Tuesday, August 28, 2007

Using Perl's WWW::Myspace

For getting information on your Myspace page and other people's, posting comments and updates to your profile, or anything inbox related (and some other stuff)... WWW::Myspace is a good module to use.

In this article, I'll show some examples of how to use some of the functionality of this module. Pretty handy... especially if you just want the information without dealing with the horrible interface that Myspace has (and people's themes and playing songs by default and other annoyances).

Get your friends



Get a list of all your friends, maybe handy, maybe not... this is just an example so it doesn't have to be useful! :)

Here is how one would get all their friends and what times they last logged in:

#!/opt/local/bin/perl
#
use strict;
use warnings;

use WWW::Myspace;

$| = 1;

my $username = $ARGV[0];
my $password = $ARGV[1];
my @friends;

print "Username: $username\tPassword: $password\n";

print "Logging in... ";
my $myspace = WWW::Myspace->new( $username, $password );
print "done\n";
if ( ! $myspace->logged_in ) {
print "Unable to login: " . $myspace->error . "\n";
}

# Get list of your friends
print "Getting friends... ";
@friends = $myspace->get_friends();
print "done\n";

# Present list all nice-like
foreach my $friend (@friends) {
eval {
print "friend id.: $friend\n";

my $friend_name = $myspace->friend_user_name($friend);
print "name......: $friend_name\n";

my $last_login = $myspace->last_login_ymd($friend);
print "last login: $last_login\n\n";
};
if ($@) {
# Usually an error when can't view profile due to "maintenance", yet WWW::Myspace breaks
print "Unable to complete request: $@\n\n";
}
}


Get your inbox



This is pretty simple, get all messages from your inbox:

#!/opt/local/bin/perl
#
use strict;
use warnings;

use WWW::Myspace;

$| = 1;

my $username = $ARGV[0];
my $password = $ARGV[1];
my @friends;

print "Username: $username\tPassword: $password\n";

print "Logging in... ";
my $myspace = WWW::Myspace->new( $username, $password );
print "done\n";
if ( ! $myspace->logged_in ) {
print "Unable to login: " . $myspace->error . "\n";
}


print "Getting inbox...\n";
my $inbox = $myspace->inbox;

foreach my $message (@{$inbox}) {
print "Sender: " . $message->{sender} . "\n";
print "Status: " . $message->{status} . "\n";
print "messageID: " . $message->{message_id} . "\n";
print "Subject: " . $message->{subject} . "\n\n";

# Note, to read each message do
#my $message_hashref = $myspace->read_message($message->{message_id});
#print "From: $message_hashref->{'from'}\n"; # Friend ID of sender
#print "Date: $message_hashref->{'date'}\n"; # Date (as formatted on Myspace)
#print "Subject: $message_hashref->{'subject'}\n";
#print "Body: $message_hashref->{'body'}\n\n"; # Message body
}


Note that it will print out all messages you have. The message details part of the example is commented out due to being very spammy (you can uncomment it out if you wish).

Get the last 5 comments of all your friends



This just gets your friends list like before, then goes over each to get their comments on their Myspace page. It reports back the friend name, id and time they posted the comment.


#!/opt/local/bin/perl
#
use strict;
use warnings;

use WWW::Myspace;

$| = 1;

my $username = $ARGV[0];
my $password = $ARGV[1];
my @friends;

print "Username: $username\tPassword: $password\n";

print "Logging in... ";
my $myspace = WWW::Myspace->new( $username, $password );
print "done\n";
if ( ! $myspace->logged_in ) {
print "Unable to login: " . $myspace->error . "\n";
}

# Get list of your friends
print "Getting friends... ";
@friends = $myspace->get_friends();
print "done\n";

my %friend_mapping; # key = id, value = name

# Present list all nice-like
foreach my $friend (@friends) {
eval {
print "friend id.: $friend\n";

my $friend_name = $myspace->friend_user_name($friend);
print "name......: $friend_name\n";
$friend_mapping{$friend} = $friend_name;

print "Getting last 5 comments.\n";

my $comments = $myspace->get_comments($friend);
my $max_comments_display = 5;
do {
my $comment = shift @{$comments};
my $friend_name_comment = "";
if (exists $friend_mapping{$comment->{sender}}) {
$friend_name_comment = $friend_mapping{$comment->{sender}};
} else {
eval { $friend_name_comment = $myspace->friend_user_name($comment->{sender})};
if ($friend_name_comment) {
$friend_mapping{$comment->{sender}} = $friend_name_comment;
}
}
if ($friend_name_comment) {
print "- $friend_name_comment ($comment->{sender}) @ $comment->{date}\n";
} else {
print "- N/A ($comment->{sender}) @ $comment->{date}\n";
}
#print "$comment->{comment}\n"; # The actual comment
$max_comments_display--;
} while ($max_comments_display > 0);


