Module ActionView::Helpers::TextHelper
In: vendor/rails/actionpack/lib/action_view/helpers/text_helper.rb

The TextHelper module provides a set of methods for filtering, formatting and transforming strings, which can reduce the amount of inline Ruby code in your views. These helper methods extend ActionView making them callable within your template files.

Methods

Constants

AUTO_LINK_RE = %r{ ( # leading text <\w+.*?>| # leading HTML tag, or [^=!:'"/]| # leading punctuation, or ^ # beginning of line ) ( (?:https?://)| # protocol spec, or (?:www\.) # www.* ) ( [-\w]+ # subdomain or domain (?:\.[-\w]+)* # remaining subdomains or domain (?::\d+)? # port (?:/(?:(?:[~\w\+@%-]|(?:[,.;:][^\s$]))+)?)* # path (?:\?[\w\+@%&=.;-]+)? # query string (?:\#[\w\-]*)? # trailing anchor ) ([[:punct:]]|\s|<|$) # trailing text }x unless const_defined?(:AUTO_LINK_RE)

Public Instance methods

Turns all URLs and e-mail addresses into clickable links. The link parameter will limit what should be linked. You can add HTML attributes to the links using href_options. Options for link are :all (default), :email_addresses, and :urls. If a block is given, each URL and e-mail address is yielded and the result is used as the link text.

Examples

  auto_link("Go to http://www.rubyonrails.org and say hello to david@loudthinking.com")
  # => "Go to <a href=\"http://www.rubyonrails.org\">http://www.rubyonrails.org</a> and
  #     say hello to <a href=\"mailto:david@loudthinking.com\">david@loudthinking.com</a>"

  auto_link("Visit http://www.loudthinking.com/ or e-mail david@loudthinking.com", :urls)
  # => "Visit <a href=\"http://www.loudthinking.com/\">http://www.loudthinking.com/</a>
  #     or e-mail david@loudthinking.com"

  auto_link("Visit http://www.loudthinking.com/ or e-mail david@loudthinking.com", :email_addresses)
  # => "Visit http://www.loudthinking.com/ or e-mail <a href=\"mailto:david@loudthinking.com\">david@loudthinking.com</a>"

  post_body = "Welcome to my new blog at http://www.myblog.com/.  Please e-mail me at me@email.com."
  auto_link(post_body, :all, :target => '_blank') do |text|
    truncate(text, 15)
  end
  # => "Welcome to my new blog at <a href=\"http://www.myblog.com/\" target=\"_blank\">http://www.m...</a>.
        Please e-mail me at <a href=\"mailto:me@email.com\">me@email.com</a>."

[Source]

     # File vendor/rails/actionpack/lib/action_view/helpers/text_helper.rb, line 307
307:       def auto_link(text, link = :all, href_options = {}, &block)
308:         return '' if text.blank?
309:         case link
310:           when :all             then auto_link_email_addresses(auto_link_urls(text, href_options, &block), &block)
311:           when :email_addresses then auto_link_email_addresses(text, &block)
312:           when :urls            then auto_link_urls(text, href_options, &block)
313:         end
314:       end

The preferred method of outputting text in your views is to use the <%= "text" %> eRuby syntax. The regular puts and print methods do not operate as expected in an eRuby code block. If you absolutely must output text within a non-output code block (i.e., <% %>), you can use the concat method.

Examples

  <%
      concat "hello", binding
      # is the equivalent of <%= "hello" %>

      if (logged_in == true):
        concat "Logged in!", binding
      else
        concat link_to('login', :action => login), binding
      end
      # will either display "Logged in!" or a login link
  %>

[Source]

    # File vendor/rails/actionpack/lib/action_view/helpers/text_helper.rb, line 28
28:       def concat(string, binding)
29:         eval(ActionView::Base.erb_variable, binding) << string
30:       end

Creates a Cycle object whose to_s method cycles through elements of an array every time it is called. This can be used for example, to alternate classes for table rows. You can use named cycles to allow nesting in loops. Passing a Hash as the last parameter with a :name key will create a named cycle. You can manually reset a cycle by calling reset_cycle and passing the name of the cycle.

