module ActionController #:nodoc: module Helpers #:nodoc: HELPERS_DIR = (defined?(RAILS_ROOT) ? "#{RAILS_ROOT}/app/helpers" : "app/helpers") def self.included(base) # Initialize the base module to aggregate its helpers. base.class_inheritable_accessor :master_helper_module base.master_helper_module = Module.new # Extend base with class methods to declare helpers. base.extend(ClassMethods) base.class_eval do # Wrap inherited to create a new master helper module for subclasses. class << self alias_method_chain :inherited, :helper end end end # The Rails framework provides a large number of helpers for working with +assets+, +dates+, +forms+, # +numbers+ and +ActiveRecord+ 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| -%> #
# <% format_time(event.time, :short, "N/A") %> | <%= event.name %> #
# <% 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 ClassMethods # Makes all the (instance) methods in the helper module available to templates rendered through this controller. # See ActionView::Helpers (link:classes/ActionView/Helpers.html) for more about making your own helper modules # available to the templates. def add_template_helper(helper_module) #:nodoc: master_helper_module.module_eval { include helper_module } end # 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 includes all helpers from # app/views/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 } # 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)?$/.match(load_error).to_a[1] if requiree == file_name msg = "Missing helper file helpers/#{file_name}.rb" raise LoadError.new(msg).copy_blame!(load_error) else raise end end add_template_helper(class_name.constantize) else raise ArgumentError, "helper expects String, Symbol, or Module argument (was: #{args.inspect})" end end # Evaluate block in template class if given. master_helper_module.module_eval(&block) if block_given? end # Declare a controller method as a helper. For example, the following # makes the +current_user+ controller method available to the view: # class ApplicationController < ActionController::Base # helper_method :current_user # def current_user # @current_user ||= User.find(session[:user]) # end # end def helper_method(*methods) methods.flatten.each do |method| master_helper_module.module_eval <<-end_eval def #{method}(*args, &block) controller.send(%(#{method}), *args, &block) end end_eval end end # Declares helper accessors for controller attributes. For example, the # following adds new +name+ and name= instance methods to a # controller and makes them available to the view: # helper_attr :name # attr_accessor :name def helper_attr(*attrs) attrs.flatten.each { |attr| helper_method(attr, "#{attr}=") } end private def default_helper_module! unless name.blank? module_name = name.sub(/Controller$|$/, 'Helper') module_path = module_name.split('::').map { |m| m.underscore }.join('/') require_dependency module_path helper module_name.constantize end rescue MissingSourceFile => e raise unless e.is_missing? module_path logger.debug("#{name}: missing default helper path #{module_path}") if logger rescue NameError => e raise unless e.missing_name? module_name logger.debug("#{name}: missing default helper module #{module_name}") if logger end def inherited_with_helper(child) inherited_without_helper(child) begin child.master_helper_module = Module.new child.master_helper_module.send! :include, master_helper_module child.send! :default_helper_module! rescue MissingSourceFile => e raise unless e.is_missing?("helpers/#{child.controller_path}_helper") end end # Extract helper names from files in app/helpers/**/*.rb def all_application_helpers extract = /^#{Regexp.quote(HELPERS_DIR)}\/?(.*)_helper.rb$/ Dir["#{HELPERS_DIR}/**/*_helper.rb"].map { |file| file.sub extract, '\1' } end end end end