= Ruport 0.3.8, The "Officially no longer vaporware" Release =
0. The story behind the madness.
Yeah, Ruport 0.3.0 came and went with no release.
And months later, so did Ruport 0.3.5
What can I say, something about the code just didn't feel right.
But I feel pretty good about this one, so I figured I'd share. 
1. What is Ruby Reports (Ruport) ?
Ruby Reports is a software library that aims to make the task of reporting
less tedious and painful. It provides tools for data acquisition, database
interaction, formatting, and parsing/munging. Designed to be extensible,
it is possible to use Ruport for quick specific tasks as well as to build
robust reporting applications.
2. What's new in this release.
Seeing as I've nearly made 0.3.8 100% incompatible with 0.2.x, I
suppose almost everything. I've redesigned the system in a big way,
and some of the notable things are:
- The new config system
- The removal of the ruport executable / directory structure
- The extraction of a standalone Query model (no longer jammed in Report)
- Some tools to build printable documents
- An interesting way of formatting text via filters
- A parser chainsaw tool I stole from JEG2
- The fact that Ruport technically has no external dependencies that
are required.
This is a developmental release. On top of that, Ruport still hasn't
left alpha status.
This should read: Exercise extreme fear. Also, keep an eye out for ghosts.
3. Addictions
The way ruport works now is if you have it's optional software
installed, it will let you use it. If you do not, it simply will
ignore those features. (Or in a couple unknown places die a horrible
death. If you find them, let me know)
These features will spring into existence as you install the new libs,
so you are free to add them in down the line if you'd like too. No
ruport re-install needed
The optional dependencies are:
Ruby/DBI :
Needed for Query and it's functionality to work
FasterCSV :
When installed, everything will work the same, just faster
RedCloth :
Needed for the red_cloth filter to work
PDF::Writer :
Needed if you'd like to attempt to use the experimental printable
documents stuff.
All but Ruby/DBI can be installed via RubyGems.
4. Installation
I've split Ruport into two gems. One that will automatically load all
your dependencies and one that does not grab any dependencies.
The default package, ruport is the one that will grab everything for you.
  sudo gem install ruport
The low fat version of ruport will give you a standalone library.
  sudo gem install lean-ruport
And for you people who *insist* on being old school, setup.rb works again.
You might want to grab the code off of SVN:
  svn co svn://rubyforge.org/var/svn/ruport/tags/ruport-0.3.8
or you can grab it from here:
  http://rubyforge.org/frs/?group_id=856&release_id=4359
After you've got Ruport installed, run
  ruby -rubygems -e "require 'ruport'; puts Ruport::VERSION"
to double check everything went well.
5. Resources
In the next few days, I'll be releasing a demo package. I'll announce
that on the Ruport mailing list and it'll be available on RubyForge.
Until then, please join the mailing list! It's the best way to get
answers and it helps lighten the burden on me to provide documentation
(the archive serves as a nice first stop for info). Plus, I feel
loved when I see the subscriber list climb!
  http://lists.stonecode.org/listinfo.cgi/ruport-stonecode.org
Feel free to browse the archive and ask any questions you might have
or make suggestions. I am actively looking for contributors, testers,
and other wandering vagabonds.
Aside from that, I've upgraded the API documentation from abhorrent to
'for the most part, pretty okay, expect for places when it's not so
good at all'
Meaning you might find something useful at http://ruport.rubyforge.org
And to stay on top of Ruport news, you can always skulk around my blog:
6. Coming Soon!
- Full Documentation
- An example package
- A cleanup and stabilization release (pending YOUR feedback! )
7. Acknowledgements:
This release would not have been possible without the contributions of
ne'er do wells such as Francis Hwang and James Edward Gray II
Also, new_haven.rb and NYC.rb provided some great suggestions and feedback.
And mad props to the Ruport mailing list. I'm kind of impressed that
ruport actually has a mailing list with active contributors, but these
guys have happily run units for me and made suggestions and beared
with me on a release that's 2 months over due. You guys rock.