As I continue to learn Rails, this is my experience developing a Rails application using Action Cable (allows communication using web sockets)

Finished product: Story Estimate

Assuming we already generated a new Rails app, lets start with authentication using Devise gem.
Add “gem ‘devise'” to your gem file.

Run a few commands to generate your users:
$ rails generate devise:install
$ rails generate devise User
$ rails generate devise:views
$ rails db:migrate

For the sake of this application, I want to enable guest users. Lets allow that:

class ApplicationController < ActionController::Base
  protect_from_forgery with: :exception

  def current_or_guest_user
    current_user || guest_user
  end

  # find guest_user object associated with the current session,
  # creating one as needed
  def guest_user(with_retry = true)
    # Cache the value the first time it's gotten.
    @cached_guest_user ||= User.find(session[:guest_user_id] ||= create_guest_user.id)

  rescue ActiveRecord::RecordNotFound # if session[:guest_user_id] invalid
    session[:guest_user_id] = nil
    guest_user if with_retry
  end

  private

  def create_guest_user
    u = User.create(email: "guest_#{Time.now.to_i}#{rand(100)}@example.com")
    u.save!(validate: false)
    session[:guest_user_id] = u.id
    u
  end
end

Now, if we want to sign in a user as a guest, we’d call sign_in(current_or_guest_user)

Next thing, we want to authorize our Action Cable connections with Devise users. In order to do that, we need to add some hooks in the config/initialazers. This will add current user id to user’s cookie:

config/initialazers/warden_hooks.rb

Warden::Manager.after_set_user do |user,auth,opts|
  scope = opts[:scope]
  auth.cookies.signed["#{scope}.id"] = user.id
end

Warden::Manager.before_logout do |user, auth, opts|
  scope = opts[:scope]
  auth.cookies.signed["#{scope}.id"] = nil
end

With this, we can configure rails connection:

module ApplicationCable
  class Connection < ActionCable::Connection::Base
    identified_by :current_user

    def connect
      self.current_user = find_verified_user
    end

    protected
      def find_verified_user
        if verified_user = User.find_by(id: cookies.signed['user.id'])
          verified_user
        else
          reject_unauthorized_connection
        end
      end
  end
end

Now, time to generate a new channel:
rails g channel channel_name optional_method
It may look someting like this:

class CoolChannel < ApplicationCable::Channel
  BASE_CHANNEL = 'BaseChannel'.freeze

  def subscribed
    stream_from "#{BASE_CHANNEL}#{params['some_key']}"
  end

  def unsubscribed
    # Any cleanup needed when channel is unsubscribed
  end

  def some_action(data)
    value_from_client = data['value_0']
    ActionCable.server.broadcast\
      "#{BASE_CHANNEL}#{data['some_key']}",
      data
  end
end

This will create a new custom-named channel based on whatever we want to send in params from the client. some_action is the method that will be called by the clients to send a message. In this case we just rebroadcast the message to all clients.

To make a call from the client to the server, go to the .js or .coffee file for the earlier generated channel (should be in javascripts/channels). We can call back to the server:

jQuery(document).on 'turbolinks:load', ->
  session_slug = $('#session_slug').val()
  player_name = $('#player_id').val()
  $stats =$('#statistics')

  App.estimation_session = App.cable.subscriptions.create {
    channel: "CoolChannel",
    },
    connected: ->

    disconnected: ->
      # Called when the subscription has been terminated by the server

    received: (data) ->
      value_from_server = data.value_0

    some_action: (value_0, value_1)->
      @perform 'some_action',
               value_0: value_0,
               value_1: value_1

When deploying to Heroku, we need to Add Redis To Go add-in (or any other Redis add-in such as Heroku Redi. Then update cable.yml to use redis:
adapter: redis
url: YOUR_URL

To find Redis connection URL, run:
heroku config | grep redis

Also, we need to add redis gem:
gem ‘redis’, ‘~> 3.2’

git push heroku master

Some useful resources:

