twitter-gem-test.rb

# These are the basic steps to use the twitter gem from @jnunemaker
#
# 1. Install the gem: gem install twitter
#
# 2. Login to Twitter and register your application. 
#
#    Note: it looks like you cannot use a url like http://locahost:3301/ (bummer)
#    An easy alternative is to create an app on Heroku.
#
#    IMPORTANT: Make sure that the callback url looks like this:
#               http://yourapp.yoursite.com/authorization
#               And make sure to select Read and Write otherwise changing it later
#               will cause: (401): Unauthorized - Read-only application cannot POST
#               and you will need to delete the app and re-register it!
#
# 3. Open a command window/shell, start IRB, and require the twitter gem
#

gem 'twitter'
require 'twitter'

# 4. Set a variable to store your consumer key

ck = '*** paste your consumer key here ***'

# 5. Set a variable to store your consumer secret

cs = '*** paste your consumer secret here ***'

# 6. Let's define an OAuth consumer

consumer = OAuth::Consumer.new(tk, ts,  {:site => 'http://twitter.com'})

# 7. Now let's request an OAuth token and save it

rt = consumer.get_request_token

# 8. Let's find out the OAuth authorization url for Twitter for our request token:

au = rt.authorize_url

# 9. Copy paste the result (e.g. http://api.twitter.com/oauth/authorize?oauth_token=****YOUR*OAUTH*VERIFIER*** ) in a browser

# 10. Twitter will prompt you to authorize access for your app and give you a PIN.  
#     Save it off for later use.

# 11. Let's create an OAuth Access Token

at = OAuth::RequestToken.new(consumer, rt.token, rt.secret)

# 12. Let's instantiate a Twitter::OAuth object based on our API key and secret

oauth = Twitter::OAuth.new(ck,cs)

# 13. Now we need to authorize our OAuth Access Token:

aa = oauth.authorize_from_request(at.token, at.secret, '*YOUR*PIN*')
 
# 14. And we can finally instantiate the Twitter client!

client = Twitter::Base.new(oauth)

# 15. Let's get the user timeline and mentions

client.user_timeline
client.mentions

# 16. And to top it off let's post a status update:

client.update 'Yippee! Twitting this from Ruby IRB using @jnunemaker twitter gem! :-) '


# Enjoy - @techarch on Twitter