Zan's Collection of anything useful http://liangzan.net Mon, 26 Jul 2010 10:27:56 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0 Adding rvm to zsh prompt http://liangzan.net/index.php/2010/07/26/adding-rvm-to-zsh-prompt/ http://liangzan.net/index.php/2010/07/26/adding-rvm-to-zsh-prompt/#comments Mon, 26 Jul 2010 10:23:23 +0000 zan http://liangzan.net/?p=72 Here’s a simple way to add rvm to your zsh prompt. I think it should work for bash too.

It’ll only show when rvm is in use. And here’s how it looks.

]]> http://liangzan.net/index.php/2010/07/26/adding-rvm-to-zsh-prompt/feed/ 0 Test for blank elements with Culerity-Cucumber http://liangzan.net/index.php/2010/04/07/test-for-blank-elements-with-culerity-cucumber/ http://liangzan.net/index.php/2010/04/07/test-for-blank-elements-with-culerity-cucumber/#comments Wed, 07 Apr 2010 07:13:30 +0000 zan http://liangzan.net/?p=69 When you need to test for blank elements on Culerity, it is better to parse the html. Using Celerity helper methods such as $browser.button will return a Culerity::RemoteObjectProxy object. It does not tell you if it found an element or not. It is a limitation of Culerity. To work around it try this:

You can use the above code in the step definitions.

]]> http://liangzan.net/index.php/2010/04/07/test-for-blank-elements-with-culerity-cucumber/feed/ 0 How to shoot yourself in the foot using a functional programming language http://liangzan.net/index.php/2010/03/09/how-to-shoot-yourself-in-the-foot-using-a-functional-programming-language/ http://liangzan.net/index.php/2010/03/09/how-to-shoot-yourself-in-the-foot-using-a-functional-programming-language/#comments Tue, 09 Mar 2010 03:46:31 +0000 zan http://liangzan.net/?p=64 While preparing for a presentation on Scala, I added some jokes on the functional languages. Here’s the original version and the new editions

Erlang
You create a dozen clones of youself, pass the gun to one another in turn to shoot at each other’s foot

Python
You have to align your foot 10 steps below the gun for it to work

Ruby
You pull the trigger to find popcorns popping out of the gun. Someone somewhere has just made all guns shoot popcorns.

Haskell
Close your eyes and picture a gun in your mind. Think about the foot being shot. Open your eyes. You found your foot shot. No sound. No smell. No one else even noticed.

Scala
You pull the trigger and you got shot. You stab your foot with the gun and you got shot.

]]> http://liangzan.net/index.php/2010/03/09/how-to-shoot-yourself-in-the-foot-using-a-functional-programming-language/feed/ 0 Selectively load Ruby Facets modules http://liangzan.net/index.php/2010/01/12/selectively-load-ruby-facets-modules/ http://liangzan.net/index.php/2010/01/12/selectively-load-ruby-facets-modules/#comments Tue, 12 Jan 2010 09:43:39 +0000 zan http://liangzan.net/?p=62 Ruby facets has a lot of useful libraries. Sometimes you only want to load the ones that you need. Here’s a little snippet that you can use

Rails won’t load facets as the ‘lib’ param is false. We then load the libraries manually through initializers. This helps when facets unwittingly clobbers some of the other gems you are using.

]]> http://liangzan.net/index.php/2010/01/12/selectively-load-ruby-facets-modules/feed/ 2 Testing PDFs with Celerity-Culerity and Cucumber http://liangzan.net/index.php/2009/12/11/testing-pdfs-with-celerity-culerity-and-cucumber/ http://liangzan.net/index.php/2009/12/11/testing-pdfs-with-celerity-culerity-and-cucumber/#comments Fri, 11 Dec 2009 08:42:41 +0000 zan http://liangzan.net/?p=57 Here’re the code to test the content of the pdfs. But first you need the pdf-reader gem.

The feature file is above.

Add the code above as a helper file.

And lastly, the steps. Remember to add a @pdf tag to your feature files.

]]> http://liangzan.net/index.php/2009/12/11/testing-pdfs-with-celerity-culerity-and-cucumber/feed/ 1 Using Cucumber to test Paperclip file attachments http://liangzan.net/index.php/2009/08/31/using-cucumber-to-test-paperclip-file-attachments/ http://liangzan.net/index.php/2009/08/31/using-cucumber-to-test-paperclip-file-attachments/#comments Mon, 31 Aug 2009 15:23:45 +0000 zan http://liangzan.net/?p=51 I was using thoughtbot’s paperclip to attach files. I realised that paperclip only provide shoulda macros for test::unit. No cucumber macros? In the end, I got to write it. Its very simple.