• https://www.pluralsight.com/guides/ruby-ruby-on-rails/creating-a-chat-using-rails-action-cable
• https://www.sitepoint.com/create-a-chat-app-with-rails-5-actioncable-and-devise/
• http://exponential.io/blog/2015/02/21/install-postgresql-on-mac-os-x-via-brew/
• https://www.digitalocean.com/community/tutorials/how-to-setup-ruby-on-rails-with-postgres
• https://blog.heroku.com/real_time_rails_implementing_websockets_in_rails_5_with_action_cable

Install pry, pry-byebug, and pry-rails gems.
To add a breakpoint, type binding.pry wherever you want your breakpoint to happen.
In console use coninue, step, next, finish commands:

step: Step execution into the next line or method. Takes an optional numeric argument to step multiple times.

next: Step over to the next line within the same frame. Also takes an optional numeric argument to step multiple lines.

finish: Execute until current stack frame returns.

continue: Continue program execution and end the Pry session.

To add shortcuts to ^ commands, add to ~/.pryrc:
Pry.commands.alias_command ‘c’, ‘continue’ rescue nil
Pry.commands.alias_command ‘s’, ‘step’ rescue nil
Pry.commands.alias_command ‘n’, ‘next’ rescue nil
Pry.commands.alias_command ‘f’, ‘finish’ rescue nil

Add RSpec related gems to gemfile:

group :development, :test do 
  gem 'rspec-rails'
end

group :test do
  gem "capybara"
end

Capybara is a framework for testing web applications; allows to navigate your app programmatically.

Install your RSpec gems: bundle install

Generate RSpec templates:
generate rspec: rails g rspec:install

To view all available generators: rails g

Since RSpec uses test database, run your migrations for test environment:
rails db:migrate RAILS_ENV=test
If this is the first run, may need to set up the database by running RAILS_ENV=test rake db:reset

To run all specs: rspec
To add formatting: rspec -format doc (or use shortcut: rspec -f doc)
To always use the same formatting, add -format doc to .rspec file.

To use helper files for RSpecs
Uncomment this line in rails_helper.rb:
Dir[Rails.root.join(‘spec/support/**/*.rb’)].each { |f| require f }
And place all your helper methods inside of spec/support directory.

Sample RSpec file:

require 'rails_helper'

describe 'Navigating movies' do
  it 'allows navigation from the detail page to the listing page' do
    movie = Movie.create(movie_attributes)

    visit movie_url(movie)

    click_link 'All Movies'

    expect(current_path).to eq(root_path)
  end

Install Ruby. If you are on Windows, 2.3 seems to have issue as of September 2016, so I would go with 2.2.

Install Rails:
gem install rails –version 5.0.0 –no-ri –no-rdoc

Create a new application:
rails _5.0.0_ new application_name
use –skip-test or -T if you don’t want default test files or want to use a different test framework (Test::Unit is default)

Run the application:
rails s

If you are seeing something like this:

Could not load 'active_record/connection_adapters/sqlite3_adapter'. Make sure that the adapter in config/database.yml is valid. If you use an adapter other than 'mysql2', 'postgresql' or 'sqlite3' add the necessary adapter gem to the Gemfile.

You probably have ruby version above 2.2 and you are on Windows. Downgrade to 2.2 or try a different OS.

Create a route for your first action:

verb "url" => "name_of_controller#name_of_action"
get 'movies' => 'movies#index'


Generate/destroy a controller:

rails g controller name_of_controller
rails destroy controller name_of_controller

If you don’t want to use the default framework, add –no-test-framework when generating a controller.