Examples

  # Alternate CSS classes for even and odd numbers...
  @items = [1,2,3,4]
  <table>
  <% @items.each do |item| %>
    <tr class="<%= cycle("even", "odd") -%>">
      <td>item</td>
    </tr>
  <% end %>
  </table>

  # Cycle CSS classes for rows, and text colors for values within each row
  @items = x = [{:first => 'Robert', :middle => 'Daniel', :last => 'James'},
               {:first => 'Emily', :middle => 'Shannon', :maiden => 'Pike', :last => 'Hicks'},
              {:first => 'June', :middle => 'Dae', :last => 'Jones'}]
  <% @items.each do |item| %>
    <tr class="<%= cycle("even", "odd", :name => "row_class") -%>">
      <td>
        <% item.values.each do |value| %>
          <%# Create a named cycle "colors" %>
          <span style="color:<%= cycle("red", "green", "blue", :name => "colors") -%>">
            <%= value %>
          </span>
        <% end %>
        <% reset_cycle("colors") %>
      </td>
   </tr>
 <% end %>

[Source]

     # File vendor/rails/actionpack/lib/action_view/helpers/text_helper.rb, line 352
352:       def cycle(first_value, *values)
353:         if (values.last.instance_of? Hash)
354:           params = values.pop
355:           name = params[:name]
356:         else
357:           name = "default"
358:         end
359:         values.unshift(first_value)
360: 
361:         cycle = get_cycle(name)
362:         if (cycle.nil? || cycle.values != values)
363:           cycle = set_cycle(name, Cycle.new(*values))
364:         end
365:         return cycle.to_s
366:       end

Extracts an excerpt from text that matches the first instance of phrase. The radius expands the excerpt on each side of the first occurrence of phrase by the number of characters defined in radius (which defaults to 100). If the excerpt radius overflows the beginning or end of the text, then the excerpt_string will be prepended/appended accordingly. If the phrase isn‘t found, nil is returned.

Examples

  excerpt('This is an example', 'an', 5)
  # => "...s is an examp..."

  excerpt('This is an example', 'is', 5)
  # => "This is an..."

  excerpt('This is an example', 'is')
  # => "This is an example"

  excerpt('This next thing is an example', 'ex', 2)
  # => "...next t..."

  excerpt('This is also an example', 'an', 8, '<chop> ')
  # => "<chop> is also an example"

[Source]

     # File vendor/rails/actionpack/lib/action_view/helpers/text_helper.rb, line 101
101:       def excerpt(text, phrase, radius = 100, excerpt_string = "...")
102:         if text.nil? || phrase.nil? then return end
103:         phrase = Regexp.escape(phrase)
104: 
105:         if found_pos = text.chars =~ /(#{phrase})/i
106:           start_pos = [ found_pos - radius, 0 ].max
107:           end_pos   = [ found_pos + phrase.chars.length + radius, text.chars.length ].min
108: 
109:           prefix  = start_pos > 0 ? excerpt_string : ""
110:           postfix = end_pos < text.chars.length ? excerpt_string : ""
111: 
112:           prefix + text.chars[start_pos..end_pos].strip + postfix
113:         else
114:           nil
115:         end
116:       end

Highlights one or more phrases everywhere in text by inserting it into a highlighter string. The highlighter can be specialized by passing highlighter as a single-quoted string with \1 where the phrase is to be inserted (defaults to ’<strong class="highlight">\1</strong>’)

Examples

  highlight('You searched for: rails', 'rails')
  # => You searched for: <strong class="highlight">rails</strong>

  highlight('You searched for: ruby, rails, dhh', 'actionpack')
  # => You searched for: ruby, rails, dhh

  highlight('You searched for: rails', ['for', 'rails'], '<em>\1</em>')
  # => You searched <em>for</em>: <em>rails</em>

  highlight('You searched for: rails', 'rails', "<a href='search?q=\1'>\1</a>")
  # => You searched for: <a href='search?q=rails>rails</a>

[Source]

    # File vendor/rails/actionpack/lib/action_view/helpers/text_helper.rb, line 71
71:       def highlight(text, phrases, highlighter = '<strong class="highlight">\1</strong>')
72:         if text.blank? || phrases.blank?
73:           text
74:         else
75:           match = Array(phrases).map { |p| Regexp.escape(p) }.join('|')
76:           text.gsub(/(#{match})/i, highlighter)
77:         end
78:       end

Returns the text with all the Markdown codes turned into HTML tags. This method is only available if BlueCloth is available.

