Creating a New Rails Application

This guide assumes that a fully functional installation of CMS Fiona exists. Please also take account of the installation requirements.

  1. Install the application and the components on which it depends

    First, create a new Rails application: 
    $ rails new myProject --skip-bundle
    Change into the newly created directory of your project: 
    $ cd myProject
    Add the required Rails Connector gems to the Gemfile: 
    gem 'mysql2'
gem 'infopark_rails_connector', '~> x.y.z'
gem 'infopark_fiona_connector', '~> x.y.z'
    Then install the additional software: 
    $ bundle install
    Up to version 6.8.0: Copy your license file, license.xml, to the config directory.

  2. Prepare the CMS Fiona database

    For the Rails Connector to access the data of the Content Manager (CM), its database needs to be changed to MySQL and optimized for the Rails Connector. To do so, change into the directory of the instance and execute the following command: 
    # The preconfigured instance name is "default".
$ cd FIONA/instance/instanceName
$ ./bin/CM -railsify
    Since the Rails Connector only reads from the CM database, we recommend creating a separate read-only database user for the application. You can create one using the following commands: 
    $ mysql -u root -p
Enter password:
Welcome to the MySQL monitor.  Commands end with ; or \g.
Your MySQL connection id is 18
Server version: 5.0.41-community MySQL Community Edition (GPL)
Type 'help;' or '\h' for help. Type '\c' to clear the buffer.
mysql> grant read on fiona_cm.* to fiona_cm_ro@localhost identified by 'fiona_cm_ro';

  3. Create additional databases for the Rails application

    Create additional databases for the live data by means of the following commands. You require such a database for every environment (development, production, preview, test). 
    $ mysql -u root -p
Enter password:
Welcome to the MySQL monitor.  Commands end with ; or \g.
Your MySQL connection id is 18
Server version: 5.0.41-community MySQL Community Edition (GPL)
Type 'help;' or '\h' for help. Type '\c' to clear the buffer.
mysql> create database myProject_development;
Query OK, 1 row affected (0.00 sec)
mysql> grant all on myProject_development.* to fiona@localhost identified by 'fiona';
Query OK, 1 row affected (0.00 sec)
mysql> create database myProject_production;
Query OK, 1 row affected (0.00 sec)
mysql> grant all on myProject_production.* to fiona@localhost identified by 'fiona';
Query OK, 1 row affected (0.00 sec)
mysql> create database myProject_preview;
Query OK, 1 row affected (0.00 sec)
mysql> grant all on myProject_preview.* to fiona@localhost identified by 'fiona';
Query OK, 1 row affected (0.00 sec)
mysql> create database myProject_test;
Query OK, 1 row affected (0.00 sec)
mysql> grant all on myProject_test.* to fiona@localhost identified by 'fiona';
Query OK, 1 row affected (0.00 sec)
mysql> exit
Bye

  4. Adjust the database connection

    In conjunction with the Rails Connector, your Rails application uses two databases each of which needs to be configured in every environment:
    • One database for the CMS content (cms)
    • One database for the application specific content (development, production, preview or test)
    The configuration for the database connection is located in the config/database.yml file. Adjust its content according to your database setup. 
    cms:
   adapter: mysql2
   database: fiona_cm
   username: fiona_cm_ro
   password: fiona_cm_ro
   encoding: utf8
   host: YOUR_CMS_DATABASE_SERVER
development:
   adapter: mysql2
   database: myProject_development
   username: fiona
   password: fiona
   encoding: utf8
   host: YOUR_RAILS_DATABASE_SERVER
test:
   adapter: mysql2
   database: myProject_test
   username: fiona
   password: fiona
   encoding: utf8
   host: YOUR_RAILS_DATABASE_SERVER
production:
   adapter: mysql2
   database: myProject_production
   username: fiona
   password: fiona
   encoding: utf8
   host: YOUR_RAILS_DATABASE_SERVER
preview:
   adapter: mysql2
   database: myProject_preview
   username: fiona
   password: fiona
   encoding: utf8
   host: YOUR_RAILS_DATABASE_SERVER

  5. Finish the Rails Connector installation

    Change back into the main directory of the rails application and trigger the automatic installation of the Rails Connector: 
    $ cd myProject
$ rails generate rails_connector:install
      create  config/initializers/rails_connector.rb
      create  app/models/obj.rb
      create  config/local/configuration.rb
      append  app/assets/javascripts/application.js
        gsub  app/assets/stylesheets/application.css
      remove  public/index.html
      remove  app/assets/images/rails.png
        gsub  app/views/layouts/application.html.erb
        gsub  app/views/layouts/application.html.erb
    This generator creates the additional files required or provided by the Rails Connector.

  6. Adjust CMS instance configuration

    Unless you are using the default instance, specify the instance name the Rails Connector should use in the config/initializer/rails_connector.rb file: 
    RailsConnector::Configuration.instance_name = "instanceName"

  7. Set up preview environment

    To have the CMS preview delivered by the Rails Connector, you require a suitable Rails environment. We recommend to derive it from the production environment by making a copy of the production.rb file: 
    $ cp config/environments/production.rb config/environments/preview.rb
     To change the Rails Connector mode, add this line to the copied environment file: 
    RailsConnector::Configuration.mode = "editor"

  8. Test the application

    Start the application server in the development environment using the following command: 
    $ rails s
=> Booting WEBrick
=> Rails 3.2.19 application starting in development on http://0.0.0.0:3000 Call with -d to detach
=> Ctrl-C to shutdown server
    Test the opeability of the application by requesting the start page at http://localhost:3000/.

  9. Integrate the Rails preview

    Integrate the Rails preview into the CMS GUI.