Update your view with something like this:

<ul>
<% @movies.each do |movie| %>

<li> <strong><%= movie.title %></strong> (<%= movie.rating %>) <%= number_to_currency(movie.total_gross) %></li>
<% end %>
<ul>

Create a model

rails generate model NAME [field[:type][:index] field[:type]
rails g model event name:string location:string price:decimal

To generate the whole resource:

rails g resource Resource_name column_name:column_type --no-test-framework

To destroy the resource:

rails destroy resource Resource_name column_name:column_type --no-test-framework


Use any of these DB column types types for your model:

string
text
integer
decimal
float
boolean
binary
date
time
datetime
primary_key
timestamp

To declare foreign key relationship: belongs_to :parent
To reference children in parent model: has_many :children
To cascade deletes: has_many :reviews, dependent: :destroy

To attach parent to child: child.parent = parent
Or, parent.children.new(…)

Run migration:
rails db:migrate
rauks db:migrate:status

Seeds:
Use seeds.rb to create seed records for development
To run: rails db:seed

To look up commands:
rails -T
rails -T db

To Look up routes:
rails routes
In browser: {your_app_base_address}/rails/info/routes

for path/url use route_name_path/route_name_url
In rails command line (rails c):
app.route_name_url
app.route_name_path
app.route_name_path(model)
<%= link_to("Whatever text", route_name_path) %>
Shortcut: <%= link_to("Whatever text", model) %>
Use _path in view templates and _url in controllers as redirects.

Routes with parameters
get ‘route/:id’ => ‘controller#show’, as: ‘some_route_name’
<%= link_to "Whatever text", route_name_path(model) %>
Shortcut: <%= link_to "Whatever text", model %>

Root route
root ‘controller#action’

Submitting Forms
Sample form:

<%= form_for(@movie, @review) do |f| %>
  <p>
    <%= f.label :title %>
    <%= f.text_field :title %>
  </p>
  <% Review::STARS.each do |star| %>
    <%= f.radio_button :stars, star %> <%= star %>
  <% end %>
  <p>
    <%= f.submit %>
  </p>
<% end %>

Updating a model

def update
  @movie = Movie.find(params[:id])
  @movie.update(params[:movie])
end

To allow specific model fields to be updated
params[:movie].permit(:title, :description)

Or (will fail if movie is not submitted)
params.require(:movie).permit(:title)

To allow all fields to be updated:
params.require(:movie).permit!

Working with Active Record
Ordering:
Movie.order(‘released_on’)
Movie.order(‘released_on asc’)
Movie.order(released_on: :asc)

Searching:
Movie.find(2)
Movie.find_by(title: “Iron Man”)
Movie.where(rating: “PG-13”)
Movie.where.not(rating: “PG-13”)
Movie.where.not(rating: [“PG”, “PG-13”])
Movie.where(“total_gross < ?", 50000000) Movie.where("released_on > ?”, Time.now)
Movie.where(“released_on <= ?", Time.now).order("released_on desc") To view SQL use to_sql: Movie.where(rating: "PG-13").to_sql To rollback last migration: rails db:rollback
Assets
To see assets: http://base_url/assets/asset_name
http://localhost:3000/assets/application.js

Validation
Active Record methods on an instance:
e.valid?
e.errors
e.errors[:name]
e.errors.full_messages
movie.errors.full_messages.to_sentence

Validation Examples:
validates :title, :released_on, :duration, presence: true
validates :description, length: { minimum: 25 }
validates :total_gross, numericality: { greater_than_or_equal_to: 0 }

validates :image_file_name, allow_blank: true, format: {
with: /\w+\.(gif|jpg|png)\z/i,
message: “must reference a GIF, JPG, or PNG image”
}
RATINGS = %w(G PG PG-13 R NC-17)
validates :rating, inclusion: { in: RATINGS }
movie.errors.full_messages.to_sentence

Controllers
To run something before each action:
before_action :method_name

Flashes
One time messages.
To set:
flash[:notice] = “Message!”
If in redirect, can do:
redirect_to some_url, alert: “Alert!”
To read in view:
<%= flash[:notice] %>

Custom Flashes with redirects:
Rails only supports :notice and :alert by default for redirects. To add a custom one, add this to your ApplicationController: add_flash_types(:danger)

Gemfile
To set gems for specific environment:
group :development, :test do
gem ‘sqlite3’
end
To install gems excluding a group:
bundle install –without production

Nested resources
resources :parents do
resources :children
end