module ActionController
# The Rails framework provides a large number of helpers for working with +assets+, +dates+, +forms+,
# +numbers+ and model 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., <tt>MyController</tt> will automatically
# include <tt>MyHelper</tt>.
#
# Additional helpers can be specified using the +helper+ class method in <tt>ActionController::Base</tt> 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 <tt>EventController</tt>, the <tt>format_time</tt> 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
#
module Helpers
extend ActiveSupport::Concern
include AbstractController::Helpers
included do
extlib_inheritable_accessor(:helpers_path)
self.helpers_path = []
end
module ClassMethods
def helpers_dir
ActiveSupport::Deprecation.warn "helpers_dir is deprecated, use helpers_path instead"
self.helpers_path
end
def helpers_dir=(value)
ActiveSupport::Deprecation.warn "helpers_dir= is deprecated, use helpers_path= instead"
self.helpers_path = Array(value)
end
# Declares helper accessors for controller attributes. For example, the
# following adds new +name+ and <tt>name=</tt> instance methods to a
# controller and makes them available to the view:
# helper_attr :name
# attr_accessor :name
#
# ==== Parameters
# *attrs<Array[String, Symbol]>:: Names of attributes to be converted
# into helpers.
def helper_attr(*attrs)
attrs.flatten.each { |attr| helper_method(attr, "#{attr}=") }
end
# Provides a proxy to access helpers methods from outside the view.
def helpers
@helper_proxy ||= ActionView::Base.new.extend(_helpers)
end
private
# Overwrite _modules_for_helpers to accept :all as argument, which loads
# all helpers in helpers_dir.
#
# ==== Parameters
# args<Array[String, Symbol, Module, all]>:: A list of helpers
#
# ==== Returns
# Array[Module]:: A normalized list of modules for the list of
# helpers provided.
def _modules_for_helpers(args)
args += all_application_helpers if args.delete(:all)
super(args)
end
# Extract helper names from files in app/helpers/**/*_helper.rb
def all_application_helpers
helpers = []
helpers_path.each do |path|
extract = /^#{Regexp.quote(path)}\/?(.*)_helper.rb$/
helpers += Dir["#{path}/**/*_helper.rb"].map { |file| file.sub(extract, '\1') }
end
helpers.sort!
helpers.uniq!
helpers
end
end
end
end
