Changes in version 1.0.9:

• Fix incorrect integer column values (only affecting some dbf files)
• Add CSV export

Blame automatically userstamps create and update operations if the table has columns named created_by and/or updated_by.

Installation:

ruby script/plugin install git://github.com/infused/blame.git

Blame assumes that you are using restful-authentication and expects User.current_user to return the current user. You can override this behavior by overriding the default userstamp_object method in ActiveRecord::Base or in any of your models. For example, maybe you just want to find the current user bases on the a session variable:

# In environment.rb
class ActiveRecord::Base
  def userstamp_object
    User.find(session[:user_id])
  end
end

Maybe you don’t like the default column names of created_by/updated_by. You can customize the column names globally or for individual models:

# Globally in environment.rb
ActiveRecord::Base.created_userstamp_column = :creator_id

# In a model definition
class Subscription
  self.created_userstamp_column = :creator_id
  self.updated_userstamp_column = :updater_id
end

Automatic userstamping can be turned off by setting record_userstamps:

# Globally in environment.rb
ActiveRecord::Base.record_userstamps = false

# In a model definition
class Subscription
  self.record_userstamps = false
end

Blame also adds a migration helper which will add the created_by and updated_by columns (or your custom column names) to your table:

create_table :widgets do |t|
  t.string :name
  t.timestamps
  t.userstamps
end

Changes in version 1.0.5:

• Strip non-ascii characters from column names

Changes in version 1.0.2:

• Fixes a bug when reading Visual Foxpro memo files.

• New find method
• Full compatibility with the two flavors of memo file
• Two modes of operation:
  • In memory (default): All records are loaded into memory on the first
    request. Records are retrieved from memory for all subsequent requests.
  • File I/O: All records are retrieved from disk on every request
• Improved documentation and more usage examples

Let’s say you have an action called update that you want to protect from anything but a POST. I like to do it like this:

Now if someone tries to hit the update action with anything other than a POST, an error message will be displayed and the response headers will contain (among other things):

In my opinion, this is a better way to go than redirecting to another action because the use of an improper HTTP method is most likely the result of either programmer error or malicious intent. By redirecting to another page, you are making it much easier to for somebody to take your site down with a denial of service attack and if it’s a programming error, you’ll locate the problem faster.

You should also make sure that you have a functional test for this behavior:

def test_invalid_update_methods
  [:get, :put, :delete].each do |http_method|
    send http_method, :update
    assert_response 405
    assert_equal 'POST', @response.headers['Allow']
    assert_equal '405 HTTP POST required', @response.body
  end
end

Additional Resources

• HTTP 1.1: Status Code Definitions
• HTTP 1.1: Header Field Definitions
• Rails API Documentation: Verification

I’ve been freelancing part-time for several years and it was always a nice supplement to my income, but I was afraid of going it alone. What if I couldn’t make enough to support my family? What if I’m not good enough? What if I fail and have to go find a job? What will people think of me then?

Earlier this year I came to the realization that there is no reason to fear failing. Would it be the end of the world if I did fail? Hardly. Would I be embarrassed? Probably. But, embarrassed or not, I can always change gears or find another job. I could even give up and just lay around watching TV all day while my wife supports me.

So, now I’m doing what I really love: Developing the best software that I’m able, using Ruby and Ruby on Rails. I also plan to spend more time working on my own software and writing about Ruby and Ruby on Rails. I’m even considering doing some speaking on the subject.

Are you looking for an experienced Ruby or Ruby on Rails developer? Maybe you’re just looking for some mentoring or guidance on a project? Send me an email at keithm at infused.org. I’m always looking for exciting new projects.

• Support for dBase III style memo files
• Documentation in doc/readme.txt
• Fixed that field lengths were being read as signed integers, when they be should be unsigned
• Fixed skipping over deleted records

Thank you to everybody that submitted patches and test files. Keep ‘em coming.

module ActiveRecord
  class Base

    def update_attributes_if_changed(hash)
      update_attributes(hash) if needs_update?(hash)
    end

    def needs_update?(hash)
      hash.stringify_keys!
      !attributes.dup.delete_if{|k,v| !hash.key?(k) || hash[k] == v}.empty?
    end

    def write_attributes(hash)
      attributes.merge(hash.stringify_keys)
    end

  end
end

I’ve thrown in a method called write_attributes too. It works just like update_attributes, but it doesn’t automatically save the record.

I don’t think its documented in the API docs, but you can specify the value to use by passing in a value parameter:

text_field :book, :title, :value => @book.title.upcase