Changed the default of ActionView#render to assume partials instead of files when not given an options hash [DHH]

actionpack/CHANGELOG

@@ -1,5 +1,21 @@
 *2.3.0/3.0*
 
+* Changed the default of ActionView#render to assume partials instead of files when not given an options hash [DHH]. Examples:
+
+    # Instead of <%= render :partial => "account" %>
+    <%= render "account" %>
+    
+    # Instead of <%= render :partial => "account", :locals => { :account => @buyer } %>
+    <%= render "account", :account => @buyer %>
+    
+    # @account is an Account instance, so it uses the RecordIdentifier to replace
+    # <%= render :partial => "accounts/account", :locals => { :account => @account } %>
+    <%= render(@account) %>
+    
+    # @posts is an array of Post instances, so it uses the RecordIdentifier to replace
+    # <%= render :partial => "posts/post", :collection => @posts %>
+    <%= render(@posts) %>
+
 * Fixed RedCloth and BlueCloth shouldn't preload. Instead just assume that they're available if you want to use textilize and markdown and let autoload require them [DHH]
 
 

actionpack/lib/action_view/base.rb

@@ -234,16 +234,21 @@ module ActionView #:nodoc:
       @view_paths = self.class.process_view_paths(paths)
     end
 
-    # Renders the template present at <tt>template_path</tt> (relative to the view_paths array).
-    # The hash in <tt>local_assigns</tt> is made available as local variables.
+    # Returns the result of a render that's dictated by the options hash. The primary options are:
+    # 
+    # * <tt>:partial</tt> - See ActionView::Partials.
+    # * <tt>:update</tt> - Calls update_page with the block given.
+    # * <tt>:file</tt> - Renders an explicit template file (this used to be the old default), add :locals to pass in those.
+    # * <tt>:inline</tt> - Renders an inline template similar to how it's done in the controller.
+    # * <tt>:text</tt> - Renders the text passed in out.
+    #
+    # If no options hash is passed or :update specified, the default is to render a partial and use the second parameter
+    # as the locals hash.
     def render(options = {}, local_assigns = {}, &block) #:nodoc:
       local_assigns ||= {}
 
-      if options.is_a?(String)
-        render(:file => options, :locals => local_assigns)
-      elsif options == :update
-        update_page(&block)
-      elsif options.is_a?(Hash)
+      case options
+      when Hash
         options = options.reverse_merge(:locals => {})
         if options[:layout]
           _render_with_layout(options, local_assigns, &block)
@@ -256,6 +261,10 @@ module ActionView #:nodoc:
         elsif options[:text]
           options[:text]
         end
+      when :update
+        update_page(&block)
+      else
+        render_partial(:partial => options, :locals => local_assigns)
       end
     end
 

actionpack/lib/action_view/partials.rb

@@ -46,6 +46,38 @@ module ActionView
   #
   # This will render the partial "advertisement/_ad.erb" regardless of which controller this is being called from.
   #
+  # == Rendering objects with the RecordIdentifier
+  #
+  # Instead of explicitly naming the location of a partial, you can also let the RecordIdentifier do the work if
+  # you're following its conventions for RecordIdentifier#partial_path. Examples:
+  #
+  #  # @account is an Account instance, so it uses the RecordIdentifier to replace
+  #  # <%= render :partial => "accounts/account", :locals => { :account => @buyer } %>
+  #  <%= render :partial => @account %>
+  #
+  #  # @posts is an array of Post instances, so it uses the RecordIdentifier to replace
+  #  # <%= render :partial => "posts/post", :collection => @posts %>
+  #  <%= render :partial => @posts %>
+  #
+  # == Rendering the default case
+  #
+  # If you're not going to be using any of the options like collections or layouts, you can also use the short-hand
+  # defaults of render to render partials. Examples:
+  #
+  #  # Instead of <%= render :partial => "account" %>
+  #  <%= render "account" %>
+  #
+  #  # Instead of <%= render :partial => "account", :locals => { :account => @buyer } %>
+  #  <%= render "account", :account => @buyer %>
+  #
+  #  # @account is an Account instance, so it uses the RecordIdentifier to replace
+  #  # <%= render :partial => "accounts/account", :locals => { :account => @account } %>
+  #  <%= render(@account) %>
+  #
+  #  # @posts is an array of Post instances, so it uses the RecordIdentifier to replace
+  #  # <%= render :partial => "posts/post", :collection => @posts %>
+  #  <%= render(@posts) %>
+  #
   # == Rendering partials with layouts
   #
   # Partials can have their own layouts applied to them. These layouts are different than the ones that are

actionpack/test/fixtures/test/hello.builder

@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
 xml.html do
   xml.p "Hello #{@name}"
-  xml << render("test/greeting")
+  xml << render(:file => "test/greeting")
 end

actionpack/test/template/compiled_templates_test.rb

@@ -12,30 +12,30 @@ uses_mocha 'TestTemplateRecompilation' do
 
     def test_template_gets_compiled
       assert_equal 0, @compiled_templates.instance_methods.size
-      assert_equal "Hello world!", render("test/hello_world.erb")
+      assert_equal "Hello world!", render(:file => "test/hello_world.erb")
       assert_equal 1, @compiled_templates.instance_methods.size
     end
 