The feature is shown here:

Define your steps:

As celerity does not have an attach_file method, I got to write my own. You could see it’s not hard at all. Remember to define the browser variable.

Last, we have some hooks to clean up the test upload files. Remember to place an @upload tag in your scenario.

]]> http://liangzan.net/index.php/2009/08/31/using-cucumber-to-test-paperclip-file-attachments/feed/ 0 Email_Spec Integrated with Action_Mailer_Cache_Delivery http://liangzan.net/index.php/2009/08/20/email_spec-integrated-with-action_mailer_cache_delivery/ http://liangzan.net/index.php/2009/08/20/email_spec-integrated-with-action_mailer_cache_delivery/#comments Thu, 20 Aug 2009 06:47:41 +0000 zan http://liangzan.net/?p=49 For people using the action mailer cache delivery plugin, you can now add the email_spec plugin. The email_spec plugin provides many wonderful helpers to test your emails. Both plugins are now integrated. To use them you need to install both my forks of the plugins:

Install them as plugins following the same instructions from the README. Don’t forget to change the git url!

]]> http://liangzan.net/index.php/2009/08/20/email_spec-integrated-with-action_mailer_cache_delivery/feed/ 0 Troubleshooting an Eclipse PDE Build http://liangzan.net/index.php/2009/06/10/troubleshooting-an-eclipse-pde-build/ http://liangzan.net/index.php/2009/06/10/troubleshooting-an-eclipse-pde-build/#comments Wed, 10 Jun 2009 06:45:21 +0000 zan http://liangzan.net/?p=47 In this post, I’ll share what I’ve learnt trying to run an Eclipse PDE build. The specific version is Eclipse 3.2. This took me a while to get right(a few months in fact!). The key to getting it right is getting The Dependencies right. So let’s dive in!

Setting up

I’m following the example by J Aaron Farr. His example works and is simple enough.

The example code and screencast can be downloaded here.

If you are following Farr’s steps, you should end up with 3 directories: builder, features, plugins. You should place all your plugins in the plugins folder, and the features in the features folder. The builder folder can be copied from Farr’s example. One thing to note is inside the builder folder is a target folder. That contains a copy of Eclipse which is used to build. Make sure that copy has the dependencies(plugins/features) you need.

The checklist

There’re lots of things that can go wrong in an Eclipse PDE build. Most times the error messags don’t tell you clearly what’s wrong. In my experience, the problems are usually found in the configuration. And it always is a dependency problem.

Product

The product file is found from your launching plugin.

  • Does the product contain all of your plugins and their dependencies? Only those plugins/features listed in the product are packaged. So make sure all the things you need are there
  • Does the build.properties file point to the correct product file?
  • Does the product contain the features necessary for testing? You need these 2 features org.eclipse.rcp(for launching eclipse) and org.eclipse.test(for testing). Add them as one of the features in the product.
  • Does the product configuration correct? There’s the fields like name, id, application, useFeatures found in the attriute line of the product declaration. Make sure these are correct.

build.properties

This is one of the configuration files found under builder directory. It is meant for build.xml.

  • Are the paths correct? Use the full path to make sure everything works first. Switch to relative paths after which.
  • Is it forward slash or back slash? Ans: its “/”
  • What if I have spaces in the path? Ans: Use double quotes “”

For a better explanation, you can try the eclipse wiki

customTarget.xml

This is one of the configuration files found under builder directory. It is meant for adding your own ant targets to the build process.

  • Are u running junit tests? If you do, have you added an ant target task? Is the path correct?

allElements.xml

This is one of the configuration files found under builder directory.

  • Is the name of your feature correct?

Deployment target

This is the eclipse that you usually use to build against.

  • Does it have all the plugins features necessary for the build?
  • Does it contain only 1 copy of the plugin/feature?(eclipse will always take the newest version of the same plugin. it’ll cause problems if your build needs the older version)

Build target

This is the eclipse target found under builder > target.

  • Does it have all the plugins features necessary for the build?
  • Does it contain only 1 copy of the plugin/feature?(eclipse will always take the newest version of the same plugin. it’ll cause problems if your build needs the older version)

feature.xml for the plugins

This is the feature.xml for the feature that contains your plugins.

