[ANN] acts_as_ordered plugin

Rails
1

Hey all,

I’ve just put together a little plugin to easily access the neighbours
of a
given model in a particular order. Read on if interested.

Install:
script/plugin install
http://svn.viney.net.nz/things/rails/plugins/acts_as_ordered

Usage:
class Person < ActiveRecord::Base
acts_as_ordered :order => ‘first_name’
end

Say you have people with first names of Adam, Jonathan and Robert:

p = Person.find_by_first_name(‘Jonathan’)

p.next # Robert
p.previous # Adam
p.previous.previous # Adam (does not wrap around to end)
p.next.next # Robert (does not wrap around to start)

If you want the next and previous methods to wrap around the ends, use:

acts_as_ordered :order => ‘first_name’, :wrap => true

You can use this in a application to be able to quickly browse through
people. Eg:

class PersonController < ApplicationController
def view_neighbour
# params[:direction] is passed off the page as ‘next’ or
‘previous’
@person = Person.find(params[:id]).send(params[:direction])
render :action => ‘view’
end
end

Problems, comments, and suggestions all welcome.

Cheers, -Jonathan.

2

I’ve just added the ability to jump by more than one at a time.

Say you have people with first names of Adam, Jonathan and Robert:

Without wrapping (clamps to ends)

p = Person.find_by_first_name(‘Jonathan’)
p.next(2) # Robert
p.next(100) # Robert
p.previous(100) # Jonathan

With wrapping (wraps around ends as many times as you like)

p = Person.find_by_first_name(‘Jonathan’)
p.next(8) # Adam
p.previous(17) # Robert

It will clamp or wrap around the ends depending on whether or not you
specify :wrap => true.

Cheers, -Jonathan.

3

Wow! That’s really cool. Thanks,