Module: ActionView::Helpers::TextHelper

Extended by:
ActiveSupport::Concern
Includes:
OutputSafetyHelper, SanitizeHelper, TagHelper
Included in:
ActionView::Helpers, FormOptionsHelper, FormTagHelper
Defined in:
lib/action_view/helpers/text_helper.rb

Overview

The TextHelper module provides a set of methods for filtering, formatting and transforming strings, which can reduce the amount of inline Ruby code in your views. These helper methods extend Action View making them callable within your template files.

Sanitization

Most text helpers that generate HTML output sanitize the given input by default, but do not escape it. This means HTML tags will appear in the page but all malicious code will be removed. Let’s look at some examples using the simple_format method:

simple_format('<a href="http://example.com/">Example</a>')
# => "<p><a href=\"http://example.com/\">Example</a></p>"

simple_format('<a href="javascript:alert(\'no!\')">Example</a>')
# => "<p><a>Example</a></p>"

If you want to escape all content, you should invoke the h method before calling the text helper.

simple_format h('<a href="http://example.com/">Example</a>')
# => "<p>&lt;a href=\"http://example.com/\"&gt;Example&lt;/a&gt;</p>"

Defined Under Namespace

Classes: Cycle

Constant Summary

Constants included from TagHelper

ActionView::Helpers::TagHelper::BOOLEAN_ATTRIBUTES, ActionView::Helpers::TagHelper::PRE_CONTENT_STRINGS, ActionView::Helpers::TagHelper::TAG_PREFIXES

Instance Method Summary collapse

Methods included from OutputSafetyHelper

#raw, #safe_join, #to_sentence

Methods included from TagHelper

#cdata_section, #content_tag, #escape_once, #tag

Methods included from CaptureHelper

#capture, #content_for, #content_for?, #provide, #with_output_buffer

Methods included from SanitizeHelper

#sanitize, #sanitize_css, #strip_links, #strip_tags

Instance Method Details

#concat(string) ⇒ Object

The preferred method of outputting text in your views is to use the <%= “text” %> eRuby syntax. The regular puts and print methods do not operate as expected in an eRuby code block. If you absolutely must output text within a non-output code block (i.e., <% %>), you can use the concat method.

<%
    concat "hello"
    # is the equivalent of <%= "hello" %>

    if logged_in
      concat "Logged in!"
    else
      concat link_to('login', action: :login)
    end
    # will either display "Logged in!" or a login link
%>



54
55
56
 
# File 'lib/action_view/helpers/text_helper.rb', line 54

def concat(string)
  output_buffer << string
end

#current_cycle(name = "default") ⇒ Object

Returns the current cycle string after a cycle has been started. Useful for complex table highlighting or any other design need which requires the current cycle string in more than one place.

# Alternate background colors
@items = [1,2,3,4]
<% @items.each do |item| %>
  <div style="background-color:<%= cycle("red","white","blue") %>">
    <span style="background-color:<%= current_cycle %>"><%= item %></span>
  </div>
<% end %>



378
379
380
381
 
# File 'lib/action_view/helpers/text_helper.rb', line 378

def current_cycle(name = "default")
  cycle = get_cycle(name)
  cycle.current_value if cycle
end

#cycle(first_value, *values) ⇒ Object

Creates a Cycle object whose to_s method cycles through elements of an array every time it is called. This can be used for example, to alternate classes for table rows. You can use named cycles to allow nesting in loops. Passing a Hash as the last parameter with a :name key will create a named cycle. The default name for a cycle without a :name key is "default". You can manually reset a cycle by calling reset_cycle and passing the name of the cycle. The current cycle string can be obtained anytime using the current_cycle method.