};
if ($@) {
print "Unable to complete request: $@\n";
}
}


Pretty simple, eh? I hope you explore the CPAN page yourself for more functionality, as I've only covered a small part.

A handy little module!

Friday, August 24, 2007

Using Perl's Test::Simple and Test::More

Testing is simple. You are basically seeing if something is either true or false, usually comparing two values. That's pretty much it. It's that way on purpose.

There are two main modules for doing this: Test::More and Test::Simple.

I'd like to show you how to use them to write your own tests.

Test::Simple



Test::Simple is perfect in naming as it is simple and runs tests. Well, actually it only runs one test multiple times, if you choose to run it multiple times. It only has one subroutine, 'ok()', which will either evaluate an expression to true or false (pass or fail). Here is an example of using Test::Simple.

Here is the simple class we'll be testing (that just tests multiples [of 5 and 30]):

#!/usr/bin/perl
#
use strict;
use warnings;


package MultipleAsker;

sub new {
my ($class) = shift;
my $attrs = {};
bless ($attrs, $class);
return ($attrs);
}

# See if $what is a multiple of $number, return 1/0
sub _ofNumber {
my ($self, $number, $what) = @_;
my $ret = 0;
$ret = 1 if (($what % $number) == 0);
return ($ret);
}

sub ofFive {
my ($self, $what) = @_;
return ($self->_ofNumber(5, $what));
}

sub ofThirty {
my ($self, $what) = @_;
return ($self->_ofNumber(30, $what));
}

1;


See, the class is pretty simple. It just has two subroutines available: ofFive and ofThirty (_ofNumber is implied private).

Now we just need to test those two functions (and if new worked):

#!/usr/bin/perl
#
use strict;
use warnings;

use Test::Simple tests => 7;

use MultipleAsker;

my $ma = MultipleAsker->new();

# Test of new()
ok (defined($ma) && ref $ma eq 'MultipleAsker', 'new worked');

# Test ofFive()
ok ($ma->ofFive(24) == 0, '24 is not multiple of 5');
ok ($ma->ofFive(25) == 1, '25 is multiple of 5');
ok ($ma->ofFive(5) == 1, '5 is multiple of 5');

# Test ofThirty()
ok ($ma->ofThirty(34) == 0, '34 is not multiple of 30');
ok ($ma->ofThirty(120) == 1, '120 is multiple of 30');
ok ($ma->ofThirty(30) == 1, '30 is multiple of 30');


As you can see, only making use of the one function: ok. Notice 'test => 7'. This is how you tell Test::Simple how many tests you're going to run. You should know this when writing your code. Note that the second arguement (the test description) is purely optional.

Here is the output of the tests:

1..7
ok 1 - new worked
ok 2 - 24 is not multiple of 5
ok 3 - 25 is multiple of 5
ok 4 - 5 is multiple of 5
ok 5 - 34 is not multiple of 30
ok 6 - 120 is multiple of 30
ok 7 - 30 is multiple of 30


Pretty simple eh?! Yeah it is.
So, that seems pretty good, what more does Test::More offer me... other than 'more'?!

It offers you some more methods for testing, that are basically ok() under-the-hood, yet make your tests... erm more 'simple'. Yeah, it seems ironic, yet it isn't. It provides your methods of testing things so your first argument to ok() isn't huge for more complex things. It also helps with clarity.

