merb 0.3.4 → 0.3.7

data/lib/merb/merb_upload_handler.rb

@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 module Mongrel
   module Const
     POST         = 'POST'.freeze         unless const_defined?(:POST)
+    PUT          = 'PUT'.freeze          unless const_defined?(:PUT)
     QUERY_STRING = 'QUERY_STRING'.freeze unless const_defined?(:QUERY_STRING)
     UPLOAD_ID    = 'upload_id'.freeze
   end
@@ -72,7 +73,7 @@ class MerbUploadHandler < Mongrel::HttpHandler
     
     def valid_upload?(params)
       @path_info.any? { |p| params[Mongrel::Const::PATH_INFO].include?(p) } &&
-        params[Mongrel::Const::REQUEST_METHOD] == Mongrel::Const::POST &&
+        [Mongrel::Const::POST, Mongrel::Const::PUT].include?(params[Mongrel::Const::REQUEST_METHOD]) &&
         Mongrel::HttpRequest.query_parse(params[Mongrel::Const::QUERY_STRING])[Mongrel::Const::UPLOAD_ID]
     end
 end

data/lib/merb/merb_view_context.rb

@@ -6,26 +6,23 @@ module Merb
   PROTECTED_IVARS = %w[@_new_cookie
                        @method
                        @env
-                       @body
+                       @controller
+                       @_body
                        @_fingerprint_before
-                       @pager
-                       @session
-                       @headers
-                       @page
-                       @cookies
-                       @request
-                       @status
+                       @_session
+                       @_headers
+                       @_cookies
+                       @_request
+                       @_status
                        @_view_context_cache
-                       @response
-                       @params]
+                       @_response
+                       @_params]
                        
   module GlobalHelper
   end    
-  # the ViewContext is really
-  # just an empty container for us to fill with instance 
-  # variables from the controller, include helpers into
-  # and then use as the context object passed to Erubis
-  # when evaluating the templates.
+  # The ViewContext is really just an empty container for us to fill with
+  # instance variables from the controller, include helpers into and then use as
+  # the context object passed to Erubis when evaluating the templates.
   class ViewContext
     include Merb::ViewContextMixin
     include Merb::FormControls
@@ -53,6 +50,30 @@ module Merb
     def controller
       @controller
     end
+    
+    def request
+      @controller.request  
+    end
+            
+    def params
+      @controller.params
+    end  
+    
+    def cookies
+      @controller.cookies
+    end  
+
+    def headers
+      @controller.headers
+    end
+    
+    def session
+      @controller.session
+    end
+
+    def response
+      @controller.response
+    end
       
     alias_method :old_respond_to?, :respond_to?
     

data/lib/merb/mixins/basic_authentication_mixin.rb

@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ module Merb
     def credentials
       if d = %w{REDIRECT_X_HTTP_AUTHORIZATION X_HTTP_AUTHORIZATION
              X-HTTP_AUTHORIZATION HTTP_AUTHORIZATION}.
-             inject([]) { |d,h| @env.has_key?(h) ? @env[h].to_s.split : d }
+             inject([]) { |d,h| request.env.has_key?(h) ? request.env[h].to_s.split : d }
         return Base64.decode64(d[1]).split(':')[0..1] if d[0] == 'Basic'
       end
     end
@@ -23,10 +23,10 @@ module Merb
     end
       
     def access_denied
-      @status = 401
-      @headers['Content-type'] = 'text/plain'
-      @headers['Status'] = 'Unauthorized'
-      @headers['WWW-Authenticate'] = "Basic realm=\"#{Merb::Server.basic_auth[:domain]}\""
+      set_status(401)
+      headers['Content-type'] = 'text/plain'
+      headers['Status'] = 'Unauthorized'
+      headers['WWW-Authenticate'] = "Basic realm=\"#{Merb::Server.basic_auth[:domain]}\""
       return 'Unauthorized'
     end  
       