 # Alternate CSS classes for even and odd numbers...
 @items = [1,2,3,4]
 <table>
 <% @items.each do |item| %>
   <tr class="<%= cycle("odd", "even") -%>">
     <td><%= item %></td>
   </tr>
 <% end %>
 </table>

 # Cycle CSS classes for rows, and text colors for values within each row
 @items = x = [{first: 'Robert', middle: 'Daniel', last: 'James'},
              {first: 'Emily', middle: 'Shannon', maiden: 'Pike', last: 'Hicks'},
             {first: 'June', middle: 'Dae', last: 'Jones'}]
 <% @items.each do |item| %>
   <tr class="<%= cycle("odd", "even", name: "row_class") -%>">
     <td>
       <% item.values.each do |value| %>
         <%# Create a named cycle "colors" %>
         <span style="color:<%= cycle("red", "green", "blue", name: "colors") -%>">
           <%= value %>
         </span>
       <% end %>
       <% reset_cycle("colors") %>
     </td>
  </tr>
<% end %>



354
355
356
357
358
359
360
361
362
363
364
365
 
# File 'lib/action_view/helpers/text_helper.rb', line 354

def cycle(first_value, *values)
  options = values.extract_options!
  name = options.fetch(:name, "default")

  values.unshift(*first_value)

  cycle = get_cycle(name)
  unless cycle && cycle.values == values
    cycle = set_cycle(name, Cycle.new(*values))
  end
  cycle.to_s
end

#excerpt(text, phrase, options = {}) ⇒ Object

Extracts an excerpt from text that matches the first instance of phrase. The :radius option expands the excerpt on each side of the first occurrence of phrase by the number of characters defined in :radius (which defaults to 100). If the excerpt radius overflows the beginning or end of the text, then the :omission option (which defaults to “…”) will be prepended/appended accordingly. Use the :separator option to choose the delimitation. The resulting string will be stripped in any case. If the phrase isn’t found, nil is returned.

excerpt('This is an example', 'an', radius: 5)
# => ...s is an exam...

excerpt('This is an example', 'is', radius: 5)
# => This is a...

excerpt('This is an example', 'is')
# => This is an example

excerpt('This next thing is an example', 'ex', radius: 2)
# => ...next...

excerpt('This is also an example', 'an', radius: 8, omission: '<chop> ')
# => <chop> is also an example

excerpt('This is a very beautiful morning', 'very', separator: ' ', radius: 1)
# => ...a very beautiful...



175
176
177
178
179
180
181
182
183
184
185
186
187
188
189
190
191
192
193
194
195
196
197
198
199
200
201
202
203
204
205
 
# File 'lib/action_view/helpers/text_helper.rb', line 175

def excerpt(text, phrase, options = {})
  return unless text && phrase

  separator = options.fetch(:separator, nil) || ""
  case phrase
  when Regexp
    regex = phrase
  else
    regex = /#{Regexp.escape(phrase)}/i
  end

  return unless matches = text.match(regex)
  phrase = matches[0]

  unless separator.empty?
    text.split(separator).each do |value|
      if value.match(regex)
        phrase = value
        break
      end
    end
  end

  first_part, second_part = text.split(phrase, 2)

  prefix, first_part   = cut_excerpt_part(:first, first_part, separator, options)
  postfix, second_part = cut_excerpt_part(:second, second_part, separator, options)

  affix = [first_part, separator, phrase, separator, second_part].join.strip
  [prefix, affix, postfix].join
end

#highlight(text, phrases, options = {}) ⇒ Object

Highlights one or more phrases everywhere in text by inserting it into a :highlighter string. The highlighter can be specialized by passing :highlighter as a single-quoted string with \1 where the phrase is to be inserted (defaults to ‘<mark>1</mark>’) or passing a block that receives each matched term. By default text is sanitized to prevent possible XSS attacks. If the input is trustworthy, passing false for :sanitize will turn sanitizing off.

highlight('You searched for: rails', 'rails')
# => You searched for: <mark>rails</mark>

highlight('You searched for: rails', /for|rails/)
# => You searched <mark>for</mark>: <mark>rails</mark>

highlight('You searched for: ruby, rails, dhh', 'actionpack')
# => You searched for: ruby, rails, dhh

highlight('You searched for: rails', ['for', 'rails'], highlighter: '<em>\1</em>')
# => You searched <em>for</em>: <em>rails</em>

highlight('You searched for: rails', 'rails', highlighter: '<a href="search?q=\1">\1</a>')
# => You searched for: <a href="search?q=rails">rails</a>

highlight('You searched for: rails', 'rails') { |match| link_to(search_path(q: match, match)) }
# => You searched for: <a href="search?q=rails">rails</a>

highlight('<a href="javascript:alert(\'no!\')">ruby</a> on rails', 'rails', sanitize: false)
# => <a href="javascript:alert('no!')">ruby</a> on <mark>rails</mark>



