Modx send email

We were having problem on our website to send email to our staffs.  The web content is servered by Modx and design and developed by a design house.

After looking into the code, it's found that the default email server was not able to send email to our gmail domain email address.  To server the problem, we use another server on sendgrid.


$mail = new PHPMailer();
$mail->From = 'xxx@xxx-xxx.com';
$mail->FromName = 'some name';
$mail->IsSMTP();
$mail->Host = "www.sendgrid.net";
$mail->Port = 3535;
$mail->SMTPDebug = 1;
$mail->SMTPAuth = true;
...

webmin - Web-based interface for system administration for Linux

http://www.webmin.com/

Ruby - Get a class object from name string

eval('your_class_name')

MS Domain controller share files

Rails - access to root/base module/class

Use ::

e.g. ::Calculator

Rails - Rails console useful tips

[8] pry(main)> app.class
=> ActionDispatch::Integration::Session
[9] pry(main)> app.users_path
=> "/users"
[10] pry(main)> app.root_url
=> "http://www.example.com/"
[11] pry(main)> app.new_user_session_path
=> "/user/sign_in"
[14] pry(main)> app.get '/users'
=> 302
[15] pry(main)> app.response.body.length
=> 101

app.get
app.post
app.put
app.delete

[13] pry(main)> helper.class
=> ActionView::Base

[17] pry(main)> "".methods.grep(/case/).sort
=> ["camelcase",
 "casecmp",
 "downcase",
 "downcase!",
 "swapcase",
 "swapcase!",
 "titlecase",
 "upcase",
 "upcase!"]

[18] pry(main)> all_users = User.all; nil
  User Load (1.6ms)  SELECT "users".* FROM "users"
=> nil

[22] pry(main)> y User.first
  User Load (1.0ms)  SELECT "users".* FROM "users" LIMIT 1
--- !ruby/ActiveRecord:User
attributes:
  name: ghealey
  encrypted_password: $2a$10$rhYT.gbYbOanyudJa19cluQ1XlFFh4ntC8IhH5p.xxa9ddrtSx4.O
  created_at: 2010-11-26 05:51:01.32897
  failed_attempts: "0"
  updated_at: 2012-11-14 06:20:53.496916
  last_sign_in_ip:
  email: ghealey@example.com
=> nil


References:
http://37signals.com/svn/posts/3176-three-quick-rails-console-tips
http://samuelmullen.com/2012/07/getting-more-out-of-the-rails-console/
http://paulsturgess.co.uk/articles/39-debugging-tips-in-ruby-on-rails
http://www.therailworld.com/posts/35-Interacting-with-Controllers-via-the-app-object

Gmail alias

http://support.google.com/mail/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=12096

Gmail doesn't offer traditional aliases, but you can receive messages sent to your.username+any.alias@gmail.com. For example, messages sent to jane.doe+notes@gmail.com are delivered to jane.doe@gmail.com.

Jenkins, Rails - Run rails test directly on Jenkins workspace

$ cd /var/lib/jenkins/jobs/[Jenkins_project_name]/workspace/
$ RAILS_ENV=test bundle exec rake test:units

Rails - Trace and solve rake db migration error

    We were doing a simple db migration in which a new column, say 'valuation_date', is added to an existing model 'Record'.  In the migration, the valuation_date column is added.  Then a code segment is executed to assign value to it.  Like this:

  def self.up
    add_column :records, :valuation_date, :date

    Record.find_each do |record|
      record.valuation_date = ...
      record.save
    end
  end

    The deployment (rake db:migrate) works fine on development environment.  However, when doing cap deploy:migrations, it returns error:

==  AddValutionDateToRecords: migrating ===================================
-- add_column(:records, :valuation_date, :date)
   -> 0.0014s
rake aborted!
An error has occurred, this and all later migrations canceled:

undefined method `column' for nil:NilClass

Tasks: TOP => db:migrate
(See full trace by running task with --trace)


    Turns out this only happens when running the migration under rails' staging environment.  Then tried execute the db migration and trace the issue.
$ bundle exec rake RAILS_ENV=staging db:migrate --trace

undefined method `relation' for nil:NilClass
/Users/laileo/.rvm/gems/ree-1.8.7-2011.03@merlot/gems/arel-2.0.10/lib/arel/crud.rb:12:in `update'
/Users/laileo/.rvm/gems/ree-1.8.7-2011.03@merlot/gems/activerecord-3.0.11/lib/active_record/persistence.rb:266:in `update'
/Users/laileo/.rvm/gems/ree-1.8.7-2011.03@merlot/gems/activerecord-3.0.11/lib/active_record/locking/optimistic.rb:77:in `update'
/Users/laileo/.rvm/gems/ree-1.8.7-2011.03@merlot/gems/activerecord-3.0.11/lib/active_record/attribute_methods/dirty.rb:68:in `update'
/Users/laileo/.rvm/gems/ree-1.8.7-2011.03@merlot/gems/activerecord-3.0.11/lib/active_record/timestamp.rb:60:in `update'
...
    To look deeper, set a "debugger" breakpoint before record.save.  Then another 2 breakpoints on crud.rb:12 .../active_record/base.rb:1718.  It was found that record.class.arel_table['valuation_date'] is nil that caused the failure.

