James on Software

I'm headed to Toronto for the next couple of weeks — leaving Tuesday as you might have guessed from the title. If any Torontonians want to meet up for a coffee (yes, I am a coffeegeek), a beer (but, really, preferably a coffee), or a hack session (preferably including coffee), shoot me an email (my address is listed top-right).

Bothered by all the noise in my tests' backtraces, I was thrilled when I first saw a thread on the shoulda mailing list with some discussion around making them a little bit easier on the eyes. Assuming that creating such a filter would be a long and tedious process of monkey-patching test/unit, I forgot about the idea, assuming the job better left for somebody with more time to spare than myself.

When Dan Croak revived the thread with some sample code, cooked up at a Boston.rb hackfest, it occurred to me that the job was far more manageable than I had originally conceived. I quickly fired Dan an email asking whether he'd be interested in a pluginization of their concept. With a resounding yes! from Dan, we set off to create quiet_stacktracebacktrace.

The rest of this post is cross-posted on GIANT ROBOTS

90% of this typical backtrace will not help you hunt and kill bad code:

1) Failure:
test: logged in on get to index should only show projects for the user's account. (ProjectsControllerTest)
[/System/Library/Frameworks/Ruby.framework/Versions/1.8/usr/lib/ruby/1.8/test/unit/assertions.rb:48:in `assert_block'
/System/Library/Frameworks/Ruby.framework/Versions/1.8/usr/lib/ruby/1.8/test/unit/assertions.rb:500:in `_wrap_assertion'
/System/Library/Frameworks/Ruby.framework/Versions/1.8/usr/lib/ruby/1.8/test/unit/assertions.rb:46:in `assert_block'
/System/Library/Frameworks/Ruby.framework/Versions/1.8/usr/lib/ruby/1.8/test/unit/assertions.rb:63:in `assert'
/System/Library/Frameworks/Ruby.framework/Versions/1.8/usr/lib/ruby/1.8/test/unit/assertions.rb:495:in `_wrap_assertion'
/System/Library/Frameworks/Ruby.framework/Versions/1.8/usr/lib/ruby/1.8/test/unit/assertions.rb:61:in `assert'
test/functional/projects_controller_test.rb:31:in `__bind_1196527660_342195'
/Users/james/Documents/railsApps/projects/vendor/plugins/shoulda/lib/shoulda/context.rb:98:in `call'
/Users/james/Documents/railsApps/projects/vendor/plugins/shoulda/lib/shoulda/context.rb:98:in `test: logged in on get to index should only show projects for the user's account. '
/System/Library/Frameworks/Ruby.framework/Versions/1.8/usr/lib/ruby/1.8/test/unit/testcase.rb:78:in `__send__'
/System/Library/Frameworks/Ruby.framework/Versions/1.8/usr/lib/ruby/1.8/test/unit/testcase.rb:78:in `run'
/System/Library/Frameworks/Ruby.framework/Versions/1.8/usr/lib/ruby/1.8/test/unit/testsuite.rb:34:in `run'
/System/Library/Frameworks/Ruby.framework/Versions/1.8/usr/lib/ruby/1.8/test/unit/testsuite.rb:33:in `each'
/System/Library/Frameworks/Ruby.framework/Versions/1.8/usr/lib/ruby/1.8/test/unit/testsuite.rb:33:in `run'
/System/Library/Frameworks/Ruby.framework/Versions/1.8/usr/lib/ruby/1.8/test/unit/testsuite.rb:34:in `run'
/System/Library/Frameworks/Ruby.framework/Versions/1.8/usr/lib/ruby/1.8/test/unit/testsuite.rb:33:in `each'
/System/Library/Frameworks/Ruby.framework/Versions/1.8/usr/lib/ruby/1.8/test/unit/testsuite.rb:33:in `run'
/System/Library/Frameworks/Ruby.framework/Versions/1.8/usr/lib/ruby/1.8/test/unit/ui/testrunnermediator.rb:46:in `run_suite'
/System/Library/Frameworks/Ruby.framework/Versions/1.8/usr/lib/ruby/1.8/test/unit/ui/console/testrunner.rb:67:in `start_mediator'
/System/Library/Frameworks/Ruby.framework/Versions/1.8/usr/lib/ruby/1.8/test/unit/ui/console/testrunner.rb:41:in `start'
/System/Library/Frameworks/Ruby.framework/Versions/1.8/usr/lib/ruby/1.8/test/unit/ui/testrunnerutilities.rb:29:in `run'
/System/Library/Frameworks/Ruby.framework/Versions/1.8/usr/lib/ruby/1.8/test/unit/autorunner.rb:216:in `run'
/System/Library/Frameworks/Ruby.framework/Versions/1.8/usr/lib/ruby/1.8/test/unit/autorunner.rb:12:in `run'
/System/Library/Frameworks/Ruby.framework/Versions/1.8/usr/lib/ruby/1.8/test/unit.rb:278
test/functional/projects_controller_test.rb:36]:
one or more projects shown does not belong to the current user's account.
<false> is not true.

