Author: Ajay Sahoo

File Uploading Through Paperclip in Rails 3.x

Posted on by Ajay Sahoo

Rails3Paperclip is an easy file attachment library for Rails Applications. Attached files are saved to the file system, database or cloud and referenced in the browser by an easily understandable specification.

Here is an example to explain the image attachment for a user profile in an application. This example narrates about saving the image in the file system. However, the images can be saved in S3 bucket [Amazon Simple Storage Service, S3] or database.

Step#1

ImageMagick must be installed in the system and Paperclip must have access to it. ImageMagick is a software suite to create, edit, compose, or convert bitmap images. It can read and write images in a variety of formats. You can download it by visiting the following URL:

http://www.imagemagick.org/script/index.php

Step#2
Include the paperclip gem in your Gemfile

gem "paperclip"

Then run the bundler to install the gem

bundle install

Step#3
Add the fields for the image processing as below in your migration file

class CreateUsers < ActiveRecord::Migration
def change
create_table :users do |t|
t.string :name
t.string :photo_file_name
t.string :photo_content_type
t.string :photo_file_size
t.timestamps
end
end
end

Then run your migration files

rake db:migrate

Step#4

Modify the user model for cropping and save image in your system folder

has_attached_file :photo, :styles => { :small => "150x150>" },
:url => "/system/:attachment/:id/:style/:basename.:extension",
:path => ":rails_root/public/system/:attachment/:id/:style/:basename.:ex

Here you can specify the file path and the image size as per the requirement.

Step#5
Modify your view file to upload an image

<pre class="plain plain">&lt;%= form_for :user,:url =&gt; {:action =&gt; "create"}, :html =&gt; { :multipart =&gt; true } do |f| %&gt;
&lt;%= f.file_field :photo %&gt;
&lt;% end %&gt;</pre>

Step#6
Write the following code to display the image of a user

<%= image_tag @user.photo.url (:small)%>

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Collecting Contacts Using Cardmagic-Contacts Pplug-in in Rails 2.3.8

Posted on by Ajay Sahoo

Rails3

Cardmagic-Contacts is a rails plug-in which provides an interface to fetch contact list information from various email providers including Hotmail, AOL, Gmail, Plaxo, Yahoo and many more.

This example narrates how to extract contact list using Rails 2.3.8 and cardmagic-contacts plug-in

Step#1

  • Download the plug-in by running the command below to store the plug-in in the folder “vendor/plug-ins”

Windows

ruby script/plugin install git://github.com/cardmagic/contacts

Linux

ruby script/plugin http://github.com/cardmagic/contacts

Step#2

  • Write down the following code on the top of the controller class
require 'contacts'

Step#3

  • Pass the required gmail/yahoo/hotmail/AOL login & password from view
<div>
 
<div style="margin-left:25px;" >Invite <img src="../images/yahoo.JPG">Yahoo
 
Friends </div>
 
<div style="margin-left:25px;">Yahoo Email: <input type="text" name="email"
 
id="yahoo_email_id"></div>
<div style="margin-left:25px;">Password:   <input type="password"
 
name="email"  id="yahoo_pwd_id"></div>
 
<div style="margin-left:122px;margin-top:20px;"><input type="button"
 
value="Login" name="btn_submit" id="btn_submit" ></div>
 
</div>

Step#4

  • Create an action to fetch the list of contacts for a specific email id

def grab_contacts #Grab gmail contacts @gmail_contacts=Contacts::Gmail.new(login, password).contacts #or @gmail_contacts=Contacts.new(:gmail, login, password).contacts #Grab yahoo contacts @yahoo_contacts = Contacts::Yahoo.new(login, password).contacts #or @yahoo_contacts = Contacts.new(:yahoo, login, password).contacts #Grab hotmail contacts @hotmail_contacts =Contacts::Hotmail.new(login, password).contacts #or @hotmail_contacts = Contacts.new(:hotmail, login, password).contacts end

Step#5

  • Here is also alternate method to get the contacts by providing  email_id and password
any_mail = Contacts.guess(login, password).contacts

The “Contacts.guess” method will automatically concatenate the entire
address book from each of the successful logins. If the login and password is
working with multiple email accounts then it will grab the contacts from all accounts.

Step#6

  • Display the friends list in your view page
<table>
<th>
<td >Friends Name</td>
<td >Friends Email</td>
</th>
<tr>
<% @gmail_contacts.each do |contact| %>
<td><%=contact[0]%></td>
<td><%=contact[1]%></td>
<% end %>
</tr>
</table>

New Secure Password Hashing API In PHP 5.5

Posted on by Ajay Sahoo

The fifth release of PHP, also known as PHP 5.5, was released in this year with great new features and updated standards. One of the most exciting aspects of the update is the Password Hashing API, which aims to provide a universal standard for password hashing functions.

Hashing is a way to store user passwords so that they are not stored in clear text but can still be verified when users log in again. With this new standard, you can use one function (password_hash) to create an account verification token for your user login system. You use another function (password_verify) to validate a hashed password when users sign up or reset their password again.

From the analysis reports, it is now believed that work has officially begun on PHP 5.5. It will be the first major update since the release of the version earlier this year.

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In recent years major update releases for PHP were very slow, so it will be interesting to see how fast or slow PHP 5.5 will come into the development process.

Among all the updates in PHP 5.5 the most impressive feature is the new Password Hashing API.

According to some recent security attacks, it is now revealed that a vast majority of PHP developers either don’t understand the password hashing or don’t think it’s worth an effort.

