Module: ActionView::Helpers::CaptureHelper

Defined in:
lib/action_view/helpers/capture_helper.rb

Overview

CaptureHelper exposes methods to let you extract generated markup which can be used in other parts of a template or layout file. It provides a method to capture blocks into variables through capture and a way to capture a block of markup for use in a layout through content_for.

Instance Method Summary collapse

Instance Method Details

#capture(*args, &block) ⇒ Object

The capture method allows you to extract part of a template into a variable. You can then use this variable anywhere in your templates or layout.

Examples

The capture method can be used in ERb templates…

<% @greeting = capture do %>
  Welcome to my shiny new web page!  The date and time is
  <%= Time.now %>
<% end %>

…and Builder (RXML) templates.

@timestamp = capture do
  "The current timestamp is #{Time.now}."
end

You can then use that variable anywhere else. For example:

<html>
<head><title><%= @greeting %></title></head>
<body>
<b><%= @greeting %></b>
</body></html>



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# File 'lib/action_view/helpers/capture_helper.rb', line 33

def capture(*args, &block)
  # execute the block
  begin
    buffer = eval(ActionView::Base.erb_variable, block.binding)
  rescue
    buffer = nil
  end
  
  if buffer.nil?
    capture_block(*args, &block).to_s
  else
    capture_erb_with_buffer(buffer, *args, &block).to_s
  end
end

#content_for(name, content = nil, &block) ⇒ Object

Calling content_for stores a block of markup in an identifier for later use. You can make subsequent calls to the stored content in other templates or the layout by passing the identifier as an argument to yield.

Examples

<% content_for :not_authorized do %>
  alert('You are not authorized to do that!')
<% end %>

You can then use yield :not_authorized anywhere in your templates.

<%= yield :not_authorized if current_user.nil? %>

You can also use this syntax alongside an existing call to yield in a layout. For example:

<%# This is the layout %>
<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">
<head>
  <title>My Website</title>
  <%= yield :script %>
</head>
<body>
  <%= yield %>
</body>
</html>

And now, we’ll create a view that has a content_for call that creates the script identifier.

<%# This is our view %>
Please login!

<% content_for :script do %>
  <script type="text/javascript">alert('You are not authorized to view this page!')</script>
<% end %>

Then, in another view, you could to do something like this:

<%= link_to_remote 'Logout', :action => 'logout' %>

<% content_for :script do %>
  <%= javascript_include_tag :defaults %>
<% end %>

That will place <script> tags for Prototype, Scriptaculous, and application.js (if it exists) on the page; this technique is useful if you’ll only be using these scripts in a few views.

Note that content_for concatenates the blocks it is given for a particular identifier in order. For example:

<% content_for :navigation do %>
  <li><%= link_to 'Home', :action => 'index' %></li>
<% end %>

<%#  Add some other content, or use a different template: %>

<% content_for :navigation do %>
  <li><%= link_to 'Login', :action => 'login' %></li>
<% end %>

Then, in another template or layout, this code would render both links in order:

<ul><%= yield :navigation %></ul>

Lastly, simple content can be passed as a parameter:

<% content_for :script, javascript_include_tag(:defaults) %>

WARNING: content_for is ignored in caches. So you shouldn’t use it for elements that will be fragment cached.

The deprecated way of accessing a content_for block is to use an instance variable named @content_for_#{name_of_the_content_block}. The preferred usage is now <%= yield :footer %>.



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# File 'lib/action_view/helpers/capture_helper.rb', line 123

def content_for(name, content = nil, &block)
  existing_content_for = instance_variable_get("@content_for_#{name}").to_s
  new_content_for      = existing_content_for + (block_given? ? capture(&block) : content)
  instance_variable_set("@content_for_#{name}", new_content_for)
end