ElectionManager
- design/import/export an election
- register as a user
- LA ballots
http://smartvoter.org/2008/11/04/ca/la/ballot.html

INSTALL
# install required gems
# authlogic 
sudo gem install authlogic  # authentication
# PDFlib
get PDFlib, version 8 from www.pdflib.com
cp PDFlib.bundle /Library/Ruby/Site/1.8/ # on OS X leopard

# initialize the database using these custom tasks
# this will generate a site with a single dummy election, and no users
rake db:reset ttv:seed ttv:develop

# start the server

script/server

TESTING
To test, first set up seed database
rake db:test:load # resets the schema
rake ttv:seed RAILS_ENV=test  # loads up our seed data

For this, I had to write custom rake tasks inside lib/db.rake
http://stackoverflow.com/questions/1097845/how-to-prevent-rake-test-to-call-task-dbtestprepare

AJAX
flash messages are automatically passed on as X-JSON headers, use to report errors, etc

INLINE EDITING
Look at doc/InlineEditArchitecture.xls for DOM ids, and general architecture overview
accepts_nested_attributes_for useful pages
  Mentions attr_accessible: 
  http://apidock.com/rails/ActiveRecord/NestedAttributes/ClassMethods/accepts_nested_attributes_for
  Nested attributes in "new" http://stream.btucker.org/post/93887650/accepts-nested-attributes-for-fields-for
  Original patch discussion http://weblog.rubyonrails.org/2009/1/26/nested-model-forms
  Ryan's scraps, http://ryandaigle.com/articles/2008/7/19/what-s-new-in-edge-rails-nested-models

TEMPLATES
use flash[notice][error] for notifications. In js, use ttv.notice/ttv.error
added startAjax, stopAjax, spinner in matching colors http://www.ajaxload.info/
Use prefetching for election to speed up database

AUTHENTICATION
Using authlogic gem, instructions at 
http://media.railscasts.com/videos/160_authlogic.mov
http://github.com/binarylogic/authlogic_example/tree/master
http://www.binarylogic.com/2008/11/16/tutorial-reset-passwords-with-authlogic/

EMAIL
Sending mail with gmail requires ruby >=1.8.7, does not work on Leopard default

DATA MODELING
- I was unable to use autogenerated ids for yaml, too much data

Started tracking sessions inside database.

FORMS
The best documentation is PragProg Mastering Rails Forms video
Problem: error messages, default schema is not flexible, ugly layouts
Solution: roll your own error solution that displays off the error object
ApplicationHelper::render_error_messages is a error_messages_for replacemet
The html is defined in:
single field: config/initializers/change_field_error.rb ActionView::Base.field_error_proc override
error summary _error_messages.html.erb: used by the helper to display the error.

ROUTING
Extending REST model, priceless: http://railscasts.com/episodes/35-custom-rest-actions
Routing: http://guides.rubyonrails.org/routing.html

DEBUGGING 
script/console
- execute url_for like this: app.url_for

TODO
- db transaction logging and viewing

OTHER CODE THAT MIGHT BE USEFUL
auto_resize_options[:onKeyPress] = "if (this.scrollHeight > this.clientHeight && !window.opera)\nthis.rows += 1;"

http://hobocentral.net/about/ Interesting framework, provides fine-grained permissions, authentication, logging
mislav-will-paginate is a recommended pagination gem
Drop-down menu for prototype
http://www.hongkiat.com/blog/drop-down-menu-30-free-scripts-to-enhance-header-navigation/
http://corelib.rubyonrails.org/
http://littlegreenfootballs.com/article/30490_Tech_Note-_Flippy_Triangle_Style
http://www.oscaralexander.com/tutorials/how-to-make-sexy-buttons-with-css.html 
/activesupport/lib/activesupport/coreext/hash/conversions Hash::to_xml
Options for generating seed data: http://derekdevries.com/2009/04/13/rails-seed-data/
Doing i10n in database schemas: 
http://java.sun.com/blueprints/guidelines/designing_enterprise_applications_2e/i18n/i18n5.html