task tags to mark items for follow-up.
Task tags
One of the more useful views in Eclipse and the RadRails plug-in is the
Tasks view. We can use the Tasks view as your own or a project-based to-do
list, which allows you to tag code with items like ToDo, FixMe, Optimize,
etc. You can configure your own task tags by going to Window >
Preferences, then Ruby > Task > Tags. You should see something like Figure 8.
Figure 8. The Task tags area, which allows you to create new custom tags to mark up your code
You can use a tag just by adding it to your code, such as #ToDo: Implement give_bonus method.
Try adding that comment in the hr.rb file in the Employee class and save it. Now select the Task pane in the lower
bottom of your Eclipse view, or if for some reason you do not see it, go to
Window > Show View > Task and you should see something like Listing 2.
Listing 2. Viewing a task
Completed Priority Description Resource Path Location Creation Time
TODO: Implement give_bonus method hr.rb RubyTest line 7 1173676801984
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The ability to define your own task tags can very powerful in a
team-development environment. Task tags allow the team to define specific
types of tag-related tasks that they know will be seen by other developers,
even if they do not look at the specific code that contains the task. This
allows a team to communicate inside of the code itself, instead of
requiring e-mail or other forms of communication that are easy to miss. In
the next section, we look at another perspective that allows you to navigate a project and find information quickly.
The Ruby browser
There are a number of new features in this release of the RadRails plug-in,
including the Ruby Browsing view. To get to this view, simply go to
Window > Open Perspective > Ruby Browsing where you should see something like Figure 9.
The perspective contains multiple views of Ruby elements. The project shows
all projects in your workspace. In the Types view, you will see all the
classes and types in your Project, and in the Members view, you will see the
specific elements of a classes selected from the Types view.
Double-clicking on items will cause the RadRails plug-in to open the file
associated with that element and focus on the element.
Figure 9. An example of the Ruby browsing view
Being able to browse through Ruby resources quickly offers you another way
to increase your productivity. In the next section, we will look at what
else has been added to the RadRails plug-in that will help you develop Ruby code.
What else is new?
The Aptana RadRails plug-in adds several enhancements to previous version
of the plug-in, including code completion. For example type an E anywhere in your hr.rb file, then press Ctrl+Space, and the
RadRails plug-in code-completion function will pop a list of classes,
modules, globals, methods, and variables. The latest version of RDT also
adds new items, such as more distinct highlighting of globals, as well as
instance/class variables; the ability to turn on and off auto-closing of
things like strings; JRuby support; SQL Editor; better debugging, brackets,
and braces as well as other items. Aptana's RadRails Pro version adds even
more functionality, including the new Ruby profiler support built into the IDE. To see more about what is new in the RadRails plug-in, see the changelog for V1.0.2, the current version when this was written.
With the significant enhancements to the Aptana RadRails, it really comes
into its own as a serious tool for developing Ruby applications. RadRails
combined with other Eclipse plug-ins offers a world-class IDE with features
comparable to almost any other commercial product.
Summary
This article outlined some of the additional functionality and improvements
in Aptana RadRails. As you can see, the RadRails plug-in provides a
capable IDE for the Ruby developer. Better yet, Eclipse offers not only a
tool to work with Ruby easily but a tool with which to work with other
languages. Eclipse provides a ubiquitous and common platform for
development, which allows you to increase your efficiency by focusing on a
language instead of learning a new IDE each time you change languages.
Download | Description | Name | Size | Download method |
|---|
| Ruby class | os-eclipse-rdt-rubyeclipse.hr.rb.zip | 1KB | HTTP |
|---|
Resources Learn
-
Read "Using the Ruby
Development Tools plug-in for Eclipse, Part 1."
-
Ruby-lang.org, is a portal that leads to other helpful Ruby sites and documentation.
-
If you have not installed an Aptana plug-in into your Eclipse workspace
before, you should follow Aptana's instructions for Plugging Aptana into an existing Eclipse configuration.
-
Consult Aptana's RadRails documentation during
installation to see resolutions to platform-specific installation issues.
-
Ruby on Rails is an influential Web
application framework based on Ruby. This site allows you to download rails and see sample applications.
-
Find up-to-date Ruby documentation at Ruby-doc.org.
-
Programming Ruby,
The Pragmatic Programmer's Guide, 2nd Edition, by Dave Thomas, is the seminal
guide to the Ruby language. Written in a very readable style, this book is
the first book people new to Ruby should add to their bookshelves. One of
the great classics of software engineering literature, read this book even if you don't care about Ruby.
-
Agile
Development with Rails: A Pragmatic Guide, by Dave Thomas and David Heinemeier
Hansson, is the go-to book if you are interested in Rails. This book is the definitive guide to development with Rails.
-
The Pragmatic
Programmer: From Journeyman to Master, by Andrew Hunt and David Thomas, suggests
that developers should learn one new language each year.
-
Glenn Vanderburg is a software
intellectual, offering interesting insights and perspectives. He was one of
the first to understand and publicize the true potential of
Java™ technology — writing the first advanced
Java books — and he's been a strong supporter of Ruby for years.
-
Bruce Tate, of Bitter Java and
Bitter EJB fame, has also embraced Ruby and the possibilities of
transitioning from Java technology to Ruby. He has several books in the
works that show how you can transform yourself from a Java person to a
Rubyista. Read his "Secrets
of lightweight development success" series on developerWorks.
- Martin Fowler is one of the most recognized names
in software engineering. He understands deep concepts and writes about
them with startling clarity. He has been a vocal advocate of Ruby and the
kinds of things you can do with Ruby for years, and the rest of the world is
just now catching up. He writes about Ruby frequently in his outstanding blog.
-
developerWorks offers myriad Ruby
articles and tutorials, including "Debugging Ruby
programs 101" and "Automating tasks
with Rake."
-
Check out the "Recommended Eclipse reading list."
-
Browse all the Eclipse content on developerWorks.
-
New to Eclipse? Read the developerWorks article "Get started with Eclipse Platform" to learn its origin and architecture, and how to extend Eclipse with plug-ins.
-
Expand your Eclipse skills by checking out IBM developerWorks' Eclipse project resources.
-
To listen to interesting interviews and discussions for software developers, check out developerWorks podcasts.
-
Stay current with developerWorks' Technical events and webcasts.
-
Watch and learn about IBM and open source technologies and product functions with the no-cost developerWorks On demand demos.
-
Check out upcoming conferences, trade shows, webcasts, and other Events around the world that are of interest to IBM open source developers.
-
Visit the developerWorks Open source zone for extensive how-to information, tools, and project updates to help you develop with open source technologies and use them with IBM's products.
Get products and technologies
Discuss
-
The Eclipse Platform newsgroups should be your first stop to discuss questions regarding Eclipse. (Selecting this will launch your default Usenet news reader application and open eclipse.platform.)
-
The Eclipse newsgroups has many resources for people interested in using and extending Eclipse.
-
Participate in developerWorks blogs and get involved in the developerWorks community.
About the author | | | Robi Sen is vice president of Department13 LLC, a boutique information and technology services company focusing on Fortune 1000 corporations and government organizations. He spends most of his time developing large enterprise-scale applications and has spoken extensively on the topics of enterprise application integration and service-oriented architectures. |
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