Test::More



Let's go right into some code. Here is an example of using Test:More on the MultipleAsker class also:

#!/usr/bin/perl
#
use strict;
use warnings;

use Test::More tests => 8;

use_ok( 'MultipleAsker' ); # Easy to test importing the module

my $ma = MultipleAsker->new();

## Test of new()
# Much cleaner! (third argument is what to call the object)
isa_ok ($ma, 'MultipleAsker', 'ma');

## Test ofFive()
# Compare values as seperate arguments
is ($ma->ofFive(24), 0, '24 is not multiple of 5');
is ($ma->ofFive(25), 1, '25 is multiple of 5');

# Opposite of is, checks that first and second argument are not the same
isnt ($ma->ofFive(5), 0, '5 is multiple of 5');

## Test ofThirty()

# Show how to compare explicitly
cmp_ok ($ma->ofThirty(34), '==', 0, '34 is not multiple of 30');

# Finish the rest out, can still use ok()
ok ($ma->ofThirty(120) == 1, '120 is multiple of 30');
ok ($ma->ofThirty(30) == 1, '30 is multiple of 30');


Ask you can tell, there are several new methods available to use. Much more handy! Much cleaner and shorter way to test things that are not just an evaluation. While 'ok' works, it is not as clear as some of the names of the other methods... you can figure out what is being tested and in what way much easier with Test::More.

Oh! I almost forgot, here is the output:
1..8
ok 1 - use MultipleAsker;
ok 2 - ma isa MultipleAsker
ok 3 - 24 is not multiple of 5
ok 4 - 25 is multiple of 5
ok 5 - 5 is multiple of 5
ok 6 - 34 is not multiple of 30
ok 7 - 120 is multiple of 30
ok 8 - 30 is multiple of 30


As you can see, using these modules is very simple. Testing is meant to be very simple and test simple things only. While I'm not sure why anyone would want to use Test::Simple, it is available to you. Test::More is much more standard. All that really matters is that you do write tests.

Be sure to read the CPAN documentation for each module for a more complete description of all it's abilities.

Hope you increase your testing percentages if they aren't maxed out already!

Wednesday, August 22, 2007

Using Perl's Net::SSH::Perl

One important point of Net::SSH::Perl => no humans required. Yeah, a BIG win.

It's purpose is to provide all the SSH client functionality, yet purely in Perl where the ssh binary is not required. The big feature is that you don't have to type the password manually or setup passwordless ssh trust relationships (usually a bad idea unless you absolutely trust each side).

So, it provides an easy way to ssh into machines and run commands (and get stdout, stderr, and exit code), providing the password and username in the code.

With SSH 1, each command you run opens up a new session (it's how SSH1 works, yeah it's poo now-a-days), and with SSH 2 each command runs in the same session.

One tip you'll need to know about is that you should install the Math::BigInt::GMP module. Why?! Because it is a fast BigInt implementation that will speed up SSH 2 sessions from like 30 seconds to 1 second.

The awesomeness (if not obvious now): logging into machines via ssh and doing stuff in a perl program.

At work, I use it to monitor and help manage machines, where I keep tabs on many things from software versions (and what needs updated), disk usage, sanity checks, ensuring backups... and an added feature of making sure that passwords are still the same and sshd is working. Much easier to manage all the activity from one place instead of having many machines do the same thing via crontab. You could do many of these things via crontab on all servers, people have for years and years. I prefer to do it from one place where changes and new things are much more scalable and reliable.

Here is an example of logging into a remote machine and checking it's diskspace, reporting back if it was over a certian amount:

#!/opt/local/bin/perl
#
# checkDiskspace.pl: See if any partitions are greater than a percentage and notify
#
use strict;
use warnings;

use Net::SSH::Perl;
use Math::BigInt::GMP; # Don't forget this!

$| = 1;

my $alert_percent = 75;
my $server = 'niroze.net';
my $username = 'christopher';
my $password = '*******************************';


# However you wanna notify yourself (like email)
sub alert_notify {
my $message = shift;
print "STUB: $message\n";
}

# Log into server
print "Creating ssh object... ";
my $ssh = Net::SSH::Perl->new($server); # Error check this
print "done\n";
print "Logging into server... ";
$ssh->login($username, $password); # Error check this
print "done\n";

# Check df
my $command = "df";
print "Running command ($command)... ";
my ($stdout, $stderr, $exit) = $ssh->cmd($command); # Check output
print "done\n";

# Find percentage
foreach my $df_line (split(/\n/, $stdout)) {
# If disk space usage percent > $alert_percent, notify
if ($df_line =~ /\s+(\d+)%\s+(\/.*)/ && $1 >= $alert_percent) {
alert_notify ("[$server] device $2 at $1 percent!");
}
}


This is just a simple example, yet you see how easy it is to do. Here is the output of the script:
Creating ssh object... done
Logging into server... done
Running command (df)... done
STUB: [niroze.net] device / at 75 percent!



