lib/action_controller/metal/helpers.rb
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, creating custom helpers to # extract complicated logic or reusable functionality is strongly encouraged. By default, each controller # will include all helpers. These helpers are only accessible on the controller through <tt>#helpers</tt> # # In previous versions of \Rails the controller will include a helper which # matches the name of the controller, e.g., <tt>MyController</tt> will automatically # include <tt>MyHelper</tt>. To return old behavior set +config.action_controller.include_all_helpers+ to +false+. # # Additional helpers can be specified using the +helper+ class method in ActionController::Base or any # controller which inherits from it. # # The +to_s+ method from the \Time class can be wrapped in a helper method to display a custom message if # a \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.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 Railhawks Training Workshop # module Helpers extend ActiveSupport::Concern class << self; attr_accessor :helpers_path; end include AbstractController::Helpers included do class_attribute :helpers_path, :include_all_helpers self.helpers_path ||= [] self.include_all_helpers = true end module ClassMethods # 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: # attr_accessor :name # helper_attr :name # # ==== Parameters # * <tt>attrs</tt> - 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 ||= begin proxy = ActionView::Base.new proxy.config = config.inheritable_copy proxy.extend(_helpers) end end # Overwrite modules_for_helpers to accept :all as argument, which loads # all helpers in helpers_path. # # ==== Parameters # * <tt>args</tt> - A list of helpers # # ==== Returns # * <tt>array</tt> - 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 # Returns a list of helper names in a given path. # # ActionController::Base.all_helpers_from_path 'app/helpers' # # => ["application", "chart", "rubygems"] def all_helpers_from_path(path) helpers = Array(path).flat_map do |_path| extract = /^#{Regexp.quote(_path.to_s)}\/?(.*)_helper.rb$/ names = Dir["#{_path}/**/*_helper.rb"].map { |file| file.sub(extract, '\1'.freeze) } names.sort! end helpers.uniq! helpers end private # Extract helper names from files in <tt>app/helpers/**/*_helper.rb</tt> def all_application_helpers all_helpers_from_path(helpers_path) end end # Provides a proxy to access helpers methods from outside the view. def helpers @_helper_proxy ||= view_context end end end