diff --git a/client/ruby/solrb/README b/client/ruby/solrb/README
index 3ecdb736cef..f3dc627b7ab 100644
--- a/client/ruby/solrb/README
+++ b/client/ruby/solrb/README
@@ -6,33 +6,31 @@ USAGE
 
 First launch Solr.
 
-   cd solr
-   java -jar start.jar
+  cd solr
+  java -jar start.jar
 
 In a separate shell, launch irb -Ilib.
 
-# Bring in the Solr library
-  require 'solr'
+  # connect to the solr instance
+  conn = Connection.new('http://localhost:8983/solr')
 
-# Set up a connection to Solr:
+  # add a document to the index
+  conn.add(:id => 123, :title => 'Lucene in Action')
 
-  connection = Solr::Connection.new 'http://localhost:8983/solr'
+  # update the document
+  conn.update(:id => 123, :title => 'Solr in Action')
 
-# To add a document:
+  # print out the first hit in a query for 'action'
+  response = conn.query('action')
+  print response.hits[0]
 
-  doc = Solr::Document.new :id => '529', :text => 'Solr Flare in Action'
-  request = Solr::Request::AddDocument.new(doc)
-  connection.send(request)
-  
-# Commit changes:
-
-  connection.commit
-
-# Search:
-
-  request = Solr::Request::Standard.new :query => 'solr flare'
-  connection.send(request)
+  # iterate through all the hits for 'action'
+  conn.query('action') do |hit|
+    puts hit
+  end
 
+  # delete document by id
+  conn.delete(123)
 
 INSTALLATION
 
diff --git a/client/ruby/solrb/lib/solr/connection.rb b/client/ruby/solrb/lib/solr/connection.rb
index 9a271bf4824..aaafb6db7b4 100755
--- a/client/ruby/solrb/lib/solr/connection.rb
+++ b/client/ruby/solrb/lib/solr/connection.rb
@@ -14,37 +14,109 @@ require 'net/http'
 
 module Solr
   class Connection
-    attr_reader :url
+    attr_reader :url, :autocommit
+   
+    # create a connection to a solr instance using the url for the solr
+    # application context:
+    #
+    #   conn = Solr::Connection.new("http://example.com:8080/solr")
+    #
+    # if you would prefer to issue your own commits to cut down on 
+    # network traffic use :autocommit => 'off'
+    #
+    #   conn = Solr::Connection.new('http://example.com:8080/solr', 
+    #     :autocommit => 'off')
     
-    def initialize(url)
+    def initialize(url, opts={})
       @url = URI.parse(url)
       unless @url.kind_of? URI::HTTP
         raise "invalid http url: #{url}"
       end
+      @autocommit = opts[:autocommit] == :on ? true : false
     end
 
-    # sends a commit message
+    # add a document to the index. you can pass in either a hash
+    #
+    #   conn.add(:id => 123, :title => 'Tlon, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius')
+    #
+    # or a Solr::Document
+    #
+    #   conn.add(Solr::Document.new(:id => 123, :title = 'On Writing')
+    #
+    # true/false will be returned to designate success/failure
+    
+    def add(doc)
+      doc = Solr::Document.new(doc)
+      request = Solr::Request::AddDocument.new(doc)
+      response = send(request)
+      commit if @autocommit
+      return response.ok?
+    end
+
+    # update a document in the index (really just an alias to add)
+    
+    def update(doc)
+      return add(doc)
+    end
+
+    # performs a standard query and returns a Solr::Response::Standard
+    #
+    #   response = conn.query('borges')
+    # 
+    # alternative you can pass in a block and iterate over hits
+    #
+    #   conn.query('borges') do |hit|
+    #     puts hit
+    #   end
+   
+    def query(query, options={}, &action)
+      options[:query] = query
+      request = Solr::Request::Standard.new(options)
+      response = send(request)
+      return response unless action
+      response.each {|hit| action.call(hit)}
+    end
+
+    # sends a commit message to the server
     def commit
-      self.send(Solr::Request::Commit.new)
+      response = send(Solr::Request::Commit.new)
+      return response.ok?
     end
 