Hopefully this handy module will help you streamline your tasks that require managing multiple servers that are sshd enabled. It has helped me greatly at my job.

It's nice to have programs do work and report back to you. Let the program do some of your work, especially the stuff where it is a lot of the same thing!

Note: there is more the module can do, so be sure to check the Net::SSH::Perl CPAN page for more details.

Tuesday, August 21, 2007

Using Perl's Mac::Glue

Are you like me? Did you get a Mac and are in awe of the integration of everything? It was one of the reasons I got a Mac, yet I didn't look into the details of how everything was integrated. How do applications "talk" to one another?

No, it was not Appletalk (yet that seems fitting word-wise). It's Applescript.

I may be a Mac newbie, yet I don't like "programming" Applescript at all. It should be natural, yet it isn't. It's actually very frustrating, yet that's just part of learning it.

To quote devintosh.com FAQ (freenode IRC network #macdev channel):
I have a problem with my AppleScript, can you help?
Probably not. AppleScript is a crappy language that makes it hard to do almost anything. If your AppleScript code is more than a few lines then you're already going beyond what it's good at. Learn a real language: it's harder to start with and it takes time to learn, but in the end you'll be solving more problems and solving them faster


Ok, I got that. Am past it... I still don't like it (thanks to mikeash on #macdev for enlightening me... before I went too far down the wrong rabbit hole).

I want a real programming language to be able to do the same things Applescript does. Isn't there a way?! Yes! There is Mac::Glue, which gives you all the same functionality of Applescript except you can now do it in Perl. Hrm... sounds like a bunch of bologna? Yeah, I agree... till I poked around into learning it. I'd like to share with you what I found.

First, install Mac::Glue. It's in MacPorts (p5-mac-glue) or you can install it via CPAN. Either way doesn't really matter, but in these examples I'll be using the MacPorts version (it's Perl is newer). Be sure to read the README file in the tarball. You will need to create the "glue" for programs you want to work with, ex: "sudo /opt/local/bin/gluemac /Applications/iTunes.app". No big deal, just be sure to do it for programs you plan on working with.

Second, note this isn't a full coverage of all that Mac::Glue does. This just shows how to port over some Applescript and "talk" to other programs via their bindings.

Now, to my favorite part. Some code! [sorry, it's not that impressive -ed.]

In the first example, lets port over something easy like "/Library/Scripts/Basics/AppleScript Help.scpt". It opens up 'Help Viewer.app', activates it, and then searches looking for 'AppleScript'.

Here is the AppleScript code:

tell application "Help Viewer"
activate
search looking for "AppleScript"
end tell


Here is the Perl code:

#!/opt/local/bin/perl
#
# Glue requirement:
# * sudo /opt/local/bin/gluemac "/System/Library/CoreServices/Help Viewer.app"
# Port of:
# * "/Library/Scripts/Basics/AppleScript Help.scpt"
#
use strict;
use warnings;

use Mac::Glue;


my $glue = new Mac::Glue 'Help_Viewer';
$glue->search(looking_for => 'AppleScript');


You may be wondering how I knew what subroutine to call. It's in the glue code pod file. Since I'm using MacPorts in these examples, I did this: "perldoc /opt/local/lib/perl5/vendor_perl/5.8.8/Mac/Glue/glues/Help_Viewer.pod". Be sure to look in that directory for help on how to use the "glue".

How about a simple adding someone to your address book?

