Ruby in Steel Feedback & Feature Requests

[m4dc4p]

I have been trying out  the Developer Trial edition for the last couple of days, and so far I'm pretty happy. The IntelliSense is impressive, and it's great to have Ruby syntax highlighting in Visual Studio. I have some feedback and feature requests, however:

 1) Creating a VS project to hold existing Ruby files is a pain. I have my Ruby libraries organized around standard Gem distribution patterns. That is, there is a Rakefile at the top and usually three directories: bin/, lib/, and test/. In order to put these files into Visual Studio, and maintain my folder structure, I have to create each folder individually and then import the files carefully into each new folder.

2) When creating a Ruby project file to hold an existing project, I have to be very careful in what directory I specify and the name I give the project. Generally, I want the project file to live in the existing top-level directory of my existing Ruby library. In order to make that happen, I have to specify the location of my Ruby project file as the directory one level *above* the top-level directory, and i have to give the project the same name as the top-level directory.

Example: If my library is named FooLib, and it lives at c:\MyRubyCode\FooLib, then when creating the FooLib Visual Studio project I need to set its location as C:\MyRubyCode and make sure to name it "FooLib".

3) The splash screen that "fades in" when a Ruby project is opened or a Ruby file is dragged onto Visual Studio for the first time can be slow and surprising. It can be especially slow over a Remote Desktop connection. Please consider removing it (or at least advertising it goes away with registration!)

4) Many of my ruby scripts require arguments - it would be nice if the 'Ruby Run' command could take arguments. It would be even nicer if I could create custom command buttons that run a ruby script with a fixed set of arguments. The 'external tools' menu can do this, of course, but you have to set everything up by hand.

Overall I'm happy with the product - addressing the issues above would just make it even better!

Justin

[Huw Collingbourne]

Thanks for the feedback. Dermot will reply to some of the points later.

In the meantime, on the Project importing issue. Can you confirm whether you are using the Project Importer or the Project Converter?

The Importer makes a copy of all the files and directories beneath a selected root and creates a Solution in a new target directory. All the existing files and folders should be automatically copied into the Solution Explorer (you can selectively omit hidden files and files with specific extensions by setting options in the Import Project dialog).

The Converter leaves your original project where it is (no copy is made) and creates a Solution in its top-level directory. Again, you may selectively omit files. There shouldn't be any need to create folders by hand. The Importer or Converter should take care of all that.

The Importer is found by selecting: File, New, Import
The Converter is found by selecting: File, Open, Convert

best wishes
Huw

p.s. I can confirm the registered edition has no splash screen. 

[Dermot]

I think the Converter should do what you want. Visual Studio is a bit peculiar about the way does things like Create New Project or Solution, etc, but that's the way it works.

On the ruby arguments to a Command Window ... that was on my ToDo list for months. I eventually took it off because I reckoned no-one would want it. It's a good idea so I've put it back on

The buttons sounds like it should be a PowerToy ... it's probably possible to do it via an-addin. I don't think its too difficult to do, though. I'll have a think about it.

Dermot

[m4dc4p]

The Importer is found by selecting: File, New, Import
The Converter is found by selecting: File, Open, Convert

I don't see those selections. I have VS 2005 Professional with C# and C++ installed. Maybe they are not included in my edition?

Thanks for the replies!

Justin

[Huw Collingbourne]

The Importer is found by selecting: File, New, Import
The Converter is found by selecting: File, Open, Convert

I don't see those selections. I have VS 2005 Professional with C# and C++ installed. Maybe they are not included in my edition?

Thanks for the replies!

Justin

Those options aren't available on the File menu? Hmm... they should be. Can you try loading or creating a Ruby In Steel project first so that Ruby In Steel is the active lnguage package. Then try selecting the File menu, then New then Import; or File then Open, then Convert.

I'd be grateful if you would let us know if those options are available when Ruby In Steel is loaded. If they still aren't available, we'll need to dig a little deeper to find out where they went... (it couldn't be that the menu system was customized at some time? Take a look in Tools, Customize to see if the menu options are there). In principle, the Fle, Open, Convert option should always be there and the File, New, Import option should at least be there when Ruby In Steel is the active language.