  • Is the id correct?
  • Does it contain all the plugins of your project
  • Does it have the dependencies listed?

feature.xml for the test plugins

This is the feature.xml for the feature that contains your test plugins.

  • Does it have the required dependency org.apache.ant?
  • Does it contain the test plugins?
  • Does it contain org.apache.ant and org.eclipse.core.runtime.compatibility?

General

  • Is the compiler version correct?
  • Is Ant and Java configured correctly?
]]> http://liangzan.net/index.php/2009/06/10/troubleshooting-an-eclipse-pde-build/feed/ 0 Fly away – Corrinne May Guitar Chords http://liangzan.net/index.php/2008/11/09/fly-away-corrinne-may-guitar-chords/ http://liangzan.net/index.php/2008/11/09/fly-away-corrinne-may-guitar-chords/#comments Sun, 09 Nov 2008 15:02:11 +0000 zan http://liangzan.net/?p=46 This is a sad sad song. Well it happened to be my best friend’s favourite. Reminds her of her Mom. Anyway this is for you MF! 

F major, capo 1

F                 Am
"When will you be home?" she asks
      F                     Am
as we watch the planes take off
   F                 Am                 Dm
We both know we have no clear answer to where my dreams may lead
      F               Am
She's watched me as i crawled and stumbled
F                      Am
As a child, she was my world
    Am                           Dm
And now to let me go, I know she bleeds
                    Am
and yet she says to me

        Dm
You can fly so high
          F
Keep your gaze upon the sky
        Am                          Dm
I'll be prayin every step along the way
     F                   Am                     Dm          Bb
Even though it breaks my heart to know we'll be so far apart
Bb         Am                   Dm
I love you too much to make you stay
Dm             F
Baby fly away

F                  Am
Autumn leaves fell into spring time and
F              Am
Silver-painted hair
  F               Am                 Dm
Daddy called one evening saying "We need you. Please come back"
       F              Am
When I saw her laying in her bed
F             Am
Fragile as a child
  Am                           Dm
Pale just like an angel taking flight
                Am
I held her as I cried

        Dm
You can fly so high
          F
Keep your gaze upon the sky
        Am                          Dm
I'll be prayin every step along the way
     F                   Am                     Dm          Bb
Even though it breaks my heart to know we'll be so far apart
Bb         Am                   Dm
I love you too much to make you stay
Am             F
Baby fly away
Dm
ohh...

Bb         Am                   Dm
I love you too much to make you stay
Dm             F
Baby fly away
]]> http://liangzan.net/index.php/2008/11/09/fly-away-corrinne-may-guitar-chords/feed/ 2 Setting up a basic project infrastructure with Redmine, Hudson, VSFTP http://liangzan.net/index.php/2008/10/23/setting-up-a-basic-project-infrastructure-with-redmine-hudson-vsftp/ http://liangzan.net/index.php/2008/10/23/setting-up-a-basic-project-infrastructure-with-redmine-hudson-vsftp/#comments Thu, 23 Oct 2008 09:15:58 +0000 zan http://liangzan.net/?p=45 Here I would like to share with you the steps to set up the basic project infrastructure.

For a project, there’re a few tools which are absolutely necessary to function

  • File Server
  • Project Wiki
  • Continuous Integration Server
  • Bug/Issue Tracking
  • Source Control

With these features in mind, I have identified the software necessary to provide all these functionality.

  • Subversion – Source Control
  • Redmine – wiki, issue tracking, forums, repository viewing
  • Hudson – continuous integration
  • VSFTP – FTP file server

Ubuntu is chosen cos Linux is more stable, its free, its much easier to install stuff in it. But the real reason is cos I’m a Linux geek.

What do you need to learn?

All the work is done on the command line. So you need to be familiar with UNIX shell commands. Another thing is you’ll be editing text files most of the time. Therefore you have to learn one of the UNIX text editors.

Basic UNIX commands

Unix text editors

What tools do you need?

Setting up the server OS

Redmine Issue Tracking Server

Subversion

VSFTP FTP Server

Hudson Continuous Integration Server

Maven

Static Code Analysis Tools

Continuous feedback devices

How-Tos

]]> http://liangzan.net/index.php/2008/10/23/setting-up-a-basic-project-infrastructure-with-redmine-hudson-vsftp/feed/ 0