#!/opt/local/bin/perl
#
# Glue requirement:
# * sudo /opt/local/bin/gluemac "/Applications/Address Book.app"
# Explanation and original code examples from Chris Nandor:
# * http://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.macosx/2004/04/msg7285.html
#
use strict;
use warnings;

use Mac::Glue ':all'; # all for 'location'

my $glue = new Mac::Glue 'Address_Book';

my $me = $glue->make (new => 'person',
with_properties => {
'first_name' => 'Steve',
'last_name' => 'Jobs'
}
);
$glue->make (new => 'email', at => location(end => $me->prop('emails')),
with_properties => {
'value' => 'fakestevejobs@gmail.com',
'label' => 'home'
}
);


I'm still a Mac::Glue and AppleScript newbie. There is much to learn, yet all the power that is desired is available at your finger tips. I hope this was communicated enough to educate you that it does exist and you can use it in place of AppleScript for use in real programs.

Much thanks to Chris Nandor and everyone else that may have been involved in Mac::Glue.

I still have much to learn, yet at least we both know that we can do what we need in Perl... at least in this respect. In any place you can use AppleScript, try using Mac::Glue instead. I recommend getting the FastScripts utility if you can, it's like the regular AppleScripts menu, yet much more flexible as it can run any kind of program and have custom keybindings (very handy).

To be fair, before I get complaints in my inbox, the ability to do the same thing exists for Ruby, Objective-C and Python available at http://appscript.sourceforge.net/. I played with it in Python and Ruby and it seems to work very well. So, give it a try if you're not a Perl coder.

Do you have any cool Mac::Glue examples? If so, post them and happy hacking!

Monday, August 20, 2007

Using Perl's Test::Class for Organized Unit Testing

I'm not going to go over the merits of unit testing. I've heard it all and discussed both sides till blue in the face. If you're unsure about unit testing, then please google it or ask some programmers you know about it.

What I do want to discuss is how one does unit testing in Perl. It's pretty simple, fortunately.

In the world of testing classes in CPAN, there are a few that you'll actually use: Test::Simple, Test::More, Test::Harness, and Test::Class. There are basically two schools of testing that is either Test::Harness based or Test::Class based. Test::Harness school runs a series of scripts which have tests in them top down, usually with a plan at the top of the file (plan is the number of tests you are planning on running). Test::Class manages itself, using Test::Class for tests and to run them (Test::Class allows you to have a plan per Test::Class subclass subroutine... I'll explain in a bit).

Today, I'm not going to talk about Test::Harness or Test::Simple. I will some other time.

I will talk about Test::More and Test::Class. They're pretty awesome and really really simple to use. Don't believe me?! Let's jump into some code.

In this example set, we're going to be dealing with a Hotdog Vendor class. It's purpose is to provide a way to know about a Hotdog Vendor and what's in his cart (east coast style). The Hotdog Vendor class only does a few things: takes the vendors name and how many hotdogs he plans on selling. We're assuming in this example a hotdog is a bun with a frank in it with mustard and kraut (yeah, sounds awesome).

Here's the Hotdog Vendor class (download here):

#
# HotdogVendor.pm: Provide a Hotdog Vendor
#
package HotdogVendor;

use strict;
use warnings;

sub new {
my ($class, $name, $how_many) = @_;
my $attrs = {
franks => $how_many,
buns => $how_many,
mustard => $how_many,
kraut => $how_many,
name => $name
};
bless ($attrs, $class);
}

sub _use_product {
my ($self, $product, $how_many) = @_;

if (($self->{$product} - $how_many) < 1) {
die "[$self->{name}] use_$product: Unable to processor order, not enough $product (you wanted $how_many, I only got $self->{$product}";
}

$self->{$product} -= $how_many;
}

sub _has_product {
my ($self, $product) = @_;

if (!defined $self->{$product}) {
die "[$self->{name}] has_$product: undefined product (wrong vendor?!)";
}

return ($self->{$product});
}

# Franks
sub use_franks {
my ($self, $how_many) = @_;

$self->_use_product('franks', $how_many);
}
sub has_franks {
my ($self) = shift;

return ($self->_has_product('franks'));
}

# Buns
sub use_buns {
my ($self, $how_many) = @_;

$self->_use_product('buns', $how_many);
}
sub has_buns {
my ($self) = shift;

return ($self->_has_product('buns'));
}

# Mustard
sub use_mustard {
my ($self, $how_many) = @_;

$self->_use_product('mustard', $how_many);
}
sub has_mustard {
my ($self) = shift;

return ($self->_has_product('mustard'));
}

# Kraut
sub use_kraut {
my ($self, $how_many) = @_;

$self->_use_product('kraut', $how_many);
}
sub has_kraut {
my ($self) = shift;

return ($self->_has_product('kraut'));
}

# Name
sub name {
my ($self) = shift;

return ($self->{name});
}

1;



As you can see, it saves the name and amount for each product. It then provides subroutines to get the amount of product left, use up some product, and see what the vendor's name is. Pretty simple.. excuse my copy and paste.

