Module: ActionController::Helpers::ClassMethods

Defined in:
lib/action_controller/helpers.rb

Overview

The Rails framework provides a large number of helpers for working with assets, dates, forms, numbers and Active Record objects, to name a few. These helpers are available to all templates by default.

In addition to using the standard template helpers provided in the Rails framework, creating custom helpers to extract complicated logic or reusable functionality is strongly encouraged. By default, the controller will include a helper whose name matches that of the controller, e.g., MyController will automatically include MyHelper.

Additional helpers can be specified using the helper class method in ActionController::Base or any controller which inherits from it.

Examples

The to_s method from the Time class can be wrapped in a helper method to display a custom message if the Time object is blank:

module FormattedTimeHelper
  def format_time(time, format=:long, blank_message=" ")
    time.blank? ? blank_message : time.to_s(format)
  end
end

FormattedTimeHelper can now be included in a controller, using the helper class method:

class EventsController < ActionController::Base
  helper FormattedTimeHelper
  def index
    @events = Event.find(:all)
  end
end

Then, in any view rendered by EventController, the format_time method can be called:

<% @events.each do |event| -%>
  <p>
    <% format_time(event.time, :short, "N/A") %> | <%= event.name %> 
  </p>
<% end -%>

Finally, assuming we have two event instances, one which has a time and one which does not, the output might look like this:

23 Aug 11:30 | Carolina Railhawks Soccer Match 
N/A | Carolina Railhaws Training Workshop

Instance Method Summary collapse

Instance Method Details

#add_template_helper(helper_module) ⇒ Object

Makes all the (instance) methods in the helper module available to templates rendered through this controller. See ActionView::Helpers (classes/ActionView/Helpers.html) for more about making your own helper modules available to the templates.



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# File 'lib/action_controller/helpers.rb', line 75

def add_template_helper(helper_module) #:nodoc:
  master_helper_module.module_eval { include helper_module }
end

#helper(*args, &block) ⇒ Object

The helper class method can take a series of helper module names, a block, or both.

  • *args: One or more modules, strings or symbols, or the special symbol :all.

  • &block: A block defining helper methods.

Examples

When the argument is a string or symbol, the method will provide the “_helper” suffix, require the file and include the module in the template class. The second form illustrates how to include custom helpers when working with namespaced controllers, or other cases where the file containing the helper definition is not in one of Rails’ standard load paths:

helper :foo             # => requires 'foo_helper' and includes FooHelper
helper 'resources/foo'  # => requires 'resources/foo_helper' and includes Resources::FooHelper

When the argument is a module it will be included directly in the template class.

helper FooHelper # => includes FooHelper

When the argument is the symbol :all, the controller will include all helpers beneath ActionController::Base.helpers_dir (defaults to app/helpers/*/.rb under RAILS_ROOT).

helper :all

Additionally, the helper class method can receive and evaluate a block, making the methods defined available to the template.

# One line
helper { def hello() "Hello, world!" end }
# Multi-line
helper do
  def foo(bar) 
    "#{bar} is the very best" 
  end
end

Finally, all the above styles can be mixed together, and the helper method can be invoked with a mix of symbols, strings, modules and blocks.

helper(:three, BlindHelper) { def mice() 'mice' end }



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# File 'lib/action_controller/helpers.rb', line 114

def helper(*args, &block)
  args.flatten.each do |arg|
    case arg
      when Module
        add_template_helper(arg)
      when :all
        helper(all_application_helpers)
      when String, Symbol
        file_name  = arg.to_s.underscore + '_helper'
        class_name = file_name.camelize

        begin
          require_dependency(file_name)
        rescue LoadError => load_error
          requiree = / -- (.*?)(\.rb)?$/.match(load_error.message).to_a[1]
          if requiree == file_name
            msg = "Missing helper file helpers/#{file_name}.rb"
            raise LoadError.new(msg).copy_blame!(load_error)
          else
            raise
          end
        end

        add_template_helper(class_name.constantize)
      else
        raise ArgumentError, "helper expects String, Symbol, or Module argument (was: #{args.inspect})"
    end
  end

  # Evaluate block in template class if given.
  master_helper_module.module_eval(&block) if block_given?
end

#helper_attr(*attrs) ⇒ Object

Declares helper accessors for controller attributes. For example, the following adds new name and name= instance methods to a controller and makes them available to the view:

helper_attr :name
attr_accessor :name



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# File 'lib/action_controller/helpers.rb', line 178

def helper_attr(*attrs)
  attrs.flatten.each { |attr| helper_method(attr, "#{attr}=") }
end

#helper_method(*methods) ⇒ Object

Declare a controller method as a helper. For example, the following makes the current_user controller method available to the view:

class ApplicationController < ActionController::Base
  helper_method :current_user, :logged_in?

  def current_user
    @current_user ||= User.find_by_id(session[:user])
  end

   def logged_in?
     current_user != nil
   end
end

In a view:

<% if logged_in? -%>Welcome, <%= current_user.name %><% end -%>



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# File 'lib/action_controller/helpers.rb', line 163

def helper_method(*methods)
  methods.flatten.each do |method|
    master_helper_module.module_eval <<-end_eval
      def #{method}(*args, &block)                    # def current_user(*args, &block)
        controller.send(%(#{method}), *args, &block)  #   controller.send(%(current_user), *args, &block)
      end                                             # end
    end_eval
  end
end

#helpers ⇒ Object

Provides a proxy to access helpers methods from outside the view.



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# File 'lib/action_controller/helpers.rb', line 183

def helpers
  unless @helper_proxy
    @helper_proxy = ActionView::Base.new
    @helper_proxy.extend master_helper_module
  else
    @helper_proxy
  end
end