-    # sends a ping message
+    # pings the connection and returns true/false if it is alive or not
     def ping
-      response = send(Solr::Request::Ping.new)
-    end
-
-    def send(request)
-      data = post(request)
-      case request.response_format
-      when :ruby
-        return RubyResponse.new(data)
-      when :xml
-        return XmlResponse.new(data)
-      else
-        raise "Unknown response format: #{request.response_format}"
+      begin
+        response = send(Solr::Request::Ping.new)
+        return response.ok?
+      rescue
+        return false
       end
     end
-    
+
+    # delete a document from the index using the document id
+    def delete(document_id)
+      response = send(Solr::Request::Delete.new(:id => document_id))
+      commit if @autocommit
+      return response.ok?
+    end
+
+    # delete using a query
+    def delete_by_query(query)
+      response = send(Solr::Request::Delete.new(:query => query))
+      commit if @autocommit
+      return response.ok?
+    end
+
+    # send a given Solr::Request and return a RubyResponse or XmlResponse
+    # depending on the type of request
+    def send(request)
+      data = post(request)
+      return Solr::Response::Base.make_response(request, data)
+    end
+   
+    # send the http post request to solr: you will want to use
+    # one of the add(), query(), commit(), delete() or send()
+    # instead of this...
     def post(request)
       post = Net::HTTP::Post.new(@url.path + "/" + request.handler)
       post.body = request.to_s
diff --git a/client/ruby/solrb/lib/solr/exception.rb b/client/ruby/solrb/lib/solr/exception.rb
index 235e20e6b9c..cd501cb2292 100644
--- a/client/ruby/solrb/lib/solr/exception.rb
+++ b/client/ruby/solrb/lib/solr/exception.rb
@@ -12,11 +12,10 @@
 
 module Solr
   
-  class RequestException < Exception
-    attr_reader :code, :message
+  class Exception < Exception
+    attr_reader :message
     
-    def initialize(code, message)
-      @code = code
+    def initialize(message)
       @message = message
     end
     
@@ -26,4 +25,4 @@ module Solr
     
   end
   
-end
\ No newline at end of file
+end
diff --git a/client/ruby/solrb/lib/solr/request.rb b/client/ruby/solrb/lib/solr/request.rb
index 01795ea1605..a01d849763f 100755
--- a/client/ruby/solrb/lib/solr/request.rb
+++ b/client/ruby/solrb/lib/solr/request.rb
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@
 require 'solr/request/add_document'
 require 'solr/request/base'
 require 'solr/request/commit'
+require 'solr/request/delete'
 require 'solr/request/ping'
 require 'solr/request/select'
 require 'solr/request/standard'
diff --git a/client/ruby/solrb/lib/solr/request/delete.rb b/client/ruby/solrb/lib/solr/request/delete.rb
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..4386b4352b6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/client/ruby/solrb/lib/solr/request/delete.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,43 @@
+require 'rexml/document'
+
+module Solr
+  module Request
+
+    class Delete < Solr::Request::Update
+
+      # A delete request can be for a specific document id
+      #
+      #   request = Solr::Request::Delete.new(:id => 1234)
+      #
+      # or by query:
+      #
+      #   request = Solr::Request::Delete.new(:query =>
+      #
+      def initialize(options)
+        unless options.kind_of?(Hash) and (options[:id] or options[:query])
+          raise Solr::Exception.new("must pass in :id or :query")
+        end
+        if options[:id] and options[:query]
+          raise Solr::Exception.new("can't pass in both :id and :query")
+        end
+        @document_id = options[:id]
+        @query = options[:query]
+      end
+
+      def to_s
+        delete_element = REXML::Element.new('delete')
+        if @document_id
+          id_element = REXML::Element.new('id')
+          id_element.text = @document_id
+          delete_element.add_element(id_element)
+        elsif @query
+          query = REXML::Element.new('query')
+          query.text = @query 
+          delete_element.add_element(query)
+        end
+        return delete_element.to_s
+      end
+    end
+  end
+end
+
diff --git a/client/ruby/solrb/lib/solr/request/update.rb b/client/ruby/solrb/lib/solr/request/update.rb
index 11b4dd11972..9334d46a663 100644
--- a/client/ruby/solrb/lib/solr/request/update.rb
+++ b/client/ruby/solrb/lib/solr/request/update.rb
@@ -12,6 +12,8 @@
 
