table_helper

= table_helper

+table_helper+ adds a helper method for generating HTML tables from collections.

== Resources

API

• http://api.pluginaweek.org/table_helper

Bugs

• http://pluginaweek.lighthouseapp.com/projects/13290-table_helper

Development

• http://github.com/pluginaweek/table_helper

Source

• git://github.com/pluginaweek/table_helper.git

== Description

Tables of summary data for ActiveRecord models are often formatted in the same way by creating a header indicating the attribute and a body containing the data from each record in separate rows. table_helper makes it easier to create these types of tables by DRYing much of the html being generated.

== Usage

=== Basic Example

<%= collection_table Person.find(:all) %>

...is compiled to (formatted here for the sake of sanity):

First Name	Last Name	Company	Role
John	Doe	1	President
Jane	Doe	1	Vice-President

=== Advanced Example

<%= collection_table(@posts, :id => 'posts', :class => 'summary') do |t| t.header :title t.header :category t.header :author t.header :publish_date, 'Date<br >Published' t.header :num_comments, '# Comments' t.header :num_trackbacks, '# Trackbacks'

  t.rows.alternate = :odd
  t.rows.each do |row, post, index|
    # Notice there's no need to explicitly define the title
    row.category       post.category.name
    row.author         post.author.name
    row.publish_date   time_ago_in_words(post.published_at)
    row.num_comments   post.comments.empty? ? '-' : post.comments.size
    row.num_trackbacks post.trackbacks.empty? ? '-' : post.trackbacks.size
  end
  
  t.footer :num_comments, @posts.inject(0) {|sum, post| sum += post.comments.size}
  t.footer :num_trackbacks, @posts.inject(0) {|sum, post| sum += post.trackbacks.size}
end

%>

...is compiled to (formatted here for the sake of sanity):

Title	Category	Author	Date Published	# Comments	# Trackbacks
Open-source projects: The good, the bad, and the ugly	General	John Doe	23 days	-	-
5 reasons you should care about Rails	Rails	John Q. PUblic	21 days	-	-
Deprecation: Stop digging yourself a hole	Rails	Jane Doe	17 days	-	-
Jumpstart your Rails career at RailsConf 2007	Conferences	Jane Doe	4 days	-	-
Getting some REST	Rails	John Doe	about 18 hours	-	-
0	0

=== Caveat Emptor

See the API for more information on syntax, options, and examples. You should only use table_helper if it fits the needs of your application. Remember one of the key principles of Rails, KISS (Keep It Simple Stupid). table_helper works really well when you need to quickly output several of these types of summary tables. If this is not the case, you may want to stick to using actual html.

== Testing

Before you can run any tests, the following gem must be installed:

• plugin_test_helper[http://github.com/pluginaweek/plugin_test_helper]

To run against a specific version of Rails:

rake test RAILS_FRAMEWORK_ROOT=/path/to/rails

== Dependencies

• Rails 2.0 or later