Wicked Cool Ruby Scripts : Useful Scripts That Solve Difficult Problems

Wicked Cool Ruby Scripts is a compendium of scripts that will make your life easier by saving you time and solving problems. If you find yourself wasting effort and time on a task a trained monkey could do, it's time for Ruby to come to the rescue. Wicked Cool Ruby Scripts provides carefully selected Ruby scripts that are immediately useful. Learn how to streamline administrative tasks like renaming files, disabling processes, and changing permissions. After you get your feet wet creating basic scripts, author Steve Pugh will show you how to create powerful Web crawlers, security scripts, full-fledged libraries and applications, and much more. With each script you'll get the raw code followed by an explanation of how it really works, as well as instructions for how to run the script and suggestions for customizing it. Wicked Cool Ruby Scripts will save you from the tedium of repetitive tasks and give you back the time it would take to write scripts from scratch. Cover ......Page 1 FOREWORD......Page 2 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS......Page 3 INTRODUCTION......Page 4 Wicked Cool Ruby Scripts......Page 5 You Need Ruby Basics......Page 6 Documentation......Page 7 Organization and Approach......Page 8 The Website......Page 10 1. GENERAL PURPOSE UTILITIES......Page 11 Check for Changed Files......Page 12 Check for Changed Files......Page 13 The Code......Page 14 Running the Code......Page 16 The Results......Page 17 How It Works......Page 18 Hacking the Script......Page 19 Encrypt a File......Page 20 Encrypt a File......Page 21 The Code......Page 22 Running the Code......Page 23 The Results......Page 24 How It Works......Page 25 Hacking the Script......Page 26 Decrypt a File......Page 27 Decrypt a File......Page 28 The Code......Page 29 Running the Code......Page 30 The Results......Page 31 How It Works......Page 32 File Splitting......Page 33 File Splitting......Page 34 The Code......Page 35 Running the Code......Page 36 The Results......Page 37 How It Works......Page 38 Hacking the Script......Page 39 File Joining......Page 40 File Joining......Page 41 The Code......Page 42 Running the Code......Page 43 The Results......Page 44 How It Works......Page 45 Hacking the Script......Page 46 Windows Process Viewer......Page 47 Windows Process Viewer......Page 48 The Code......Page 49 Running the Code......Page 50 The Results......Page 51 How It Works......Page 52 Hacking the Script......Page 53 File Compressor......Page 54 File Compressor......Page 55 The Code......Page 56 Running the Code......Page 57 The Results......Page 58 How It Works......Page 59 File Decompression......Page 60 File Decompression......Page 61 The Code......Page 62 Running the Code......Page 63 The Results......Page 64 How It Works......Page 65 Mortgage Calculator......Page 66 Mortgage Calculator......Page 67 The Code......Page 68 Running the Code......Page 69 The Results......Page 70 How It Works......Page 71 Hacking the Script......Page 72 2. WEBSITE SCRIPTING......Page 73 Web Page Link Validator......Page 74 Web Page Link Validator......Page 75 The Code......Page 76 Running the Code......Page 77 The Results......Page 78 How It Works......Page 79 Hacking the Script......Page 80 Orphan File Checker......Page 81 Orphan File Checker......Page 82 The Code......Page 83 Running the Script......Page 84 The Results......Page 85 How It Works......Page 86 Form Generator......Page 87 Form Generator......Page 88 The Code......Page 89 Running the Code......Page 90 The Results......Page 91 How It Works......Page 92 Hacking the Script......Page 93 RSS Parsing......Page 94 RSS Parsing......Page 95 The Code......Page 96 Running the Code......Page 97 The Results......Page 98 How It Works......Page 99 Hacking the Script......Page 100 Stock Exchange Grep......Page 101 Stock Exchange Grep......Page 102 The Code......Page 103 Running the Code......Page 104 The Results......Page 105 How It Works......Page 106 Hacking the Script......Page 107 IP Address Generation......Page 108 IP Address