 module Solr
   module Request
+
+    # a parent class for all requests that go through the solr update handler
     class Update < Solr::Request::Base
       def response_format
         :xml
diff --git a/client/ruby/solrb/lib/solr/response.rb b/client/ruby/solrb/lib/solr/response.rb
index 00d5362d917..6394c592e10 100755
--- a/client/ruby/solrb/lib/solr/response.rb
+++ b/client/ruby/solrb/lib/solr/response.rb
@@ -10,32 +10,11 @@
 # See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
 # limitations under the License.
 
-module Solr
-  class Response
-    attr_reader :header, :raw_response, :data, :parsed_response
-    def initialize(body)
-      @raw_response = body
-      if match = /^<result status="(\d+)"/.match(body)
-        unless 0 == match.captures.first.to_i
-          error = REXML::Document.new(body).root
-          raise RequestException.new(error.attributes["status"], error.text)
-        end
-      end
-    end
-  end
-  
-  class RubyResponse < Response
-    def initialize(body)
-      super(body)
-      @parsed_response = eval(body)
-      @header = parsed_response['responseHeader']
-      @data = parsed_response['response']
-    end
-  end
-  
-  class XmlResponse < Response
-    def initialize(body)
-      super(body)
-    end
-  end
-end
+require 'solr/response/base'
+require 'solr/response/xml'
+require 'solr/response/ruby'
+require 'solr/response/ping'
+require 'solr/response/add_document'
+require 'solr/response/standard'
+require 'solr/response/commit'
+require 'solr/response/delete'
diff --git a/client/ruby/solrb/lib/solr/response/add_document.rb b/client/ruby/solrb/lib/solr/response/add_document.rb
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..8ef3602e42a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/client/ruby/solrb/lib/solr/response/add_document.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+module Solr
+  module Response
+
+    class AddDocument < Solr::Response::Xml
+      def initialize(xml)
+        super(xml)
+      end
+    end
+
+  end
+end
diff --git a/client/ruby/solrb/lib/solr/response/base.rb b/client/ruby/solrb/lib/solr/response/base.rb
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..27cba9bbd1b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/client/ruby/solrb/lib/solr/response/base.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,37 @@
+module Solr
+  module Response
+    class Base
+      attr_reader :raw_response
+
+      def initialize(raw_response)
+        @raw_response = raw_response
+      end
+
+      # factory method for creating a Solr::Response::* from 
+      # a request and the raw response content
+      def self.make_response(request, raw)
+
+        # make sure response format seems sane
+        unless [:xml, :ruby].include?(request.response_format)
+          raise Solr::Exception.new("unknown response format: #{request.response_format}" )
+        end
+
+        case request
+        when Solr::Request::Ping
+          return Solr::Response::Ping.new(raw)
+        when Solr::Request::AddDocument
+          return Solr::Response::AddDocument.new(raw)
+        when Solr::Request::Commit
+          return Solr::Response::Commit.new(raw)
+        when Solr::Request::Standard
+          return Solr::Response::Standard.new(raw)
+        when Solr::Request::Delete
+          return Solr::Response::Delete.new(raw)
+        else
+          raise Solr::Exception.new("unknown request type: #{request.class}")
+        end
+      end
+
+    end
+  end
+end
diff --git a/client/ruby/solrb/lib/solr/response/commit.rb b/client/ruby/solrb/lib/solr/response/commit.rb
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..68acbb22283
--- /dev/null
+++ b/client/ruby/solrb/lib/solr/response/commit.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,24 @@
+require 'rexml/xpath'
+
+module Solr
+  module Response
+    class Commit < Solr::Response::Xml
+      attr_reader :ok
+
+      def initialize(xml)
+        super(xml)
+        e = REXML::XPath.first(@doc, './result')
+        if e and e.attributes['status'] == '0'
+          @ok = true
+        else
+          @ok = false
+        end
+      end
+
+      def ok?
+        @ok
+      end
+    end