Noisy backtraces must be ruthlessly silenced like political dissidents in Stalinist Russia. This much is clear.

Quiet Backtrace

Install the gem:

  sudo gem install quietbacktrace

Require quietbacktrace:

## test_helper.rb
require 'quietbacktrace'

Run your Test::Unit tests:

1) Failure:
test: logged in on get to index should only show projects for the user's account. (ProjectsControllerTest)
[test/functional/projects_controller_test.rb:31
vendor/plugins/shoulda/lib/shoulda/context.rb:98
vendor/plugins/shoulda/lib/shoulda/context.rb:98
test/functional/projects_controller_test.rb:36]:
one or more projects shown does not belong to the current user's account.
<false> is not true.

Ooh la la! Now we’re cooking with gas. However, those shoulda-related lines are cluttering an otherwise perfect backtrace. Luckily, Quiet Backtrace is designed to be extended by calling two types of blocks that yield one line of the backtrace at a time.

Silencers and filters

1. Silencers let you specify conditions that, if true, will remove the line from the backtrace.
2. Filters let you use Ruby’s succulent set of String methods to modify a line by slicing and stripping and chomping away at anything you deem ugly and unnecessary. (such as the :in `__bind_1196527660_342195’ in the original example)

Say you want to remove Shoulda-related lines… you create a new silencer and add it the Array of backtrace_silencers:

class Test::Unit::TestCase
  self.new_backtrace_silencer :shoulda do |line| 
    line.include? 'vendor/plugins/shoulda'
  end
  
  self.backtrace_silencers << :shoulda
end

Re-run your tests and bask in the sweet sounds of silence:

1) Failure:
test: logged in on get to index should only show projects for the user's account. (ProjectsControllerTest)
[test/functional/projects_controller_test.rb:31
test/functional/projects_controller_test.rb:36]:
one or more projects shown does not belong to the current user's account.
<false> is not true.

Exquisitely sparse. Quiet Backtrace clears distractions from the “getting to green” TDD process like a Buddhist monk keeping his mind clear during meditation.

Getting noisy again

On occasion, you’ll want to see the noisy backtrace. Easy:

class Test::Unit::TestCase
  self.quiet_backtrace = false
end

You can set Test::Unit::TestCase.quiet_backtrace to true or false at any level in your Test::Unit code. Stick it in your test_helper.rb file or get noisy in an individual file or test. More flex than a rubber band.

Using Quiet Bactrace with Rails

After you have installed the gem on your local machine, I recommend using the excellent gemsonrails plugin to freeze it to your vendor/gems directory and automatically add it to your load path.

Install gemsonrails and add it your Rails app if you don’t already have it:

gem install gemsonrails
cd rails-app-folder
gemsonrails

Then freeze quietbacktrace:

rake gems:freeze GEM=quietbacktrace

Quiet Backtrace will now work with your tests, but because this gem is meant to work on any Ruby project with Test::Unit, it does turn any Rails-specific silencers or filters on by default. However, there is one of each, ready to be switched on, that remove the most dastardly lines.