Generation......Page 109 The Code......Page 110 Running the Code......Page 111 The Results......Page 112 How It Works......Page 113 Subnet Calculator......Page 114 Subnet Calculator......Page 115 The Code......Page 116 Running the Code......Page 117 The Results......Page 118 How It Works......Page 119 Hacking the Script......Page 120 3. LI(U)NIX SYSTEM ADMINISTRATION......Page 121 Fixing Bad Filenames......Page 122 Fixing Bad Filenames......Page 123 The Code......Page 124 Running the Code......Page 125 The Results......Page 126 How It Works......Page 127 Hacking the Script......Page 128 Adding a User......Page 129 Adding a User......Page 130 The Code......Page 131 Running the Code......Page 132 The Results......Page 133 How It Works......Page 134 Hacking the Script......Page 135 Modifying a User......Page 136 Modifying a User......Page 137 The Code......Page 138 Running the Code......Page 140 The Results......Page 141 How It Works......Page 142 Hacking the Script......Page 143 Killing a Stuck Process......Page 144 Killing a Stuck Process......Page 145 The Code......Page 146 Running the Code......Page 147 The Results......Page 148 How It Works......Page 149 Validating Symlinks......Page 151 Validating Symlinks......Page 152 The Code......Page 153 Running the Code......Page 154 The Results......Page 155 How It Works......Page 156 Hacking the Script......Page 157 4. PICTURE UTILITIES......Page 158 Mass Editing......Page 159 Mass Editing......Page 160 The Code......Page 161 Running the Code......Page 162 The Results......Page 163 How It Works......Page 164 Image Information Extraction......Page 165 Image Information Extraction......Page 166 The Code......Page 167 Running the Code......Page 168 The Results......Page 169 How It Works......Page 170 Hacking the Script......Page 171 Creating a Thumbnail......Page 172 Creating a Thumbnail......Page 173 The Code......Page 174 Running the Code......Page 175 The Results......Page 176 How It Works......Page 177 Hacking the Script......Page 178 Resize a Picture......Page 179 Resize a Picture......Page 180 The Code......Page 181 Running the Code......Page 182 The Results......Page 183 How It Works......Page 184 Hacking the Script......Page 185 Adding a Watermark to Pictures......Page 186 Adding a Watermark to Pictures......Page 187 The Code......Page 188 Running the Code......Page 189 The Results......Page 190 How It Works......Page 191 Convert to Black and White......Page 192 Convert to Black and White......Page 193 The Code......Page 194 Running the Code......Page 195 The Results......Page 196 How It Works......Page 197 Creating a Photo Gallery......Page 198 Creating a Photo Gallery......Page 199 The Code......Page 200 Running the Code......Page 202 Results......Page 203 How It Works......Page 204 Hacking the Script......Page 206 5. GAMES AND LEARNING TOOLS......Page 207 Sudoku Solver......Page 208 Sudoku Solver......Page 209 The Code......Page 210 Running the Code......Page 212 The Results......Page 213 How It Works......Page 214 Flash Cards......Page 215 Flash Cards......Page 216 The Code......Page 217 Running the Code......Page 218 The Results......Page 219 How It Works......Page 220 Hacking the Script......Page 221 Number-Guessing Game......Page 222 Number-Guessing Game......Page 223 The Code......Page 224 Running the Code......Page 225 The Results......Page 226 How It Works......Page 227 Rock, Paper, Scissors......Page 228 Rock, Paper, Scissors......Page 229 The Code......Page 230 Running the Code......Page 231 The Results......Page 232 How It Works......Page 233 Hacking the Script......Page 234 Word Scramble......Page 235 Word Scramble......Page 236 The Code......Page 237 Running the Code......Page 238 The Results......Page 239 How It Works......Page 240 Hangman......Page 241 Hangman......Page 242 The Code......Page 243 Running the Code......Page 244 The Results......Page 245 How It Works......Page 246 Pig......Page 247 Pig......Page 248 The Code......Page 249 Running the Code......Page 251 The Results......Page 252 How It Works......Page 254 Hacking the Script......Page 255 6. STRING