Investigation #1
    Check if the Arel using different version in different environments.  In debug mode, $ p Arel::VERSION show they are the same.

Investigation #2
    Compare the difference between dev and staging:
$ rake about
$ rake RAILS_ENV=staging about

    The results show that ActionDispatch::Static middleware is not include in staging.  Tried to comment out the config.serve_static_asserts = false in config/environments/production.rb.  Then the middleware ActionDispatch::Static is added.  But it doesn't help.

Investigation #3
    Change the settings on config/environments/production.rb to those in config/environments/development.rb one by one to locate what makes the difference.  Luckily, the first one hits.  It is the config.cache_classes=true on staging environment that leaded to the error.  The model column was cached and not reloaded after add_column.  So, the assign and save of a record resulted in error.  To solve the problem, after add_column, do a reset_column_information.  i.e.

  def self.up
    add_column :records, :valuation_date, :date

    Record.reset_column_information

    Record.find_each do |record|
      record.valuation_date = ...
      record.save
    end
  end

Problem solved!

rails - rake about

When "rake" fails on certain RAILS_ENV, check and compare the rake
information by rake about.

$ rake RAILS_ENV=staging about
$ rake about

Rails - A closer look on ActonRecord and ARel

http://erniemiller.org/2010/03/28/advanced-activerecord-3-queries-with-arel/
http://erniemiller.org/2010/05/11/activerecord-relation-vs-arel/
http://www.slideshare.net/flah00/activerecord-arel
http://api.rubyonrails.org/classes/ActiveRecord/QueryMethods.html

A few notes on selenium IDE usage

- For time consuming actions:
click - some location
waitForPageToLoad
pause

- For page waits for ajax response:
click - ajax button
pause
... next action ...

- Use selenium locator for target:
id=...
css=...

Management practice - Set deadline for every task

No matter which development methodology is using, whether it is Scrum or Kanban, it's a good idea to set a date on which a task should be finished. For Scrum, within a sprint, 2 weeks or 3 weeks, certain PBIs/stories have to be completed. This can push or encourage developers to aim tasks for the deadline. Otherwise, developers may try to refactor and refactor for a better solution or test again and again. There's no perfect solution. Just set a date and let stories be closed on that date. Then start new tasks on next cycle.

Another advantage is to provide a product road map for product owner to foresee and expect certain features to be done on certain milestones.

Selenium IDE - select element by CSS

select element by css:
<tr>
    <td>verifyElementPresent</td>
    <td>css=span#direct-debit-scheme-menu-title</td>
    <td></td>
</tr>

Data Erasure - Darik's Boot And Nuke

http://www.dban.org/

Keywords: Harddisk, Earse, Clean, Hard, disk, disc

Create a bootable USB stick on Mac

references:
http://www.ubuntu.com/download/help/create-a-usb-stick-on-mac-osx
http://renevanbelzen.wordpress.com/2009/10/14/creating-a-bootable-usb-stick-with-mac-os-x-in-10-easy-steps/

  $ diskutil list
  $ diskutil unmountDisk /dev/diskN (where diskN is the USB drive)
  $ mv ...../clonezilla-live-1.2.12-67-amd64.iso ..../clonezilla-live-1.2.12-67-amd64.dmg
  $ su
  $ dd if=/Users/myself/isoDisks/clonezilla-live-1.2.12-67-amd64.dmg of=/dev/disk5 bs=1m
  $ diskutil list
  $ diskutil eject /dev/disk5

Rails - before_filter method parameter

before_filter { |c| c.some_method(some_parameter) }

Clone hard disk

http://www.techmixer.com/free-clone-hard-disk-software-to-clone-your-hard-disk-data/

Tried Clonezilla, works great!

Rescue failed desktop/server/laptop

SystemResuceCD

Keyword: System, Failure, Windows, Linux, Boot, CD

See also for Scrum

Kanban - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kanban_(development)
Lean - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lean_software_development

Rails note - Builds single purpose controller method/route

Just a simple note:

In Rails application, it would be better for every controller
method/route serves single purpose, instead of multiple purposes and
switch by parameter options.

This approach provides a cleaner view for system maintenance and auditing.

SSH tunnel vs VPN in short

Both: Encrypted data for secure connection.

VPN: Operating System level security
SSH: Application level security

VPN: Share intranet resource such as file shares, network printer, etc
SSH: Setup per individual resources.

VPN: Easy for client usage. More to do on server setup.
SSH: Not easy for novice user. Easy for SSH server setup.

VPN: More secure for business use. You can force all network traffic on
system through VPN.
SSH: Good for single purpose connection. e.g. remote access intranet
server.