aboutsummaryrefslogtreecommitdiffstats
path: root/actionpack
diff options
context:
space:
mode:
authorYehuda Katz + Carl Lerche <ykatz+clerche@engineyard.com>2009-06-10 14:28:58 -0700
committerYehuda Katz + Carl Lerche <ykatz+clerche@engineyard.com>2009-06-10 14:28:58 -0700
commitfbb6b936e9b896e6b8cbd6d05148a77fcf14b40b (patch)
treedd55ff975ad696096594142f1f1f63125f25e27f /actionpack
parent316fab7de66041daf616a7126d1a9f293a928144 (diff)
downloadrails-fbb6b936e9b896e6b8cbd6d05148a77fcf14b40b.tar.gz
rails-fbb6b936e9b896e6b8cbd6d05148a77fcf14b40b.tar.bz2
rails-fbb6b936e9b896e6b8cbd6d05148a77fcf14b40b.zip
Document ActionController::Helpers
Diffstat (limited to 'actionpack')
-rw-r--r--actionpack/lib/action_controller/new_base/helpers.rb75
1 files changed, 71 insertions, 4 deletions
diff --git a/actionpack/lib/action_controller/new_base/helpers.rb b/actionpack/lib/action_controller/new_base/helpers.rb
index 8ddfc70607..2fa5ea6519 100644
--- a/actionpack/lib/action_controller/new_base/helpers.rb
+++ b/actionpack/lib/action_controller/new_base/helpers.rb
@@ -3,6 +3,51 @@ require 'active_support/core_ext/name_error'
require 'active_support/dependencies'
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="&nbsp;")
+ # 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
@@ -10,8 +55,9 @@ module ActionController
included do
# Set the default directory for helpers
- class_inheritable_accessor :helpers_dir
- self.helpers_dir = (defined?(RAILS_ROOT) ? "#{RAILS_ROOT}/app/helpers" : "app/helpers")
+ extlib_inheritable_accessor(:helpers_dir) do
+ defined?(RAILS_ROOT) ? "#{RAILS_ROOT}/app/helpers" : "app/helpers"
+ end
end
module ClassMethods
@@ -22,8 +68,9 @@ module ActionController
# The +helper+ class method can take a series of helper module names, a block, or both.
#
- # * <tt>*args</tt>: One or more modules, strings or symbols, or the special symbol <tt>:all</tt>.
- # * <tt>&block</tt>: A block defining helper methods.
+ # ==== Parameters
+ # *args<Array[Module, Symbol, String, :all]>
+ # block<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
@@ -64,6 +111,10 @@ module ActionController
# 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
@@ -74,6 +125,22 @@ module ActionController
end
private
+ # Returns a list of modules, normalized from the acceptable kinds of
+ # helpers with the following behavior:
+ # String or Symbol:: :FooBar or "FooBar" becomes "foo_bar_helper",
+ # and "foo_bar_helper.rb" is loaded using require_dependency.
+ # :all:: Loads all modules in the #helpers_dir
+ # Module:: No further processing
+ #
+ # After loading the appropriate files, the corresponding modules
+ # are returned.
+ #
+ # ==== 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.flatten.map! do |arg|
case arg