core tools, libraries & scripts

Gems:

• hexutils - hex(adecimal) encode/decode helpers 'n' more for String, NilClass, Kernel and more
• bytes - bits 'n' bytes made easy/easier incl. new buffer helper / wrapper class to help with the string byte vs character dichotomy
• enums - safe enum / enumeration types - a set of symbolic keys bound to unique integer numbers (incl. bit flags option)
• safebool - safe bool / boolean type adds Bool(), to_b, parse_bool / to_bool, bool?, false?, true?, true.is_a?(Bool)==true, false.is_a?(Bool)==true, and more

• logutils - (lite) logger library
• logutils-activerecord - addon for database support (e.g. LogDb, log model etc.)
• logutils-admin - addon for browsing logs in database (e.g. LogDb, log model etc.)

• props - manage settings hierarchies (commandline, user, home, defaults, etc.)
• props-activerecord - addon for database support (ConfDb, props model, etc.)

• iniparser - read / parse INI configuration, settings and data files into a hash (incl. named subsections)

• alphabets - alphabet (a-z) helpers incl. unaccent, downcase, variants, and more
• date-formats - read / parse and print dates (and times) from around the world
• date-formatter - date formatter by example; auto-builds the strftime format string from an example date

• records - frozen / immutable structs with copy on updates
• safedata - safe (algebraic) union data types with (enumerated) variants

• shell-lite - run / execute shell commands

After programming in ruby for more than 10+ years and sharing / publishing 200+ gems and - yes, believe it or not - getting perma-banned ("cancel-cultured" ) for life twice (thanks to Richard Schneeman, Brandon Weaver, et al) on r/reddit and ruby-talk - see the public service announcement for some background - I (Gerald Bauer) will try to keep a public log on how to make ruby even more fun by collecting ideas (mostly backed-up by "real-world" code & monkey patches) right here on this page. Your questions and comments are more than welcome.

About Strings

Did you know? In rubyland a string (like a character) started as a series of bytes. In the old days a character was a byte (that is, an unsigned integer number in the range of 0-255).

Background Reading

• Programming Bits, Bytes 'n' Blocks Step-by-Step Book / Guide - Let's start with the three types of strings, that is, bytes, string buffers, and frozen strings, ...

That all changed with wide-chars, unicode, & friends. In 2024 does ruby need a (Binary) Buffer class? Why? Why Not? Discuss.

Working with binary and hex(adecimal) strings in ruby

In 2024 the "classic" way to convert a binary string to a hex(adecimal) string and vice versa in ruby is like:

def hex_to_bin( hex )
    raise TypeError, "hex_to_bin - non-hexadecimal digit found in >#{hex}<" unless hex =~ /\A(?:0x)?[0-9a-f]*\z/i

    ## note: assume pack always returns string with BINARY/ASCII-8BIT encoding!!!
    if ['0x', '0X'].include?( hex[0,2] )   ## cut-of leading 0x or 0X if present
      [hex[2..-1]].pack('H*')
    else
      [hex].pack('H*')
    end
end

def bin_to_hex( bin )
  # note: unpack returns string with <Encoding:US-ASCII>
  # convert to default encoding
  hex = bin.unpack('H*').first
  hex.encode!( Encoding::UTF_8 )
  hex
end

The idea is to add new hex helpers to String#hex and Kernel#hex.

That let's you use convert hex strings to bin(ary) string via Kernel#hex e.g.

bin = hex"00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000004d2"

and vice versa via String#hex:

bin.hex
#=> "00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000004d2"

Did you know? In rubyland String#hex like String#oct is already defined and is an alias for String#to_i(16) or String#to_i(8).

"41".to_i(16)          #=> 65
"0x41".to_i(16)        #=> 65 - same as "41" - 0x hex prefix gets skipped
"41".hex          #=> 65
"0x41".hex        #=> 65 - same as "41" - 0x hex prefix gets

The idea for ruby 4.0 is to redefine String#hex to return a hex string. Another idea is to use a different name (and aliases) such as String#hexdump or String#hexdigest and so on. But somehow the matching symetry of String#hex and Kernel#hex and principle of least surprise gets lost. Anyone ever used the old String#hex? Let's find real-world code snippets / references.

Did you know? In rubyland there is no Bool class only TrueClass and FalseClass.

This can easily monkey-patched - why not make it official? See the safebool gem for a start.

Background Reading:

• The State of Bool - Everything You Never Wanted to Know @ Vienna Ruby Meetup, April 2019

Did you know? In rubyland there is no Enum class. The official party line is that there's no class needed, just use symbols :-) or use constants. Example:

Color = [:red, :blue, :green]
Color[0]  #=> :red
Color[1]  #=> :blue

# -or-

Color = {red: 0, blue: 1, green: 2}
Color[:red]   #=> 0
Color[:blue]  #=> 1
Color.keys    #=> [:red, :blue, :green]
Color.values  #=> [0, 1, 2]

# -or-

module Color
  RED   = 0
  BLUE  = 1
  GREEN = 2
end
Color::RED       #=> 0
Color::BLUE      #=> 1
Color.constants  #=> [:RED, :BLUE, :GREEN]
# ...

Why? Why not? Discuss.

See the enums gem for a start on a enum class.

Are there any auto-include quick-starter prelude & prolog gems out there in rubyland?

You could argue ruby is dead and rails is the "All your base are belong to us" prelude & prolog quick-starter gem.

Why not make the concept of auto-include quick-starter prelude & prolog gems more popular and offer more options?

See the cocos (code commons) gem for a start on an (off-rails) auto-include quick-starter prelude & prolog gem.

I have written a seven part series on how the standard csv package in rubyland is broken years ago (some issues got fixed thanks to Sutou Kouhei - you are a hero) but others are "unfixable" evergreens.

See the csvreader gem series for a start.

Background Reading:

• Mining for Gold Using the World's #1 and Most Popular Data Format (Spoiler: It's Comma-Separated Values (CSV))

Did you know? In rubyland everyone rolls their own project scaffolder (bundler, hoe, rails, jekyll, etc.) - why not use a shared project scaffolder open to everyone?

See the quik gem series for a start.

Background Reading:

• The Missing Project Scaffolder for Ruby - Quick Start Your Ruby Gems, Your Sinatra Apps, Your Jekyll Sites 'n' More

To be continued & updated...

Reminder: Your questions and comments are more than welcome.

The scripts are dedicated to the public domain. Use it as you please with no restrictions whatsoever.