Ruby on Rails / Rails Project Structure
Working with Assets and Public Directory
In this tutorial, we will explore the 'public' directory and the asset pipeline in a Rails project. We will look at how to manage static files and compiled assets, and how they ar…
Section overview
5 resourcesExplains the directory structure and organization of a typical Rails project.
Working with Assets and Public Directory in Rails
1. Introduction
This tutorial aims to guide you through the process of managing static files and compiled assets in a Rails project. We will take a deep dive into the 'public' directory and the asset pipeline, fully understanding their roles and how they function.
By the end of this tutorial, you will:
- Understand the structure and purpose of the 'public' directory in a Rails project.
- Learn how to work with compiled assets within the asset pipeline.
- Have a clear understanding of how static files are served to users.
Prerequisites: Basic knowledge of Ruby on Rails, HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. Familiarity with command line interface.
2. Step-by-Step Guide
The 'public' directory in a Rails project is where static files that don't change often are stored. This includes error pages, favicon, and other assets.
The asset pipeline is a feature in Rails that concatenates and minifies or compresses JavaScript and CSS assets. It also allows coding assets via a higher-level language such as CoffeeScript, Sass, and ERB.
Working with the Public Directory
- Navigate to the 'public' directory in your Rails project. You should see several files including
404.html,422.html,500.html, and possiblyfavicon.ico. - You can customize these files to suit the needs of your application. For example, you might want to design a custom
404.htmlerror page.
Working with the Asset Pipeline
- In your Rails project, navigate to the
app/assetsdirectory. This is where your JavaScript, CSS, and image assets are stored. - Use the
//= requiredirective to include assets in your application. For example, to include a JavaScript file, you would write//= require example.jsin yourapplication.jsfile.
3. Code Examples
Let's take a look at some examples.
Customizing the 404 Error Page
In your public/404.html file, you could have something like this:
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<title>Page Not Found</title>
</head>
<body>
<h1>Oops!</h1>
<p>We couldn't find the page you were looking for.</p>
</body>
</html>
Adding a JavaScript Asset
In your app/assets/javascripts directory, create a file called example.js and add some JavaScript code:
// This is an example JavaScript file
console.log("Hello, world!");
Then, in your application.js file, require the example.js file:
//= require example
The expected output when you load your application in the browser and open the console is: Hello, world!.
4. Summary
We've covered how to work with the 'public' directory and the asset pipeline in a Rails project. You've learned how to manage static files and compiled assets, and how these assets are served to the user.
To continue learning, you could explore more about the asset pipeline, such as how to precompile assets for production. You could also learn more about managing static files in Rails.
5. Practice Exercises
- Exercise 1: Customize the
500.htmlerror page in your Rails project. -
Solution: Open the
public/500.htmlfile and add your custom HTML code. -
Exercise 2: Add a CSS asset to your Rails project and include it in your application.
-
Solution: In the
app/assets/stylesheetsdirectory, create astyles.cssfile. Add some CSS rules. Then, in yourapplication.cssfile, use the*= require stylesdirective to include thestyles.cssfile. -
Exercise 3: Precompile your assets for production.
- Solution: Run the command
rake assets:precompilein your terminal to precompile your assets. This generates files in thepublic/assetsdirectory.
Remember, practice makes perfect! Happy coding!
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