sinatra/README.rdoc

= Sinatra

Sinatra a DSL for quickly creating web-applications in Ruby with minimal effort.

= Sample app:

  # myapp.rb

  require 'rubygems'
  require 'sinatra'

  get '/' do
    'Hello world!'
  end

Ruby this as <tt>ruby myapp.rb</tt> and view at <tt>http://localhost:4567</tt>

= RESTful

  get '/' do
    .. show things ..
  end
  
  post '/' do
    .. create something ..
  end
  
  put '/' do
    .. update something ..
  end
  
  delete '/' do
    .. annihilate something ..
  end
  
  head '/' do
  
  end

NOTE:  <tt>put</tt> and <tt>delete</tt> are triggered when a <tt>_method</tt> param is set to PUT or DELETE and the HTTP_REQUEST_METHOD is a POST

= Routes

NOTE: Routes are looked up in order of declaration

Simple

  get '/hi' do
    ...
  end
  
With params

  get '/:name' do
    # matches /sinatra and the like and sets params[:name]
  end
  
Splat'n

  get '/say/*/to/*' do
    # matches /say/hello/to/world
    params["splat"] # => ["hello", "world"]
  end

  get '/download/*.*' do
    # matches /download/path/to/file.xml
    params["splat"] # => ["path/to/file", "xml"]
  end
  
Get an agent!
  
  get '/foo', :agent => /Songbird (\d\.\d)[\d\/]*?/ do
    "You're using Songbird version #{params[:agent][0]}"
  end

  get '/foo' do
    # matches non-songbird browsers
  end

= Static files

Put all of your static content in the ./public directory

  root
    \ public
    
If a file exists that maps to the REQUEST_PATH then it is served and the request end; Sinatra will look for and event that matches the path otherwise

= Views (if you need MVC)

All file-based views are looked up in:

  root
    | - views/
    

== Templates
  
=== Haml

  get '/' do
    haml :index
  end
  
This will render <tt>./views/index.haml</tt>

=== Sass
  get '/stylesheet.css' do
    content_type 'text/css', :charset => 'utf-8'
    sass :stylesheet
  end
  
This will render <tt>./views/stylesheet.sass</tt>

=== Inline

  get '/' do
    haml '%div.title Hello World'
  end
  
This will render the inlined template string

=== Accessing Variables

Templates are rendered in the context the current Sinatra::EventContext.  This means you get all instance/class variables and methods it has access to.

  get '/:id' do
    @foo = Foo.find(params[:id])
    haml '%h1== @foo.name'
  end

Send local objects like:

  get '/:id' do
    localvar = Foo.find(params[:id])
    haml '%h1== localvar.name', :locals => { :localvar => localvar }
  end
  
This is more ideal for rendering templates as partials from within templates

== In file templates

This one is cool:

  get '/' do
    haml :index
  end
  
  use_in_file_templates!
  
  __END__
  
  @@ layout
  X
  = yield
  X
  
  @@ index
  %div.title Hello world!!!!!
  
Try it!

= You can do this too but it's not as cool

  template :layout do
    "X\n=yield\nX"
  end

  template :index do
    '%div.title Hello World!'
  end

  get '/' do
    haml :index
  end

=== Erb

This works like Haml except you use <tt>erb</tt> instead of <tt>haml</tt>

=== Sass

This works like Haml except you use <tt>sass</tt> instead of <tt>haml</tt>. It's also a good idea to add <tt>content_type 'text/css', :charset => 'utf-8'</tt> before your call to <tt>sass</tt> so Sinatra returns the proper content type header with the file.

=== Builder

See Sinatra::Builder

= Helpers

It is ill-advised to create helpers on (main).  Use the handy <tt>helpers</tt> to install helper methods on Sinatra::EventContext for use inside events and templates.

Example:

  helpers do
    
    def bar(name)
      "#{name}bar"
    end
    
  end
  
  get '/:name' do
    bar(params[:name])
  end

= Before filters

These are run in Sinatra::EventContext

  before do
    .. this code will run before each event ..
  end
  
= Halt!

To immediately stop a request during a before filter or event use:
  
  throw :halt
  
=== Variations

Set the body to the result of a helper method

  throw :halt, :helper_method
  
Set the body to the result of a helper method after sending it parameters from the local scope
  
  throw :halt, [:helper_method, foo, bar]
    
Set the body to a simple string

  throw :halt, 'this will be the body'
  
Set status then the body

  throw :halt, [401, 'go away!']
  
Set the status then call a helper method with params from local scope

  throw :halt, [401, [:helper_method, foo, bar]]

Run a proc inside the Sinatra::EventContext instance and set the body to the result

  throw :halt, lambda { puts 'In a proc!'; 'I just wrote to $stdout!' }

Create you own to_result

  class MyResultObject
    def to_result(event_context, *args)
      event_context.body = 'This will be the body!
    end
  end
  
  get '/' do
    throw :halt, MyResultObject.new
  end

Get the gist?  If you want more fun with this then checkout <tt>to_result</tt> on Array, Symbol, Fixnum, NilClass.

= Configuration & Re-loading

Sinatra supports multiple environments and re-loading.  Re-loading happens on every request when in :development.  Wrap your configurations in <tt>configure</tt> (i.e. Database connections, Constants, etc.) to protect them from re-loading and to only work in certain environments.

All environments:

  configure do
  
  end
  
Production

  configure :production do
  
  end
  
Two at a time:

  configure :production, :test do
  
  end
  
This is also really nifty for error handling.

= Error handling

=== Not Found

Remember:  These are run inside the Sinatra::EventContext which means you get all the goodies is has to offer (i.e. haml, erb, :halt, etc.)