     def test_template_gets_recompiled_when_using_different_keys_in_local_assigns
       assert_equal 0, @compiled_templates.instance_methods.size
-      assert_equal "Hello world!", render("test/hello_world.erb")
-      assert_equal "Hello world!", render("test/hello_world.erb", {:foo => "bar"})
+      assert_equal "Hello world!", render(:file => "test/hello_world.erb")
+      assert_equal "Hello world!", render(:file => "test/hello_world.erb", :locals => {:foo => "bar"})
       assert_equal 2, @compiled_templates.instance_methods.size
     end
 
     def test_compiled_template_will_not_be_recompiled_when_rendered_with_identical_local_assigns
       assert_equal 0, @compiled_templates.instance_methods.size
-      assert_equal "Hello world!", render("test/hello_world.erb")
+      assert_equal "Hello world!", render(:file => "test/hello_world.erb")
       ActionView::Template.any_instance.expects(:compile!).never
-      assert_equal "Hello world!", render("test/hello_world.erb")
+      assert_equal "Hello world!", render(:file => "test/hello_world.erb")
     end
 
     def test_compiled_template_will_always_be_recompiled_when_eager_loaded_templates_is_off
       ActionView::PathSet::Path.expects(:eager_load_templates?).times(4).returns(false)
       assert_equal 0, @compiled_templates.instance_methods.size
-      assert_equal "Hello world!", render("#{FIXTURE_LOAD_PATH}/test/hello_world.erb")
+      assert_equal "Hello world!", render(:file => "#{FIXTURE_LOAD_PATH}/test/hello_world.erb")
       ActionView::Template.any_instance.expects(:compile!).times(3)
-      3.times { assert_equal "Hello world!", render("#{FIXTURE_LOAD_PATH}/test/hello_world.erb") }
+      3.times { assert_equal "Hello world!", render(:file => "#{FIXTURE_LOAD_PATH}/test/hello_world.erb") }
       assert_equal 1, @compiled_templates.instance_methods.size
     end
 

actionpack/test/template/render_test.rb

@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ class ViewRenderTest < Test::Unit::TestCase
   end
 
   def test_render_file
-    assert_equal "Hello world!", @view.render("test/hello_world.erb")
+    assert_equal "Hello world!", @view.render(:file => "test/hello_world.erb")
   end
 
   def test_render_file_not_using_full_path
@@ -16,11 +16,11 @@ class ViewRenderTest < Test::Unit::TestCase
   end
 
   def test_render_file_without_specific_extension
-    assert_equal "Hello world!", @view.render("test/hello_world")
+    assert_equal "Hello world!", @view.render(:file => "test/hello_world")
   end
 
   def test_render_file_at_top_level
-    assert_equal 'Elastica', @view.render('/shared')
+    assert_equal 'Elastica', @view.render(:file => '/shared')
   end
 
   def test_render_file_with_full_path
@@ -29,20 +29,20 @@ class ViewRenderTest < Test::Unit::TestCase
   end
 
   def test_render_file_with_instance_variables
-    assert_equal "The secret is in the sauce\n", @view.render("test/render_file_with_ivar.erb")
+    assert_equal "The secret is in the sauce\n", @view.render(:file => "test/render_file_with_ivar.erb")
   end
 
   def test_render_file_with_locals
     locals = { :secret => 'in the sauce' }
-    assert_equal "The secret is in the sauce\n", @view.render("test/render_file_with_locals.erb", locals)
+    assert_equal "The secret is in the sauce\n", @view.render(:file => "test/render_file_with_locals.erb", :locals => locals)
   end
 
   def test_render_file_not_using_full_path_with_dot_in_path
-    assert_equal "The secret is in the sauce\n", @view.render("test/dot.directory/render_file_with_ivar")
+    assert_equal "The secret is in the sauce\n", @view.render(:file => "test/dot.directory/render_file_with_ivar")
   end
 
   def test_render_has_access_current_template
-    assert_equal "test/template.erb", @view.render("test/template.erb")
+    assert_equal "test/template.erb", @view.render(:file => "test/template.erb")
   end
 
   def test_render_update
@@ -51,6 +51,10 @@ class ViewRenderTest < Test::Unit::TestCase
     assert_equal 'alert("Hello, World!");', @view.render(:update) { |page| page.alert('Hello, World!') }
   end
 
+  def test_render_partial_from_default
+    assert_equal "only partial", @view.render("test/partial_only")
+  end
+
   def test_render_partial
     assert_equal "only partial", @view.render(:partial => "test/partial_only")
   end
@@ -73,6 +77,10 @@ class ViewRenderTest < Test::Unit::TestCase
     assert_equal "5", @view.render(:partial => "test/counter", :locals => { :counter_counter => 5 })
   end
 
+  def test_render_partial_with_locals_from_default
+    assert_equal "only partial", @view.render("test/partial_only", :counter_counter => 5)
+  end
+
   def test_render_partial_with_errors
     @view.render(:partial => "test/raise")
     flunk "Render did not raise TemplateError"