using slimrb from command line

Question

I am using slim for a project outside rails. I see that slimrb gives options to compile the templates to html from command line.

1) However is there a way to compile a complete view directory to html. 2) Also is it possible to watch for changes and, continuously update the generated html, like what compass does for .scss files.

Answer 1

1) To compile all files in a directory from slim to html cd into it and type slimrb * and then hit tab to expand * into all filenames in that directory. Since it is a view directory there should be no other files then *.slim

2) Slim itself doesn't imlement this, but it shouldn't be too hard to write a script which listens for filesystem events and triggers based on which file was changed the slimrb executable.

Answer 2

There are actually two complete solutions to this problem! Both are quite easy to implement:

The Slim Guard plugin

• Every Ruby developer should know about Guard. It's the easiest way to automatically transpile files.
• There are actually two Slim guards on GitHub, and unfortunately the main one is older and not as good. I would recommend using indrekj/guard-sim (the one I linked to).

The RubyMine IDE by JetBrains

• Truly exceptional software, RubyMine is heaven for Rubyists. It has built-in file watchers that you can configure on a per-project basis for transpiling all your typical assets. It's simple to set up a watcher for the Slim files using the slimrb program, and you're provided with a slew of customization options.
• In RubyMine, you can import/export file watcher configurations; I host a few here, including one for Slim.