example of gem using script

clean_data.rb

#!/usr/local/bin/ruby
require "rubygems"
require "activerecord"
require "activesupport"
require 'iconv'

ActiveRecord::Base.establish_connection(:adapter => "postgresql",
:database => "database", :username => "user", :password => "password", 
:host => "db", :port => 9999, :schema_search_path => "migration, public")

  def clean_utf str
    str = str.chars.normalize(:c)
    begin
      result = Iconv.new("CP1251", "UTF-8").iconv(str)
    rescue Iconv::IllegalSequence => e
      failed = e.failed.chars.split(//, 2)
      str = str.gsub(failed[0], '')
    retry
    end
    str.chars.normalize(:c)
  end


class BookSource < ActiveRecord::Base
  set_table_name "book_xls"
  set_primary_key "book_xls_id"
end


$KCODE = 'u'

puts BookSource.find_by_book_xls_id(15638).lib_annot
puts BookSource.find_by_book_xls_id(15638).lib_annot.chars.length
puts clean_utf BookSource.find_by_book_xls_id(15638).lib_annot
puts (clean_utf BookSource.find_by_book_xls_id(15638).lib_annot).chars.length