Update to rails 7.1

[mclancy96]

This pull request upgrades the Rails application from version 6.1 to 7.1 and updates Ruby and several dependencies accordingly. It also refreshes the RSpec and test configuration to match newer conventions and best practices, and removes some legacy or unnecessary code. Below are the most important changes:

Rails and Ruby Upgrade:

• Upgraded the application to use Rails 7.1 (config/application.rb, Gemfile, migration version updates) and Ruby 3.3.5, updating related gems and configuration settings. [1] [2] [3]

Gem and Dependency Updates:

• Updated major gem versions in the Gemfile to match Rails 7.1 requirements (e.g., rails, puma, sqlite3, rspec-rails), removed legacy compatibility gems, and adjusted development/test groupings.

RSpec and Test Configuration:

• Updated .rspec, spec_helper.rb, and rails_helper.rb to modern RSpec conventions: requiring rails_helper, updating documentation links, improving fixture configuration, and removing or updating legacy code and comments. [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7]

Environment Configuration:

• Adjusted environment configs for Rails 7.1: updated cache format version, revised test exception handling, and removed deprecated asset settings from development. [1] [2] [3]

Cleanup:

• Removed a legacy secret file from tmp/development_secret.txt as part of general cleanup.