132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
 
# File 'lib/action_view/helpers/text_helper.rb', line 132

def highlight(text, phrases, options = {})
  text = sanitize(text) if options.fetch(:sanitize, true)

  if text.blank? || phrases.blank?
    text || ""
  else
    match = Array(phrases).map do |p|
      Regexp === p ? p.to_s : Regexp.escape(p)
    end.join("|")

    if block_given?
      text.gsub(/(#{match})(?![^<]*?>)/i) { |found| yield found }
    else
      highlighter = options.fetch(:highlighter, '<mark>\1</mark>')
      text.gsub(/(#{match})(?![^<]*?>)/i, highlighter)
    end
  end.html_safe
end

#pluralize(count, singular, plural_arg = nil, plural: plural_arg, locale: I18n.locale) ⇒ Object

Attempts to pluralize the singular word unless count is 1. If plural is supplied, it will use that when count is > 1, otherwise it will use the Inflector to determine the plural form for the given locale, which defaults to I18n.locale

The word will be pluralized using rules defined for the locale (you must define your own inflection rules for languages other than English). See ActiveSupport::Inflector.pluralize

pluralize(1, 'person')
# => 1 person

pluralize(2, 'person')
# => 2 people

pluralize(3, 'person', plural: 'users')
# => 3 users

pluralize(0, 'person')
# => 0 people

pluralize(2, 'Person', locale: :de)
# => 2 Personen



230
231
232
233
234
235
236
237
238
 
# File 'lib/action_view/helpers/text_helper.rb', line 230

def pluralize(count, singular, plural_arg = nil, plural: plural_arg, locale: I18n.locale)
  word = if (count == 1 || count.to_s =~ /^1(\.0+)?$/)
    singular
  else
    plural || singular.pluralize(locale)
  end

  "#{count || 0} #{word}"
end

#reset_cycle(name = "default") ⇒ Object

Resets a cycle so that it starts from the first element the next time it is called. Pass in name to reset a named cycle.

# Alternate CSS classes for even and odd numbers...
@items = [[1,2,3,4], [5,6,3], [3,4,5,6,7,4]]
<table>
<% @items.each do |item| %>
  <tr class="<%= cycle("even", "odd") -%>">
      <% item.each do |value| %>
        <span style="color:<%= cycle("#333", "#666", "#999", name: "colors") -%>">
          <%= value %>
        </span>
      <% end %>

      <% reset_cycle("colors") %>
  </tr>
<% end %>
</table>



401
402
403
404
 
# File 'lib/action_view/helpers/text_helper.rb', line 401

def reset_cycle(name = "default")
  cycle = get_cycle(name)
  cycle.reset if cycle
end

#safe_concat(string) ⇒ Object 



58
59
60
 
# File 'lib/action_view/helpers/text_helper.rb', line 58

def safe_concat(string)
  output_buffer.respond_to?(:safe_concat) ? output_buffer.safe_concat(string) : concat(string)
end

#simple_format(text, html_options = {}, options = {}) ⇒ Object

Returns text transformed into HTML using simple formatting rules. Two or more consecutive newlines(\n\n or \r\n\r\n) are considered a paragraph and wrapped in <p> tags. One newline (\n or \r\n) is considered a linebreak and a <br /> tag is appended. This method does not remove the newlines from the text.

You can pass any HTML attributes into html_options. These will be added to all created paragraphs.

Options

  • :sanitize - If false, does not sanitize text.