Whenever NotFound is raised this will be called

  not_found do
    'This is nowhere to be found'
  end
  
=== Error

By default +error+ will catch Sinatra::ServerError

Sinatra will pass you the error via the 'sinatra.error' in request.env

  error do
    'Sorry there was a nasty error - ' + request.env['sinatra.error'].name
  end

Custom error mapping:

  error MyCustomError do
    'So what happened was...' + request.env['sinatra.error'].message
  end

then if this happens:

  get '/' do
    raise MyCustomError, 'something bad'
  end

you gets this:

  So what happened was... something bad
  
one guess what this does ;)

  not_found do
    'I have no clue what you're looking for'
  end

Try it!

  
Because Sinatra give you a default <tt>not_found</tt> and <tt>error</tt> do :production that are secure.  If you want to customize only for :production but want to keep the friendly helper screens for :development then do this:

  configure :production do

    not_found do
      "We're so sorry, but we don't what this is"
    end
    
    error do
      "Something really nasty happened.  We're on it!"
    end
  
  end
  
= Mime types

When using send_file or static files you may have mime types Sinatra doesn't understand.  Use +mime+ in those cases.

  mime :foo, 'text/foo'

= Using Rack Middleware

Sinatra rides on Rack[http://rack.rubyforge.org/], a minimal standard interface for Ruby web frameworks. One of Rack's most interesting capabilities for application developers is support for "middleware" -- components that sit between the server and your application monitoring and/or manipulating the HTTP request/response to provide various types of common functionality. What's more, middleware is portable between web frameworks, so middleware components developed under, e.g., Merb, can be used with Sinatra and vice versa.

Sinatra makes building Rack middleware pipelines a cinch via a top-level +use+ method:

  require 'sinatra'
  require 'my_custom_middleware'

  use Rack::Lint
  use MyCustomMiddleware

  get '/hello' do
    'Hello World'
  end

The semantics of +use+ are identical to those defined for the Rack::Builder[http://rack.rubyforge.org/doc/classes/Rack/Builder.html] DSL (most frequently used from rackup files). For example, the +use+ method accepts multiple/variable args as well as blocks:

  use Rack::Auth::Basic do |username, password|
    username == 'admin' && password == 'secret'
  end

Rack is distributed with a variety of standard middleware for logging, debugging, URL routing, authentication, and session handling. Sinatra uses many of of these components automatically based on configuration so you typically don't have to +use+ them explicitly.

= Testing

=== Methods

  get_it path, params
  get_it path, params.merge(:env => { 'HTTP_HOST' => 'www.sinatrarb.com' }) or
  get_it path, params.merge(:env => { :host => 'www.sinatrarb.com' })
  
RESTful:

  post_it '/foo', '<myxml></myxml>', 'HTTP_ACCEPT' => 'application/xml'

also works with:

  get_it, post_it, put_it, delete_it, head_it

=== Test/Unit

  require 'my_sinatra_app'
  require 'sinatra/test/unit'
  
  class MyAppTest < Test::Unit::TestCase
    
    def test_my_default
      get_it '/'
      assert_equal 'My Default Page!', @response.body
    end
    
    def test_with_agent
      get_it '/', :agent => 'Songbird'
      assert_equal 'You're in Songbird!', @response.body
    end
    
    ...
    
  end
  
=== Test/Spec

  require 'my_sinatra_app'
  require 'sinatra/test/spec'

  context 'My app'
  
    should "show a default page" do
      get_it '/'
      should.be.ok
      body.should.equal 'My Default Page!'
    end
    ...
  
  end
  
== Test helpers

See Sinatra::Test::Methods

= Irb

This will be back in soon

= Command line

Run your sinatra file like:
  
  ruby myapp.rb [options]

Options are:

  -h # help
  -p # set the port (default is 4567)
  -e # set the environment (default is development)
  -x # turn on the mutex lock (default is off)

= Contribute

== Tools

Besides Ruby itself, you only need a text editor, preferably one that supports Ruby
syntax hilighting. VIM and Emacs are a fine choice on any platform, but feel free to
use whatever you're familiar with.

Sinatra uses the Git source code management system. If you're unfamiliar with Git,
you can find more information and tutorials on http://git.or.cz/ as well as http://git-scm.com/.
Scott Chacon created a great series of introductory screencasts about Git,
which you can find here: http://www.gitcasts.com/

== First Time: Cloning the sinatra repo

  cd where/you/keep/your/projects
  git clone git://github.com/bmizerany/sinatra.git
  cd sinatra
  git submodule update --init
  cd path/to/your_project
  ln -s ../sinatra/
  
== Updating your existing Sinatra clone
  
  cd where/you/keep/sinatra
  git pull
  git submodule update --init
  
== Using edge Sinatra in your app

at the top of your sinatra_app.rb file:

  $:.unshift File.dirname(__FILE__) + '/sinatra/lib'
  require 'sinatra'

  get '/about' do
    "I'm running on Version " + Sinatra::Version.combined
  end

== Contributing a patch

There are several ways to do this. Probably the easiest (and preferred) way is to
fork Sinatra on GitHub (http://github.com/bmizerany/sinatra), push your changes
to your Sinatra repo, and then send Blake Mizerany (bmizerany on GitHub) a pull request.

You can also create a patch file and attach it to a feature request or bug fix on the issue
tracker (see below) or send it to the mailing list (see Community section).

== Issue tracking & feature requests

http://sinatra.lighthouseapp.com/

= Community

== Mailing List

http://groups.google.com/group/sinatrarb

If you have a problem or question, please make sure to include all the relevant
information in your mail, like the Sinatra version you're using, what version of Ruby
you have, and so on.

== IRC Channel

You can find us on the Freenode network in the channel #sinatra (irc://chat.freenode.net/#sinatra)

There's usually someone online at any given time, but since we cannot pay attention to the
channel all the time, so please stick around for a while after asking a question.