UTILITIES......Page 256 PDF Generator......Page 257 PDF Generator......Page 258 The Code......Page 259 Running the Code......Page 261 The Results......Page 262 How It Works......Page 263 Word Frequency......Page 264 Word Frequency......Page 265 The Code......Page 266 Running the Code......Page 267 The Results......Page 268 How It Works......Page 269 Hacking the Script......Page 270 Comma-Separated Value Parser......Page 271 Comma-Separated Value Parser......Page 272 The Code......Page 273 Running the Code......Page 274 The Results......Page 275 How It Works......Page 276 Hacking the Script......Page 277 CSV to XML......Page 278 CSV to XML......Page 279 The Code......Page 280 Running the Code......Page 281 The Results......Page 282 How It Works......Page 283 Hacking the Script......Page 284 Ruby Grep......Page 285 Ruby Grep......Page 286 The Code......Page 287 Running the Code......Page 288 The Results......Page 289 How It Works......Page 290 Hacking the Script......Page 291 Password Check......Page 292 Password Check......Page 293 The Code......Page 294 Running the Code......Page 295 The Results......Page 296 How It Works......Page 297 Hacking the Script......Page 299 7. SERVERS AND SCRAPERS......Page 300 Define......Page 301 Define......Page 302 The Code......Page 303 Running the Code......Page 304 The Results......Page 305 How It Works......Page 306 Hacking the Script......Page 307 Automated SMS......Page 308 Automated SMS......Page 309 The Code......Page 310 Running the Code......Page 311 The Results......Page 312 How It Works......Page 313 Link Scrape......Page 314 Link Scrape......Page 315 The Code......Page 316 Running the Code......Page 317 The Results......Page 318 How It Works......Page 321 Hacking the Script......Page 322 Image Scrape......Page 323 Image Scrape......Page 324 The Code......Page 325 Running the Code......Page 326 The Results......Page 327 How It Works......Page 328 Hacking the Script......Page 329 Scraper......Page 330 Scraper......Page 331 The Code......Page 332 Running the Code......Page 333 The Results......Page 334 How It Works......Page 335 Encrypted Client......Page 336 Encrypted Client......Page 337 The Code......Page 338 Running the Code......Page 339 The Results......Page 340 How It Works......Page 341 Encrypted Server......Page 342 Encrypted Server......Page 343 The Code......Page 344 Running the Code......Page 345 The Results......Page 346 How It Works......Page 347 8. ARGUMENTS AND DOCUMENTATION......Page 348 File Security......Page 349 File Security......Page 350 The Code......Page 351 Running the Code......Page 353 The Results......Page 354 How It Works......Page 355 Web Scraper......Page 356 Web Scraper......Page 357 The Code......Page 358 Running the Code......Page 360 The Results......Page 361 How It Works......Page 362 Photo Utilities Are you spending valuable time on work a well-trained monkey could do? If so, Wicked Cool Ruby Scripts will teach you how to automate repetitive tasks using Ruby, one of the most powerful and easy-to-use programming languages around.Wicked Cool Ruby Scripts provides 58 scripts that offer quick solutions to problems like system administration, manipulating images, and managing a website. After getting your feet wet creating simple scripts to automate tasks like file compression and decompression, you'll learn how to create powerful web crawlers, security scripts, and full-fledged libraries and applications, as well as how to:–Rename files, disable processes, change permissions, and modify users–Manipulate strings, encrypt files, and sort efficiently–Validate web links, check for orphan files, and generate forms–Mass edit photos, extract image information, and create thumbnails–Parse CSV files and scrape links, images, and pages from the WebAnd as a nod to our security friends, you'll even learn how to use Ruby to write Metasploit exploits.For each script you get the code, a discussion of how it works, and tips on how to customize it to solve real-world problems. By the time you're finished, we think you'll agree that Ruby is a wicked cool way to get things done.