Rails 2.1 brings a new level of stability and power to this acclaimed web development framework, but keeping track of its numerous moving parts is still a chore. Rails Pocket Reference offers you a painless alternative to hunting for resources online, with brief yet thorough explanations of the most frequently used methods and structures supported by Rails 2.1, along with key concepts you need to work through the framework's most tangled corners.

Organized to help you quickly find what you need, this book will not only get you up to speed on how Rails works, it also provides a handy reference you can use anywhere, anytime. Inside, you'll find essential information on how to:

• Install Rails with RubyGems
• Build, compile, and process files with Rake
• Test Rails applications using assertions and fixtures
• Use Rails with Ajax
• Connect objects to a database using ActiveRecord
• Make web requests with the Action Controller framework
• Use REST web service APIs

And much more. Save yourself hours of frustration: If you use Rails daily and just want the facts -- fast -- this is your book.

Eric Berry is a Ruby on Rails developer for AtTask (http: //www.attask.com), a leader in web-based project management software. He is also the creator of Solid Core Blogger, a Rails version 2.0 blogger application, which can be seen in action at solidcoresolutions.com. Before coming to AtTask, he was a co-founder of ShareAPhoto.com which was acquired by Hewlett-Packard in 2006.

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  Preface
  
  


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  Chapter 1: Rails Pocket Reference