Now we need to write some tests to make sure the subroutines work. It's pretty simple, in fact writing tests is brain dead simple it almost seems like it's too simple to even bother with. Wrong. Things change over time, simple changes can cause big problems if not checked. Anyways, enough preaching, time for tests (which should have came before the code, but you knew that already, eh?).

Here is the Hotdog Vendor Test class (download here):

#
# HotdogVendor_Test.pl: HotdogVendor.pm Test (Test::Class, unit testing)
#

package HotdogVendorTest;

use base qw(Test::Class);
use Test::More;

use HotdogVendor;

# Test that name is saved on new vendor creation
sub test_name : Test(1) {
my $name = "Thomas";
my $hotdogVendor = HotdogVendor->new($name, 100);
is ($hotdogVendor->name, $name, 'name saved');
}

# Test product franks is saved and used works
sub test_franks : Test(2) {
my $how_many = 100;
my $hotdogVendor = HotdogVendor->new('Chris', $how_many);
is ($hotdogVendor->has_franks, $how_many, 'franks amount saved');
$hotdogVendor->use_franks(60);
is ($hotdogVendor->has_franks, 40, '100 - 60 franks is 40 franks');
}

# Test product buns is saved and used works
sub test_buns : Test(2) {
my $how_many = 100;
my $hotdogVendor = HotdogVendor->new('Chris', $how_many);
is ($hotdogVendor->has_buns, $how_many, 'buns amount saved');
$hotdogVendor->use_buns(60);
is ($hotdogVendor->has_buns, 40, '100 - 60 buns is 40 buns');
}

# Test product mustard is saved and used works
sub test_mustard : Test(2) {
my $how_many = 100;
my $hotdogVendor = HotdogVendor->new('Chris', $how_many);
is ($hotdogVendor->has_mustard, $how_many, 'mustard amount saved');
$hotdogVendor->use_mustard(60);
is ($hotdogVendor->has_mustard, 40, '100 - 60 mustard is 40 mustard');
}

# Test product mustard is saved and used works
sub test_kraut : Test(2) {
my $how_many = 100;
my $hotdogVendor = HotdogVendor->new('Chris', $how_many);
is ($hotdogVendor->has_kraut, $how_many, 'kraut amount saved');
$hotdogVendor->use_kraut(60);
is ($hotdogVendor->has_kraut, 40, '100 - 60 kraut is 40 kraut');
}
1;


As you can see, it's using the "secret" Perl attribute technique. You can look that up yourself. Just know that it is pretty much what it seems. You can search about the specifics on the Test::Class CPAN page. The one I'm using is 'Test(<number of tests in this subroutine>)', which is pretty simple. A much easier way to organize tests, versus Test::Harness.

How do you run the tests? Here is how (download here):

#!/opt/local/bin/perl
#
use strict;
use warnings;

use Test::Class;

use HotdogVendorTest;


Test::Class->runtests;


The output:

$ /opt/local/bin/perl run_tests.pl
1..9
ok 1 - buns amount saved
ok 2 - 100 - 60 buns is 40 buns
ok 3 - franks amount saved
ok 4 - 100 - 60 franks is 40 franks
ok 5 - kraut amount saved
ok 6 - 100 - 60 kraut is 40 kraut
ok 7 - mustard amount saved
ok 8 - 100 - 60 mustard is 40 mustard
ok 9 - name saved


Pretty simple? Yes. Unit testing is simple and you can be as resource intensive and take as long as you want to run the tests, as that stuff doesn't matter. The only thing that matters is testing tiny parts of your class and program modules. It's pretty easy if your code isn't one big huge function that does 10 more things than it needs to be doing.

Comments? Suggestions? This is my first in a big series of Perl and Mac development articles. I'm starting off simple so I have something to build on for later articles. Hrm, now that I think about it... what do you want to know about??

Let me know and happy testing!