[m4dc4p]

Those options aren't available on the File menu? Hmm... they should be. Can you try loading or creating a Ruby In Steel project first so that Ruby In Steel is the active lnguage package. Then try selecting the File menu, then New then Import; or File then Open, then Convert.

I'd be grateful if you would let us know if those options are available when Ruby In Steel is loaded. If they still aren't available, we'll need to dig a little deeper to find out where they went... (it couldn't be that the menu system was customized at some time? Take a look in Tools, Customize to see if the menu options are there). In principle, the Fle, Open, Convert option should always be there and the File, New, Import option should at least be there when Ruby In Steel is the active language.

With a Ruby in Steel project open, none of those options exist. I haven't extensively customized the menus, and those options don't show up in the Tools | Customize menu under any of File, Project, or Ruby.

When I select File | New | Project, there is a "Import Project" selection under the Ruby project types. It's not the best because it wants to create a project in a new directory, so I had to rename my existing project to "project_X" and then import into the project directory name I wanted. After deleting some Rails specific folders that I didn't need, I was all set.

According to Help | About, I have Ruby in Steel Developer Edition 01.00.0181 installed.

[Huw Collingbourne]

When I select File | New | Project, there is a "Import Project" selection under the Ruby project types. It's not the best because it wants to create a project in a new directory, so I had to rename my existing project to "project_X" and then import into the project directory name I wanted. After deleting some Rails specific folders that I didn't need, I was all set.

Yes, the Import Project item is the one I meant. I'm not sure I understand the lack of File/Open/Convert, however, as the Conversion Assistant is a standard feature of Visual Studio. It includes Java and VB converters by default and we have simply added a Ruby project converter. By that I mean that Ruby In Steel does not cause the Conversion Assistant to be available in the Visual Studio environment. It should be there anyway. I don't know of any obvious reason why it isn't there in your installation. I may have to Google for some clues... 

[Huw Collingbourne]

I've just checked my VS customize options (Tools/Customize). The Convert... option is shown for the File menu.

This is the Visual Studio help entry:

The Convert dialog box allows you to select a conversion tool to create a new project from an old one, such as creating a Visual C# project from a Visual J++ or Java-language project, or creating a Visual Basic 2005 project from a Visual Basic 6 project.

Note 
The dialog boxes and menu commands you see might differ from those described in Help depending on your active settings or edition. To change your settings, choose Import and Export Settings on the Tools menu. For more information, see Visual Studio Settings.
 
Opening the Convert Dialog Box
To access the Convert dialog box
Point to Open on the File menu, and click

According to this, the only way that Convert might not be there is if the settings have been changed. Though I'm not sure that their advice of restoring by using the Import/Export settings is likely to give you the results you want (you might overwrite other settings in the process). The option should really be available to you in the Customize dialog however...

[jen]

Hi guys,

Trying out Developer Trial edition on Win XP Pro x64, I found the slightly weird effect that it installs OK, but any time I fire up Visual Studio, the Ruby menu doesn't appear until after the splash screen appears, and the splash screen simply doesn't appear unless I do Help/About from within Visual Studio (the rest of the environment continues to run fine, but without any Ruby plugin stuff).

Once I do select Help/About, the RiS splash screen fades in first, then the normal About dialog, and only then does the Ruby menu appear in the menu bar  (if you don't do this, it doesn't seem to get through startup, to the point where if you close Visual Studio without doing Help/About, it even complains that the Ruby plugin failed to load).

I read in another post  that the splash screen is not present in the purchased, registered copy.  Anyone know for sure if that removes the symptoms I describe here on x64 ?  Would like to be confident ahead of time that a purchase won't trip up my Visual Studio install ...

Thanks
 - Jen

[Huw Collingbourne]

There is no splash screen in the registered edition 

[Dermot]

There are debugger problems with x64 right now.

I;m working on getting a fix.

Dermot