Friday
05Dec2008
A Little RAILS_ROOT Tidiness
Friday, December 5, 2008 at 3:50AM
Ever write code like this in Rails?
[sourcecode language='ruby']
if File.exists?(File.join(RAILS_ROOT, 'config', 's3.yml'))
has_attached_file :s3_image,
:storage => :s3,
:s3_credentials => File.join(RAILS_ROOT, 'config', 's3.yml')
end
[/sourcecode]
That particular snippet is from an application that optionally uses Amazon S3 to store images, if there is a configuration file for S3 supplied in the deployment. Well, you can clean that up a bit. First, although the
[sourcecode language='ruby']
if File.exists?(Rails.root.join('config', 's3.yml'))
has_attached_file :s3_image,
:storage => :s3,
:s3_credentials => Rails.root.join('config', 's3.yml')
end
[/sourcecode]
A tiny improvement, but of such tiny improvements are a pleasant framework made.
[sourcecode language='ruby']
if File.exists?(File.join(RAILS_ROOT, 'config', 's3.yml'))
has_attached_file :s3_image,
:storage => :s3,
:s3_credentials => File.join(RAILS_ROOT, 'config', 's3.yml')
end
[/sourcecode]
That particular snippet is from an application that optionally uses Amazon S3 to store images, if there is a configuration file for S3 supplied in the deployment. Well, you can clean that up a bit. First, although the
RAILS_ROOT constant is still supported, we've had the prettier-looking Rails.root for months. Second, as of a recent commit to edge rails, Rails.root returns a Pathname object, so it directly supports the join method. Hence, the code snippet above can now be:[sourcecode language='ruby']
if File.exists?(Rails.root.join('config', 's3.yml'))
has_attached_file :s3_image,
:storage => :s3,
:s3_credentials => Rails.root.join('config', 's3.yml')
end
[/sourcecode]
A tiny improvement, but of such tiny improvements are a pleasant framework made.
Reader Comments (4)
Nice tip. I'd stick Rails.root.join('config', 's3.yml') in a local variable instead of repeating it.
Pathname is IMHO one of the more useful, but most underused libraries. It makes working work files alot simpler than using the File class directy.
Although I'd probably tend to write that example using the Pathname#exists? method instead of File.exists?, like this: http://pastie.org/332348
The nicest thing about posting code samples: instant code review. Thanks, good changes both.
1. File.join() - which all developers will only understand
or
2. Rails.root.join() - which will only make sense to rails developers
I think its a pointless change that makes it slightly cleaner, but less understandable overall.