candescence.org

Wanting to have easy access to all the documentation for my installed gems i decided to setup a startup item for the gem server that comes with RubyGems.

Come to find out the process is incredibly simple. First create a shell script to star the server:

#!/bin/sh
/usr/bin/gem server --daemon

Then create a plist file describing the startup item:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE plist SYSTEM "file://localhost/System/Library/DTDs/PropertyList.dtd">
<plist version="0.9">
    <dict>
        <key>Description</key>
        <string>Ruby Gems Server</string>
        <key>OrderPreference</key>
        <string>Late</string>
        <key>Provides</key>
        <array>
                <string>RDoc Server</string>
        </array>
    </dict>
</plist>

Create a folder, i named mine GemServer, and name the shell script the same. Put the script and the plist into this directory and copy it to /Library/StartupItems (you may have to create this).

Or, you could just download the startup item and extract it to /Library/StartupItems.

Restart and point your browser to localhost:8808 and peruse your documentation ’til your heart’s content.