Rails - Mar 2006 - number_to_currency() helper == non DRY == could be improved

Hi all,

Apologies in advance if I got this one wrong, I''m still just a  
newbie ;-)

Going through the Apple ADC RoR tutorial it suddenly occurred to me  
that the ''number_to_currency()'' helper method was not DRY
streamlined.

Scenario::
The "number_to_currency()" methods options hash works great when I  
need to dynamically display different currencies when I call  
"number_to_currency()", as long a I have an idea of what the currency
should be each time ;-)

But, what if I want all instances of a currency to display as GBP, ?,  
SEK or any other currency ? Then I would have to create a CONSTANT  
for that currency and then include that option in every instance of  
the ''number_to_currency()'' method.

number_to_currency(0.02)    versus     number_to_currency(0.02,  
{:unit => MY_CURRENCY_CONSTANT} )

Not to bad some may say, but it''s still not exactly DRY nor elegant  
is it ?

Instead I would propose as similar scheme to the ''session_key''
override functionality that I use a lot.

##  add a custom session ID for this site (when developing with many  
apps on local system)
ActionController::CgiRequest::DEFAULT_SESSION_OPTIONS[:session_key] =  
''00_shows_at_top_of_sorted_cookies_list''

Whereby we could define the DEFAULT_CURRENCY_TYPE in the  
environment.rb or something similar.

However, an app could also need to be localized, ie I might want the  
default currency to be ? and someone else might want the ? (euro) in  
their session of the same app.

So, I see this issue, but is not (yet) knowledgeable enough to figure  
out a proper fix for it and submit it as a ticket, hence this post  
here, for someone else to pick up and hopefully ''run'' with ;-)
As I
said above, apologies if this is the wrong approach or a stupid idea.


Kind regards,

Mats

----
"TextMate, coding with an incredible sense of joy and ease"
- www.macromates.com -


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Why don''t you just define your own helper action that calls
number_to_currency with the proper options? Something like:

def number_to_pounds (number)
    number_to_currency(number, {:unit => "£", :separator
=> ",",
:delimiter => ""})
end


/ CJ

On 3/3/06, Mats Persson <mats@imediatec.co.uk>
wrote:
>
>
> Hi all,
>
> Apologies in advance if I got this one wrong, I''m still just a
newbie ;-)
>
> Going through the Apple ADC RoR tutorial it suddenly occurred to me that
the
> ''number_to_currency()'' helper method was not DRY
streamlined.
>
> Scenario::
> The "number_to_currency()" methods options hash works great when
I need to
> dynamically display different currencies when I call
"number_to_currency()",
> as long a I have an idea of what the currency should be each time ;-)
>
> But, what if I want all instances of a currency to display as GBP, ?, SEK
or
> any other currency ? Then I would have to create a CONSTANT for that
> currency and then include that option in every instance of the
> ''number_to_currency()'' method.
>
> number_to_currency(0.02)    versus     number_to_currency(0.02, {:unit
=>
> MY_CURRENCY_CONSTANT} )
>
> Not to bad some may say, but it''s still not exactly DRY nor
elegant is it ?
>
> Instead I would propose as similar scheme to the
''session_key'' override
> functionality that I use a lot.
>
> ##  add a custom session ID for this site (when developing with many apps
on
> local system)
> ActionController::CgiRequest::DEFAULT_SESSION_OPTIONS[:session_key]
> = ''00_shows_at_top_of_sorted_cookies_list''
>
> Whereby we could define the DEFAULT_CURRENCY_TYPE in the environment.rb or
> something similar.
>
> However, an app could also need to be localized, ie I might want the
default
> currency to be ? and someone else might want the ? (euro) in their session
> of the same app.
>
> So, I see this issue, but is not (yet) knowledgeable enough to figure out a
> proper fix for it and submit it as a ticket, hence this post here, for
> someone else to pick up and hopefully ''run'' with ;-)  As
I said above,
> apologies if this is the wrong approach or a stupid idea.
>
>
>
> Kind regards,
>
>
> Mats
>
>
> ----
> "TextMate, coding with an incredible sense of joy and ease"
> - www.macromates.com -
>
>
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>
>
>