The current implementation of password hashing using crypt() is difficult to implement and work with, but by providing a simple API for password hashing, it will become easier for the developers to simply call the API which will take care of all the issues of the PHP development. Eventually, more projects and developers will be able to use secure password hashing.

It makes sense to include this feature, but let’s just hope for an early official release of this version, so that the PHP developers can take advantage of this security innovation.

Conclusion

The Password Hashing API is a great addition to PHP. It simplifies the process of creating and verifying password hashes. The API is compatible with existing methods and can be used for many different systems, which makes it a useful tool for developers. The Password Hashing API is available in PHP 5.5 and newer versions. This new standard aims to unify the password hashing process and create a universal method to create and verify password hashes.

Advantages of Cloud Server over Standard Hosting Server

Posted on by Ajay Sahoo

Cloud DeploymentCloud server is nothing but the virtual server runs on cloud computing environment. Cloud server works like the physical server and can be controlled through an administrator.

It can be called as Virtual Dedicated Servers (VDS). There are various advantages of cloud server over the standard hosting servers.

Scalability:

On Cloud platform you can customize hardware selection appropriate for your application. Eg. Your application may need a small CPU but with high storage or something similar.

But in standard hosting servers you may not have an option to choose what exactly you want, rather forced to choose a pre-defined configuration.

Elasticity:

As cloud is highly scalable you can increase or decrease the hardware needs depending high/low traffic to your application. So, no need to pay unnecessarily for a fixed hosting plan.

Run what you want:

On cloud hosting, you can choose which Operating system you want to run. You can customize the OS as your requirement. But in the standard hosting plan, this option is not available.

Downtime:

On cloud hosting chances of downtime is very remote as multiple servers are used.  In case one server goes down the others takes take care of it and virtually there is no down-time as such. But in standard hosting, if a server goes down then it takes time to resume.

Control Services:

On cloud hosting, you can control your cloud services by the API or from the web-console. This means you can start, stop, increase or decrease any service through API. This feature is not available on the standard hosting server.

Costing:

On standard hosting, we have to choose a plan for ours hosting on a periodical basis (week/ month/year), which is a fixed cost. But in Cloud, just pay as you actually consume. So, cloud-based hosting is cost-effective than a standard hosting server.

Private/Public:

There are several OpenSource apps available to configure the cloud environment. You can set up your own private cloud using cloud apps Cloudstack, Openstack, and Eucalyptus. Also, you can use the public cloud for your application hosting. Eg: AWS, Rackspace, Linode, etc.

KurrentJobs The Awesome iPhone App To Manage Your Job Search

Posted on by Ajay Sahoo

In this era of Industrialization, everyone is planning to build a company of their own and run a successful business.  But they’re going to need skilled employees to get their jobs done.

Job posting websites could really make their search easy, but with all the available job board options, both recruiters and job seekers are getting frustrated in looking for right choices.

Because job seekers can’t find the right choice of companies as per their skills and experience. As well as the recruiters are getting misled by recruiting consultants and end up with the wrong candidates.

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As a solution to above problem, iPhone developers at Andolasoft have designed a simple and secure iPhone app named “kurrentJobs”. It acts as a social media job portal for both recruiters and job seekers. It allows individuals, startups and established companies to post jobs as per their requirements.

Jobs are categorized on the basis of skills, experience and on type of jobs like Full-time, Part-time and Freelance.

With this app recruiters can post or manage their job posts from anywhere and anytime. The app is secure with the integration of social plug-ins like Facebook and Twitter.

The app has provided links to recruiter sites and also integrated LinkedIn to help job seekers to apply for jobs. This app can access network communications and storage content on your mobile devices for easier use.

The app is FREE to download and install on your iPhone, from the Apple App store.

iTune

Within a short span of time, Andolasoft has now become one of the major mobile app development companies in USA

We’ve achieved success in developing iPhone apps as we use agile methodologies, innovative work environment supported by creative iPhone developers. For more information about our iPhone and iPad apps please visit iPhone application development page.

How to use Amazon S3 Bucket with Paperclip to store images in Rails3

Posted on by Ajay Sahoo

Amazon_S3_Online_Service-resized200-150x150

“S3 Bucket” is Amazon Simple Storage Service – a “highly durable and available store” and can be used to reliably store graphical and other applications contents such as media files, static assets and user uploads. It allows you to off-load your entire storage infrastructure. This feature facilitates better scalability, reliability, and speed than just storing files on the file-system.

It is an online storage web service offered by Amazon Web Services and provides storage through web services interfaces (REST, SOAP etc.)

Here is an example on how to use Amazon S3 with paperclip in Ruby on Rails applications.

Step#1

  • In rails 3.x

Install aws-s3 gem by adding in Gemfile

gem 'aws-s3'

And run

Run “bundle install”

Step#2

To get AWS S3 bucket ‘Access Key ID’ and ‘Secret Access Key’ go to the “http://aws.amazon.com/s3”

Create s3.yml file under config directory and enter your Amazon S3 credentials

development:
bucket: bucket-dev-name
access_key_id: xxxxx
secret_access_key: xxxxx
test:
bucket: bucket-test-name
access_key_id: xxxxx
secret_access_key: xxxxx
production:
bucket: bucket-prod-name
access_key_id: xxxxx
secret_access_key: xxxxx

Step#3

Open your model file that would hold the attachment and modify it as follows

###Paperclip
has_attached_file :photo,:styles =>{ :thumb => "100x100", :medium => "200x200", :large => "600x400" },:storage => :s3,
:s3_credentials => "#{RAILS_ROOT}/config/s3.yml",:path => ":attachment/:id/:style.:extension",:bucket => 'yourbucket'

Step#4

In view, to display the image