Examples

  markdown("We are using __Markdown__ now!")
  # => "<p>We are using <strong>Markdown</strong> now!</p>"

  markdown("We like to _write_ `code`, not just _read_ it!")
  # => "<p>We like to <em>write</em> <code>code</code>, not just <em>read</em> it!</p>"

  markdown("The [Markdown website](http://daringfireball.net/projects/markdown/) has more information.")
  # => "<p>The <a href="http://daringfireball.net/projects/markdown/">Markdown website</a>
  #     has more information.</p>"

  markdown('![The ROR logo](http://rubyonrails.com/images/rails.png "Ruby on Rails")')
  # => '<p><img src="http://rubyonrails.com/images/rails.png" alt="The ROR logo" title="Ruby on Rails" /></p>'

[Source]

     # File vendor/rails/actionpack/lib/action_view/helpers/text_helper.rb, line 249
249:         def markdown(text)
250:           text.blank? ? "" : BlueCloth.new(text).to_html
251:         end

Attempts to pluralize the singular word unless count is 1. If plural is supplied, it will use that when count is > 1, if the ActiveSupport Inflector is loaded, it will use the Inflector to determine the plural form, otherwise it will just add an ‘s’ to the singular word.

Examples

  pluralize(1, 'person')
  # => 1 person

  pluralize(2, 'person')
  # => 2 people

  pluralize(3, 'person', 'users')
  # => 3 users

  pluralize(0, 'person')
  # => 0 people

[Source]

     # File vendor/rails/actionpack/lib/action_view/helpers/text_helper.rb, line 135
135:       def pluralize(count, singular, plural = nil)
136:          "#{count || 0} " + if count == 1 || count == '1'
137:           singular
138:         elsif plural
139:           plural
140:         elsif Object.const_defined?("Inflector")
141:           Inflector.pluralize(singular)
142:         else
143:           singular + "s"
144:         end
145:       end

Resets a cycle so that it starts from the first element the next time it is called. Pass in name to reset a named cycle.

Example

  # Alternate CSS classes for even and odd numbers...
  @items = [[1,2,3,4], [5,6,3], [3,4,5,6,7,4]]
  <table>
  <% @items.each do |item| %>
    <tr class="<%= cycle("even", "odd") -%>">
        <% item.each do |value| %>
          <span style="color:<%= cycle("#333", "#666", "#999", :name => "colors") -%>">
            <%= value %>
          </span>
        <% end %>

        <% reset_cycle("colors") %>
    </tr>
  <% end %>
  </table>

[Source]

     # File vendor/rails/actionpack/lib/action_view/helpers/text_helper.rb, line 387
387:       def reset_cycle(name = "default")
388:         cycle = get_cycle(name)
389:         cycle.reset unless cycle.nil?
390:       end

Returns text transformed into HTML using simple formatting rules. Two or more consecutive newlines(\n\n) are considered as a paragraph and wrapped in <p> tags. One newline (\n) is considered as a linebreak and a <br /> tag is appended. This method does not remove the newlines from the text.

Examples

  my_text = """Here is some basic text...
            ...with a line break."""

  simple_format(my_text)
  # => "<p>Here is some basic text...<br />...with a line break.</p>"

  more_text = """We want to put a paragraph...

              ...right there."""

  simple_format(more_text)
  # => "<p>We want to put a paragraph...</p><p>...right there.</p>"

[Source]

     # File vendor/rails/actionpack/lib/action_view/helpers/text_helper.rb, line 275
275:       def simple_format(text)
276:         content_tag 'p', text.to_s.
277:           gsub(/\r\n?/, "\n").                    # \r\n and \r -> \n
278:           gsub(/\n\n+/, "</p>\n\n<p>").           # 2+ newline  -> paragraph
279:           gsub(/([^\n]\n)(?=[^\n])/, '\1<br />')  # 1 newline   -> br
280:       end

Returns the text with all the Textile codes turned into HTML tags.

