Rails Query Analyzer Plugin (now also on Oracle and Postgresql!)

A few days ago I discovered the query_analyzer plugin in a comment on the last article of The Rails Way series. It allows you to have the plans for the queries used in your application directly in the log file and this is invaluable when trying to to optimize the database for you shiny new rails application.

On the downside it was only for mysql and my oracle developer half though that it was what I needed, so here it is (with Postgresql support as well).

Use it but be warned that I don’t want to fork this plugin, so I haven’t prepared a proper svn access to it and I hope that my additions might be integrated by Bob Silva in his own codebase (I’ll post a comment in his blog since I can’t find any other way to contact him).

Download the modified plugin

Removing modality

I read today the humanized blog and I find it’s (very) true what Aza Raskin wrote in Monolog Boxes and Transparent Messages: the best interace should aim to minimize the interruptions in what the user is doing.

When you are “in the zone”, especially when writing or designinig or programming, any interruption in your flow of tought is dangerous and makes you to lose that special status of sharp, focused attention that fosters creativity. Modality in an application interface causes these breaks the main activity and should be reduced when/where possible.

I know that there are many points that can be made better in TheTyper to make the writing esperience even more seamless, and I’ll look into ways to reduce the modal interactions that can interrupt the writer. The first task is to embed the spell check into the main editor, enabling some kind of check-as-you-type mode of operation.

I don’t see many more sources of modal interactions that can be removed from the interface, since all the rest of the popups are for operations which aren’t usually done while writing (e.g. changing the fonts or exporting the document) but nevertheless I’ll need to think a bit more on these issues.

The Typer

I like to use “simple” text editors rather then word processors to write, I use TextMate on OSX and TextPad on Windows, adopting the OPML editor when i need to support and track structure. But when I saw Writeroom about a month ago I was struck with its beautiful design and essential feature set, I thought that it would have been great if such a kind of editor existed on the web (I was constantly using gmail drafts to jot down notes while not in my office). I have seen that many other around me are doing pretty much the same so having some time this month I did go on and build it myself.

I was planning to start development after I completed Tiber (a web feed reader I’m working on) but then the spreading of the “no frills editor” meme around the blogsphere (see here, here and here) made me change my plans and I suspended Tiber, while working on this writer tool.

Two weeks after The Typer was ready (have a look at the screencast!).

I have put it online with the hope to to show the work and to receive some feedback. If anyone wants to test it, just register your email on the site and i’ll send you an invitation (I’m doing this just to be able to handle the load gradually on the server, I’ll open up the service in september).

SeeSaws20Toolbox…

Some very interesting rails tools fro the seesaw crew.