Add these lines to your /test/test_helper.rb file to get perfectly clean Rails backtraces:

class Test::Unit::TestCase
  self.backtrace_silencers << :rails_vendor
  self.backtrace_filters   << :rails_root
end

Ongoing development

Bug reports and patches are welcome at RubyForge. Talk about it on the mailing list. It’s is a safe place. A place where we can feel free sharing our feelings. A nest in a tree of trust and understanding.

Ever needed to create a form that works with two models? If you have, you know that it's a major pain. It really seems like it should be easier, doesn't it? Powerful, SQL-free associations join our models; helpers build our forms in fewer keystrokes than it takes to call somebody a fanboy in a digg comment. But, as soon as you want to put the pieces together — as soon as you seek multi-model form bliss, the whole system falls apart.

Ryan Bates has popularized a few recipes for cooking up just such a dish (we all owe that man a debt of gratitude, don't we?). Great solutions (thanks Ryan!). There are only two flaws to speak of.

• AJAX-friendliness: What is this - web1? Maybe we should all build our sites in frames, and pepper them with blinking text.
• It's not a plugin: You mean I have to write code!? I thought rails was going to wash my dishes, walk my dog, and build my websites, while I sat outside on the porch smoking cigars, praying to DHH.

Being the compulsive pluginizer that I am, I simply couldn't resist this great opportunity.

attribute_fu

attribute_fu makes multi-model forms so easy you'll be telling all of your friends about it. Unless your friends are serious geeks, though, most of them will probably hang up on you. So, I recommend resisting that urge, unless you're looking for a good bedtime story.

To get started, enable attributes on your association (only has_many for now).

class Project < ActiveRecord::Base
  has_many :tasks, :attributes => true
end

Your model will then respond to task_attributes, which accepts a hash; the format of the which is a little bit different from what Ryan describes in his tutorials. Here's an example.

@project.task_attributes => { task_one.id => {:title => "Wash the dishes"},
                              task_two.id => {:title => "Go grocery shopping"},
                              :new => {
                                "0" => {:title => "Write a blog post about AttributeFu"}
                              }}

Follow the rules, though, and attribute_fu will shield you from the ugly details.

Form Helpers

The plugin comes with a set of conventions (IM IN UR PROJECT, NAMIN UR PARTIALZ). Follow them, and building associated forms is as easy as it should be. Take note of the partial's name, and the conspicuously absent fields_for call.

## _task.html.erb
<p class="task">
  <label for="task_title">Title:</label><br/>
  <%= f.text_field :title %>
</p>

Rendering one or more of the above forms is just one call away.

## _form.html.erb
<div id="tasks">
  <%= f.render_associated_form(@project.tasks) %>
</div>

You may want to add a few blank tasks to the bottom of your form — formerly requiring an extra line in your controller.

<%= f.render_associated_form(@project.tasks, :new => 3) %>

This being web2.0, removing elements from the form with Javascript (but your boss calls it AJAX) is a must.

## _task.html.erb
<p class="task">
  <label>Task</label><br/>
  <%= f.text_field :title %>
  <%= f.remove_link "remove" %>
</p>

Adding elements to the form via Javascript doesn't require any heavy lifting either.

## _form.html.erb
<%= f.add_associated_link('Add Task', @project.tasks.build) %>

It's that easy.

Last but not least (okay, maybe least), if you're one of those people who just has to be different - who absolutely refuses to follow the rules, you can still use attribute_fu (I guess...). See the RDoc for how.

Plugins, Plugins, Get Your Plugins

$ piston import http://svn.jamesgolick.com/attribute_fu/tags/stable vendor/plugins/attribute_fu

Check out the RDoc for more details.

Come join the discussion on the mailing list.