You can learn more about Textile‘s syntax at its website. This method is only available if RedCloth is available.

Examples

  textilize("*This is Textile!*  Rejoice!")
  # => "<p><strong>This is Textile!</strong>  Rejoice!</p>"

  textilize("I _love_ ROR(Ruby on Rails)!")
  # => "<p>I <em>love</em> <acronym title="Ruby on Rails">ROR</acronym>!</p>"

  textilize("h2. Textile makes markup -easy- simple!")
  # => "<h2>Textile makes markup <del>easy</del> simple!</h2>"

  textilize("Visit the Rails website "here":http://www.rubyonrails.org/.)
  # => "<p>Visit the Rails website <a href="http://www.rubyonrails.org/">here</a>.</p>"

[Source]

     # File vendor/rails/actionpack/lib/action_view/helpers/text_helper.rb, line 190
190:         def textilize(text)
191:           if text.blank?
192:             ""
193:           else
194:             textilized = RedCloth.new(text, [ :hard_breaks ])
195:             textilized.hard_breaks = true if textilized.respond_to?("hard_breaks=")
196:             textilized.to_html
197:           end
198:         end

Returns the text with all the Textile codes turned into HTML tags, but without the bounding <p> tag that RedCloth adds.

You can learn more about Textile‘s syntax at its website. This method is only available if RedCloth is available.

Examples

  textilize_without_paragraph("*This is Textile!*  Rejoice!")
  # => "<strong>This is Textile!</strong>  Rejoice!"

  textilize_without_paragraph("I _love_ ROR(Ruby on Rails)!")
  # => "I <em>love</em> <acronym title="Ruby on Rails">ROR</acronym>!"

  textilize_without_paragraph("h2. Textile makes markup -easy- simple!")
  # => "<h2>Textile makes markup <del>easy</del> simple!</h2>"

  textilize_without_paragraph("Visit the Rails website "here":http://www.rubyonrails.org/.)
  # => "Visit the Rails website <a href="http://www.rubyonrails.org/">here</a>."

[Source]

     # File vendor/rails/actionpack/lib/action_view/helpers/text_helper.rb, line 219
219:         def textilize_without_paragraph(text)
220:           textiled = textilize(text)
221:           if textiled[0..2] == "<p>" then textiled = textiled[3..-1] end
222:           if textiled[-4..-1] == "</p>" then textiled = textiled[0..-5] end
223:           return textiled
224:         end

If text is longer than length, text will be truncated to the length of length (defaults to 30) and the last characters will be replaced with the truncate_string (defaults to "…").

Examples

  truncate("Once upon a time in a world far far away", 14)
  # => Once upon a...

  truncate("Once upon a time in a world far far away")
  # => Once upon a time in a world f...

  truncate("And they found that many people were sleeping better.", 25, "(clipped)")
  # => And they found that many (clipped)

  truncate("And they found that many people were sleeping better.", 15, "... (continued)")
  # => And they found... (continued)

[Source]

    # File vendor/rails/actionpack/lib/action_view/helpers/text_helper.rb, line 48
48:       def truncate(text, length = 30, truncate_string = "...")
49:         if text.nil? then return end
50:         l = length - truncate_string.chars.length
51:         (text.chars.length > length ? text.chars[0...l] + truncate_string : text).to_s
52:       end

Wraps the text into lines no longer than line_width width. This method breaks on the first whitespace character that does not exceed line_width (which is 80 by default).

Examples

  word_wrap('Once upon a time', 4)
  # => Once\nupon\na\ntime

  word_wrap('Once upon a time', 8)
  # => Once upon\na time

  word_wrap('Once upon a time')
  # => Once upon a time

  word_wrap('Once upon a time', 1)
  # => Once\nupon\na\ntime

[Source]

     # File vendor/rails/actionpack/lib/action_view/helpers/text_helper.rb, line 163
163:       def word_wrap(text, line_width = 80)
164:         text.split("\n").collect do |line|
165:           line.length > line_width ? line.gsub(/(.{1,#{line_width}})(\s+|$)/, "\\1\n").strip : line
166:         end * "\n"
167:       end

[Validate]