From: "Michael W. Ryder" <_mwryder@...>
Date: 2006-07-08T09:50:14+09:00
Subject: Re: Using HTML FORMS on a client machine only from Ruby

noone wrote:
>> It sounds like what you need is Ruby on Rails.  See rubyonrails.org for
>> more information
> 
> Michael, thanks for taking the time to respond.    I'm not sure if Rails is
> what I want.   I'll go look though...
> 
> OK, I looked.   I don't think Rails is what I am looking for:  "Rails is a
> full-stack framework for developing database-backed web applications.."
> I'm not doing this, and I'm not writing a web application.   I'm writing a
> client application - a ruby script, that calls a browser (to handle the
> widgets/interface stuff), allows the user to fill out FORM data, and after
> SUBMIT is presses, the data gets passed back to the Ruby scripts that called
> the browser.   And, it needs to work on Windows and a MAC.
> 
> In a picture:
> 
> 1) Ruby script gets kicked off.
> 2) Ruby script calls browser (IE, Nav, Opera, Firefox, whatever - I don't
> care), passing the name of an .html file with embedded javascript and form
> tags.
> 3) User interfaces with page, and clicks SUBMIT
> 4) Form data is then passed back to the Ruby script that called the browser.
> 5) Ruby parses data, processes data, etc... maybe even repeats to #2 above
> 
> #4 seems to be the issue here.  (well, MY issue!)  Perhaps #4 should read:
> 
> 4) Form data is then "put somewhere" where the Ruby script can go get it.
> 

I suggested Rails as it simplifies the programming for the browser 
interface.  You could store the data entered in step 2 in MySQL when the 
user presses the submit button in step 3 for later processing in step 5. 
  This can be done synchronously in the controller where it displays a 
page, gets data, processes the data and returns to step 3.  In step 3 
you could have a button on the page to end the session.


> I'm OK with synchronous processing here too.  It actually makes my coding
> easier to be synchronous.   I don't need the sophistication of an
> asynchronous interface.
> 
> That's it!  That's all I want.   (Picture Steve Martin, AKA Navin Johnson,
> from "The Jerk", in his bathrobe, holding his little umbrella...)
> 
> Todd.
> 
>