+  end
+end
+
diff --git a/client/ruby/solrb/lib/solr/response/delete.rb b/client/ruby/solrb/lib/solr/response/delete.rb
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..58529c50285
--- /dev/null
+++ b/client/ruby/solrb/lib/solr/response/delete.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+module Solr
+  module Response
+    class Delete < Solr::Response::Xml
+    end
+  end
+end
diff --git a/client/ruby/solrb/lib/solr/response/ping.rb b/client/ruby/solrb/lib/solr/response/ping.rb
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..c41ced5e6f6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/client/ruby/solrb/lib/solr/response/ping.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,20 @@
+require 'rexml/xpath'
+
+module Solr
+  module Response
+    class Ping < Solr::Response::Xml
+
+      def initialize(xml)
+        super(xml)
+        @ok = REXML::XPath.first(@doc, './solr/ping') ? true : false
+      end
+
+      # returns true or false depending on whether the ping
+      # was successful or not
+      def ok?
+        @ok
+      end
+
+    end
+  end
+end
diff --git a/client/ruby/solrb/lib/solr/response/ruby.rb b/client/ruby/solrb/lib/solr/response/ruby.rb
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..9ef05d94295
--- /dev/null
+++ b/client/ruby/solrb/lib/solr/response/ruby.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,32 @@
+module Solr
+  module Response
+
+    class Ruby < Solr::Response::Base
+      attr_reader :data
+
+      def initialize(ruby_code)
+        super(ruby_code)
+        begin
+          @data = eval(ruby_code)
+          @header = @data['responseHeader']
+          @response = @data['response']
+          raise "response should be a hash" unless @data.kind_of? Hash
+          raise "response header missing" unless @header.kind_of? Hash
+          raise "response section missing" unless @response.kind_of? Hash
+        rescue Exception => e
+          raise Solr::Exception.new("invalid ruby code: #{e}")
+        end
+      end
+
+      def ok?
+        return @header['status'] == 0
+      end
+
+      def query_time
+        return @header['QTime']
+      end
+
+    end
+
+  end
+end
diff --git a/client/ruby/solrb/lib/solr/response/standard.rb b/client/ruby/solrb/lib/solr/response/standard.rb
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..dd5efa0fb7c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/client/ruby/solrb/lib/solr/response/standard.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,33 @@
+module Solr
+  module Response
+    class Standard < Solr::Response::Ruby
+      include Enumerable
+
+      def initialize(ruby_code)
+        super(ruby_code)
+      end
+
+      def total_hits
+        return @response['numFound']
+      end
+
+      def start
+        return @response['start']
+      end
+
+      def hits
+        return @response['docs']
+      end
+
+      def max_score
+        return @response['maxScore']
+      end
+
+      # supports enumeration of hits
+      def each
+        @response['docs'].each {|hit| yield hit}
+      end
+
+    end
+  end
+end
diff --git a/client/ruby/solrb/lib/solr/response/xml.rb b/client/ruby/solrb/lib/solr/response/xml.rb
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..a14f1b955f6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/client/ruby/solrb/lib/solr/response/xml.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,33 @@
+require 'rexml/document'
+require 'solr/exception'
+
+module Solr
+  module Response
+
+    class Xml < Solr::Response::Base
+      attr_reader :doc, :status_code, :status_message
+
+      def initialize(xml)
+        super(xml)
+        begin
+          # parse the xml
+          @doc = REXML::Document.new(xml)
+          # look for the result code and string 
+          result = REXML::XPath.first(@doc, './result')
+          if result
+            @status_code =  result.attributes['status']
+            @status_message = result.text
+          end
+        rescue REXML::ParseException => e
+          raise Solr::Exception.new("invalid response xml: #{e}")
+        end
+      end
+
+      def ok?
+        return @status_code == '0'
+      end
+
+    end
+
+  end
+end