CODEWITHSUNDEEP
rubyrubygemsinstallation
Trent Scott
Trent Scott

Reputation: 2028

How to Look at a Gem's Code

I have a Gem that I found at RubyForge and want to peek inside to see what code it contains. Is it possible to do this without installing the Gem on my system?

Also, if I use RVM on Mac OS X, does that at all change how my gems get installed (assuming I have one gemset)?

Upvotes: 3

Views: 1185

Answers (3)

Jits
Jits

Reputation: 9738

Gems on RubyGems usually have a link to the source code (most often on GitHub), in which case you can easily browse the code (I use this A LOT).

The "homepage" link also tends to link to the repository.

If all else fails, go to GitHub and search for the name of the gem (you may need to match up the authors to ensure it's the right repository for the gem).

Edit:

Just noticed that you asked about gems on Rubyforge. In which case my first step would be to check RubyGems. But otherwise you will need to download the gem and peek inside it (it's just a compressed archive so you can open it up in something like 7-zip).

Upvotes: 3

Jörg W Mittag
Jörg W Mittag

Reputation: 369604

gem unpack unpacks the gem without installing it.

Upvotes: 8

Bert Goethals
Bert Goethals

Reputation: 7887

Many gems have their source freely readable. The way that always works is to install it.

If you just want to browse the source; go to the gem on http://rubygems.org find your gem and use the "Source code" link.

In case of RubyForge you can find the links under the SCM link in the menu.

Upvotes: 1

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