Programmer requests complete data from large number of people regarding T-shirt sales.

mail.rb

#!/usr/bin/env ruby
require 'net/smtp'
require 'time'
require 'yaml'

size_map = {
  'S'  => 'small',
  'M'  => 'medium',
  'L'  => 'large',
  'XL' => 'extra large',
}

number_map = {
  2 => 'two',
}

def wrap_text(s, width=72)
  s.gsub(/(.{1,#{width}})(\s+|\Z)/, "\\1\n")
end

if ARGV.length < 2 then
  STDERR.puts "Give me an operation and a YAML file!"
  exit(-1)
end

people = YAML.load_file ARGV[1]

verify = lambda do
  people.each do |p|
    shirt_string = ''

    if not p['shirts'].nil? then
      grammatical_items = p['shirts'].length

      p['shirts'].each_with_index do |s, i|
        quantity = (s['quantity'] if not s['quantity'].nil?) || 1
        known = {
          :size => (not s['size'].nil?),
          :color => (not s['color'].nil?),
        }

        if quantity > 1 then
          shirt_string += number_map[s['quantity']] + ' '
        else
          if grammatical_items > 1 then
            shirt_string += 'one '
            # Call me crazy, but explicitly saying "one" when
            # someone only wants one shirt total seems really
            # stiff and awkward, but it makes perfect sense
            # if they want more than that...
          elsif known[:size] and size_map[s['size']][0] == 'e' then
            shirt_string += 'an '
          else
            shirt_string += 'a '
          end
        end

        shirt_string += size_map[s['size']] + ' ' if known[:size]
        shirt_string += s['color'] + ' ' if known[:color]

        shirt_string += 'shirt'
        shirt_string += 's' if quantity > 1

        case
        when (not known[:size] and not known[:color])
          shirt_string += ' of unknown size and color'
        when (not known[:size])
          shirt_string += ' of unknown size'
        when (not known[:color])
          shirt_string += ' of unknown color'
        end

        if i < grammatical_items-1 then
          if grammatical_items > 2 then
            shirt_string += ', '
            shirt_string += 'and ' if i == grammatical_items - 2
          else
            shirt_string += ' and '
          end
        end
      end
    else
      shirt_string = 'a shirt'
    end

    out = p['given'] + ' ' + p['family'] + ' '
    out += "<#{p['email']}> " if p['email']
    out += 'wants ' + shirt_string + '.'

    puts wrap_text(out) + "\n"
  end
end

mail = lambda do
  people.each do |p|
    message = <<EOF
From: Adam Lloyd <[email protected]>
To: #{p['given']} #{p['family']} <#{p['email']}>
Subject: 2011 Congress of Jugglers T-shirts
Date: #{Time.now.rfc2822}

Hi, #{p['given']}!

We are putting together an order for more 2011 Congress shirts.

EOF
    shirt_string = ''
    unknown_string = ''

    if not p['shirts'].nil? then
      grammatical_items = p['shirts'].length

      p['shirts'].each_with_index do |s, i|
        quantity = (s['quantity'] if not s['quantity'].nil?) || 1
        known = {
          :size => (not s['size'].nil?),
          :color => (not s['color'].nil?),
        }

        if quantity > 1 then
          shirt_string += number_map[s['quantity']] + ' '
        else
          if grammatical_items > 1 then
            shirt_string += 'one '
            # Call me crazy, but explicitly saying "one" when
            # someone only wants one shirt total seems really
            # stiff and awkward, but it makes perfect sense
            # if they want more than that...
          elsif known[:size] and size_map[s['size']][0] == 'e' then
            shirt_string += 'an '
          else
            shirt_string += 'a '
          end
        end

        shirt_string += size_map[s['size']] + ' ' if known[:size]
        shirt_string += s['color'] + ' ' if known[:color]

        shirt_string += 'shirt'
        shirt_string += 's' if quantity > 1

        case
        when (not known[:size] and not known[:color])
          if (quantity == 1) then
            unknown_string += 'size and color'
          else
            unknown_string += 'sizes and colors'
          end
        when (not known[:size])
          unknown_string += 'size'
        when (not known[:color])
          unknown_string += 'color'
        end

        if i < grammatical_items-1 then
          if grammatical_items > 2 then
            shirt_string += ', '
            shirt_string += 'and ' if i == grammatical_items - 2
          else
            shirt_string += ' and '
          end
        end
      end
    else
      shirt_string = 'a shirt'
      unknown_string = 'size and color'
    end

    if unknown_string != '' then
      message += wrap_text <<EOF
At Congress, you signed up for #{shirt_string}, but we need to know what #{unknown_string} you'd like.
EOF
    else
      message += wrap_text <<EOF
At Congress, you signed up for #{shirt_string}. I'd just like to make sure this is correct before we send off the order.
EOF
    end

    message += "\n"
    message += wrap_text <<EOF
If you'd like to take another look at the shirts, there are pictures available at <http://studentorg.umd.edu/juggling/congress/2011/#shirts>.
EOF

    message += "\n" + <<EOF
Thank you!
-Adam Lloyd, UMD Juggling Club


EOF

    if (not p['email'].nil?) then
      Net::SMTP.start('127.0.0.1', 25) do |smtp|
        smtp.send_message(message,
                          '[email protected]',
                          p['email'])
      end
    else
      STDERR.puts "#{p['given']} #{p['family']} has no email address!"
    end
  end
end

if ARGV[0] == "verify" then
  verify.call
elsif ARGV[0] == "mail" then
  mail.call
end

people.yaml

- given: John
  family: Example
  email: [email protected]
  shirts:
    - color: brown
      size: M
    - color: blue
      size: S
      quantity: 2

I like the idea of this. But since

1. I'm on my iPad and
2. I'm new to ruby

I can't quite tell what this looks like when it's user-facing. I note, though, that lines 153--156 suggest you're going four levels deep in abstraction. That seems like a lot; like this code is crying out for being broken into smaller utility methods whose individual responsibilities are clearer.

Also, it seems you tried to be robust and build code to handle "unknown size" and "unknown color." have you written any tests for this?

Given the amount of data that needs to be passed around to make sure that sentences are composed to be grammatically correct (or even sensible), "smaller utility methods" would (I think) do more to clutter up the code than make it clearer.

Also, the goal of this is just to get emails out to people. Adding code for "unknown size" and "unknown color" isn't just some goofy attempt at robustness, it's necessary code to account for the fact that, astoundingly, not everyone who wants a shirt supplies the information required to get one. (But to answer your question, the "test" is the actual list of shirt requests, in combination with my proofreading of the final emails.)