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

rubyonrails-talk
1

Hi Nicolas,

Nicolas Blanco 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

2

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

3

Nicolas Blanco wrote:

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.

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