I'm trying to create a ruby gem for rails out of a plugin I've created. The problem is that my plugin 'shortcuts' uses a few javascript files which need to be in the public/javascripts directory to work.
What's the best way to make these javascript files which are in the gem I've created accessible by which ever project requires my gem?
Add a rails generator to your gem such that script/generate <yourgem> puts the javascript files in the correct location.
For more information, see the How to Make a Generator Railscast.
As an example, the formtastic gem has a generator that puts its specific stylesheets in the correct location -- similar to your javascript problem.
Another example, nifty-generators is just a gem with useful generators.
You could copy them over by making a postinstall.rb which will be automatically executed after your plugin is installed.