Rails - Jun 2005 - render or render_partial into a string?

Is there any way from a controller to simply render an rhtml template  
into a string? Calling render or render_partial renders it directly  
into the HTTP response.

The context: I''m trying to construct an e-mail (without using  
ActionMailer...and yes, I have good reasons for this) and I want to  
use a template to render part of the body of the e-mail.

Cheers,

Pete Yandell

On May 31, 2005, at 7:04 PM, Pete Yandell wrote:
> Is there any way from a controller to simply render an rhtml  
> template into a string? Calling render or render_partial renders it  
> directly into the HTTP response.
>
> The context: I''m trying to construct an e-mail (without using  
> ActionMailer...and yes, I have good reasons for this) and I want to  
> use a template to render part of the body of the e-mail.
You want render_to_string:

   http://api.rubyonrails.com/classes/ActionController/Base.html#M000164

Hope that helps,

Jamis

On 01/06/2005, at 1:56 PM, Jamis Buck wrote:
> On May 31, 2005, at 7:04 PM, Pete Yandell wrote:
>
>> Is there any way from a controller to simply render an rhtml  
>> template into a string? Calling render or render_partial renders  
>> it directly into the HTTP response.
>
> You want render_to_string:
>
>   http://api.rubyonrails.com/classes/ActionController/ 
> Base.html#M000164
OK, but how do I get the equivalent of the local_assigns parameter in  
render_partial? Or should I just set instance variables on the  
controller and then call render_to_string?

Cheers,

Pete Yandell

On Jun 1, 2005, at 12:48 AM, Pete Yandell wrote:
> On 01/06/2005, at 1:56 PM, Jamis Buck wrote:
>
>
>> On May 31, 2005, at 7:04 PM, Pete Yandell wrote:
>>
>>
>>> Is there any way from a controller to simply render an rhtml  
>>> template into a string? Calling render or render_partial renders  
>>> it directly into the HTTP response.
>>>
>>
>> You want render_to_string:
>>
>>   http://api.rubyonrails.com/classes/ActionController/ 
>> Base.html#M000164
>>
>
> OK, but how do I get the equivalent of the local_assigns parameter  
> in render_partial? Or should I just set instance variables on the  
> controller and then call render_to_string?
Yup, just set instance variables. In the latest-and-greatest rails  
(i.e., svn HEAD), you could do:

   result = render(:partial => "foo", :locals => {...})
   erase_render_results

But that won''t work with the currently released version.

- Jamis