  • :wrapper_tag - String representing the wrapper tag, defaults to "p"

Examples

my_text = "Here is some basic text...\n...with a line break."

simple_format(my_text)
# => "<p>Here is some basic text...\n<br />...with a line break.</p>"

simple_format(my_text, {}, wrapper_tag: "div")
# => "<div>Here is some basic text...\n<br />...with a line break.</div>"

more_text = "We want to put a paragraph...\n\n...right there."

simple_format(more_text)
# => "<p>We want to put a paragraph...</p>\n\n<p>...right there.</p>"

simple_format("Look ma! A class!", class: 'description')
# => "<p class='description'>Look ma! A class!</p>"

simple_format("<blink>Unblinkable.</blink>")
# => "<p>Unblinkable.</p>"

simple_format("<blink>Blinkable!</blink> It's true.", {}, sanitize: false)
# => "<p><blink>Blinkable!</blink> It's true.</p>"



302
303
304
305
306
307
308
309
310
311
312
313
314
315
 
# File 'lib/action_view/helpers/text_helper.rb', line 302

def simple_format(text, html_options = {}, options = {})
  wrapper_tag = options.fetch(:wrapper_tag, :p)

  text = sanitize(text) if options.fetch(:sanitize, true)
  paragraphs = split_paragraphs(text)

  if paragraphs.empty?
    content_tag(wrapper_tag, nil, html_options)
  else
    paragraphs.map! { |paragraph|
      content_tag(wrapper_tag, raw(paragraph), html_options)
    }.join("\n\n").html_safe
  end
end

#truncate(text, options = {}, &block) ⇒ Object

Truncates a given text after a given :length if text is longer than :length (defaults to 30). The last characters will be replaced with the :omission (defaults to “…”) for a total length not exceeding :length.

Pass a :separator to truncate text at a natural break.

Pass a block if you want to show extra content when the text is truncated.

The result is marked as HTML-safe, but it is escaped by default, unless :escape is false. Care should be taken if text contains HTML tags or entities, because truncation may produce invalid HTML (such as unbalanced or incomplete tags).

truncate("Once upon a time in a world far far away")
# => "Once upon a time in a world..."

truncate("Once upon a time in a world far far away", length: 17)
# => "Once upon a ti..."

truncate("Once upon a time in a world far far away", length: 17, separator: ' ')
# => "Once upon a..."

truncate("And they found that many people were sleeping better.", length: 25, omission: '... (continued)')
# => "And they f... (continued)"

truncate("<p>Once upon a time in a world far far away</p>")
# => "&lt;p&gt;Once upon a time in a wo..."

truncate("<p>Once upon a time in a world far far away</p>", escape: false)
# => "<p>Once upon a time in a wo..."

truncate("Once upon a time in a world far far away") { link_to "Continue", "#" }
# => "Once upon a time in a wo...<a href="#">Continue</a>"



94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
 
# File 'lib/action_view/helpers/text_helper.rb', line 94

def truncate(text, options = {}, &block)
  if text
    length  = options.fetch(:length, 30)

    content = text.truncate(length, options)
    content = options[:escape] == false ? content.html_safe : ERB::Util.html_escape(content)
    content << capture(&block) if block_given? && text.length > length
    content
  end
end

#word_wrap(text, line_width: 80, break_sequence: "\n") ⇒ Object

Wraps the text into lines no longer than line_width width. This method breaks on the first whitespace character that does not exceed line_width (which is 80 by default).

word_wrap('Once upon a time')
# => Once upon a time

word_wrap('Once upon a time, in a kingdom called Far Far Away, a king fell ill, and finding a successor to the throne turned out to be more trouble than anyone could have imagined...')
# => Once upon a time, in a kingdom called Far Far Away, a king fell ill, and finding\na successor to the throne turned out to be more trouble than anyone could have\nimagined...

word_wrap('Once upon a time', line_width: 8)
# => Once\nupon a\ntime

word_wrap('Once upon a time', line_width: 1)
# => Once\nupon\na\ntime

You can also specify a custom +break_sequence+ ("\n" by default)

word_wrap('Once upon a time', line_width: 1, break_sequence: "\r\n")
# => Once\r\nupon\r\na\r\ntime



260
261
262
263
264
 
# File 'lib/action_view/helpers/text_helper.rb', line 260

def word_wrap(text, line_width: 80, break_sequence: "\n")
  text.split("\n").collect! do |line|
    line.length > line_width ? line.gsub(/(.{1,#{line_width}})(\s+|$)/, "\\1#{break_sequence}").strip : line
  end * break_sequence
end