Add the name of a model to a string in Rails

Question

I wanna achieve the following to display in rails app:

Product instance => "product"
ProductCustomer instance => "product customer"

so I could do

<%= form_for([commentable, Comment.new]) do |f| %>
  <%= f.text_field :body, class: "form-control", id: "comment-text-area-#{commentable.id}", 
    placeholder: "Ask something about the #{commentable.class.name.split(/(?=[A-Z])/).join(' ').downcase }" %>
  ......
<% end %>

At the moment I'm using the following which works in all cases:

p = Product.new
p.class.name.split(/(?=[A-Z])/).join(' ').downcase

pc = ProductCustomer.new
pc.class.name.split(/(?=[A-Z])/).join(' ').downcase

My problem is that it seems to be too complex. I guess there should be a better way. Any ideas?

max · Accepted Answer · 2016-05-18 14:40:59Z

6

Use ActiveModel::Naming instead. Its a wonderful API for getting stuff like human names, route keys and I18n keys from model classes or instances.

human(options={})
Transform the model name into a more humane format, using I18n. By default, it will underscore then humanize the class name.

placeholder: "Ask something about the #{ commentable.model_name.human }"

Note that you should provide <label> elements for your inputs and not just placeholder attributes for accessibility.

Labels:

In Rails you frequently use ActionView::Helpers::FormBuilder#label:

<%= form_for([commentable, Comment.new]) do |f| %>
  <%= f.label :body %>
  <%= f.text_field :body %>
<% end %>

Which creates a label with a name attribute tied to the ID of the input. However for this to work the Rails Way you need to let the form builder set the ID of the input.

For hiding elements I usually use the Zurb Foundation .show-for-sr class which basically works like in the WAI tutorial:

.show-for-sr {
  position: absolute !important;
  width: 1px;
  height: 1px;
  overflow: hidden;
  clip: rect(0, 0, 0, 0);
}

edited May 18, 2016 at 14:40

answered May 18, 2016 at 12:16

max

103k15 gold badges113 silver badges178 bronze badges

Sign up to request clarification or add additional context in comments.

2 Comments

Sean Magyar Over a year ago

max, your note regarding the label is super useful. Could you tell me which approach you usually take from that list?

Sean Magyar Over a year ago

max, pls also see my previous comment. In the meantime I posted another question. Could you pls take a look at it? Your answers to my questions are always outstanding and easy to understand, so would be nice to see your opinion. stackoverflow.com/questions/37303420/…

Jan Bussieck · Accepted Answer · 2016-05-18 12:11:38Z

2

Yes you can do this: commentable.model_name.human

In Rails calling model_name on an ActiveRecord model returns an instance of ActiveModel::Name which provides a useful api to interact with the model name.

answered May 18, 2016 at 12:11

Jan Bussieck

1,06913 silver badges27 bronze badges

1 Comment

Jan Bussieck Over a year ago

I had published it a little too early, when it was an incomplete one liner. In the minute it took me to edit it, a diligent SO bee had already defrocked me :)

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

Add the name of a model to a string in Rails

2 Answers 2

Labels:

2 Comments

1 Comment

Your Answer

Linked

Hot Network Questions

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

2 Answers 2

Labels:

2 Comments

1 Comment

Your Answer

Sign up or log in

Post as a guest

Linked

Related