data/lib/merb/mixins/controller_mixin.rb

@@ -1,15 +1,59 @@
 module Merb
   module ControllerMixin
+    
+    # Returns a URL according to the defined route.  Accepts the path and
+    # an options hash.  The path specifies the route requested.  The options 
+    # hash fills in the dynamic parts of the route.
+    # 
+    # Nested resources such as:
+    #  r.resources :blogposts do |post|
+    #    post.resources :comments
+    #  end
+    #
+    # Provide the following routes:
+    #   [:blogposts, "/blogposts"]
+    #   [:blogpost, "/blogposts/:id"]
+    #   [:edit_blogpost, "/blogposts/:id/edit"]
+    #   [:new_blogpost, "/blogposts/new"]
+    #   [:custom_new_blogpost, "/blogposts/new/:action"]
+    #   [:comments, "/blogposts/:blogpost_id/comments"]
+    #   [:comment, "/blogposts/:blogpost_id/comments/:id"]
+    #   [:edit_comment, "/blogposts/:blogpost_id/comments/:id/edit"]
+    #   [:new_comment, "/blogposts/:blogpost_id/comments/new"]
+    #   [:custom_new_comment, "/blogposts/:blogpost_id/comments/new/:action"]
+    #
+    # Examples:
+    #
+    #  @post = Post.find(1)
+    #  @comment = @post.comments.find(1)
+    #
+    #  url(:blogposts)                                    # => /blogposts
+    #  url(:new_post)                                     # => /blogposts/new
+    #  url(:blogpost, @post)                              # => /blogposts/1
+    #  url(:edit_blogpost, @post)                         # => /blogposts/1/edit
+    #  url(:custom_new_blogpost, :action => 'alternate')  # => /blogposts/new/alternate
+    #   
+    #  url(:comments, :blogpost => @post)         # => /blogposts/1/comments
+    #  url(:new_comment, :blogpost => @post)      # => /blogposts/1/comments/new
+    #  url(:comment, @comment)                    # => /blogposts/1/comments/1
+    #  url(:edit_comment, @comment)               # => /blogposts/1/comments/1/edit
+    #  url(:custom_new_comment, :blogpost => @post)
+    #
+    def url(path, o={})
+      ::Merb::Router.generate(path,o)
+    end
+    
+    protected
     NAME_REGEX = /Content-Disposition:.* name="?([^\";]*)"?/ni.freeze
     CONTENT_TYPE_REGEX = /Content-Type: (.*)\r\n/ni.freeze
     FILENAME_REGEX = /Content-Disposition:.* filename="?([^\";]*)"?/ni.freeze
     CRLF = "\r\n".freeze
     EOL = CRLF
-    def parse_multipart(request,boundary)
+    def parse_multipart(request,boundary,env)
       boundary = "--#{boundary}"
-      paramhsh = MerbHash.new
+      paramhsh = {}
       buf = ""
-      content_length = @env['CONTENT_LENGTH'].to_i
+      content_length = env['CONTENT_LENGTH'].to_i
       input = request
       input.binmode if defined? input.binmode
       boundary_size = boundary.size + EOL.size
@@ -86,10 +130,10 @@ module Merb
     def normalize_params(parms, key, val)
       case key
       when /(.+)\[(.+)\]\[\]$/
-        parms[$1] ||= MerbHash.new
+        parms[$1] ||= {}
         parms[$1] = normalize_params(parms[$1], "#{$2}[]", val)
       when /(.+)\[(.+)\]$/
-        parms[$1] ||= MerbHash.new
+        parms[$1] ||= {}
         parms[$1] = normalize_params(parms[$1], $2, val)
       when /(.+)\[\]$/
         (parms[$1] ||= []) << val
@@ -99,9 +143,6 @@ module Merb
       parms
     end
     
-    def url(path, o={})
-      ::Merb::Router.generator.generate(path,o)
-    end
     
     # parses a query string or the payload of a POST
     # request into the params hash. So for example:
@@ -109,11 +150,11 @@ module Merb
     # parses into:
     # {:bar => 'nik', :post => {:title => 'heya', :body => 'whatever'}}
     def query_parse(qs, d = '&;')
-      m = proc {|_,o,n|o.u(n,&m)rescue([*o]<<n)}
-      (qs||'').split(/[#{d}] */n).inject(MerbHash[]) { |h,p| 
+      m = proc {|_,o,n|o.update(n,&m)rescue([*o]<<n)}
+      (qs||'').split(/[#{d}] */n).inject(Hash[]) { |h,p| 
               k, v=unescape(p).split('=',2)
-              h.u(k.split(/[\]\[]+/).reverse.
-                inject(v) { |x,i| MerbHash[i,x] },&m)
+              h.update(k.split(/[\]\[]+/).reverse.
+                inject(v) { |x,i| Hash[i,x] },&m)
           }
     end
     
@@ -124,7 +165,7 @@ module Merb
     #   render_chunked do
     #     IO.popen("cat /tmp/test.log") do |io|
     #       done = false
-    #       until done == true do
+    #       until done
     #         sleep 0.3
     #         line = io.gets.chomp
     #         if line == 'EOF'
@@ -146,6 +187,15 @@ module Merb
       }
     end
     
+    def render_deferred(&blk)
+      Proc.new {
+        result = blk.call
+        response.send_status(result.length)
+        response.send_header
+        response.write(result)
+      }
+    end
+    
     # for use within a render_chunked response
     def send_chunk(data)
       response.write('%x' % data.size + "\r\n")
@@ -157,7 +207,7 @@ module Merb
     # be a fully qualified url to another site.
     def redirect(url)
       MERB_LOGGER.info("Redirecting to: #{url}")
-      @status = 302
+      set_status(302)
       headers.merge!({'Location'=> url})
       return ''
     end
@@ -181,8 +231,8 @@ module Merb
     # stream_file( { :filename => file_name, 
     #                :type => content_type,
     #                :content_length => content_length }) do
-    #   @response.send_status(opts[:content_length])
-    #   @response.send_header
+    #   response.send_status(opts[:content_length])
+    #   response.send_header
     #   AWS::S3::S3Object.stream(user.folder_name + "-" + user_file.unique_id, bucket_name) do |chunk|
     #       @response.write chunk
     #   end
@@ -191,7 +241,7 @@ module Merb
       opts.update(Merb::Const::DEFAULT_SEND_FILE_OPTIONS.merge(opts))
       disposition = opts[:disposition].dup || 'attachment'
       disposition << %(; filename="#{opts[:filename]}")
-      @response.headers.update(
+      response.headers.update(
         'Content-Type'              => opts[:type].strip,  # fixes a problem with extra '\r' with some browsers
         'Content-Disposition'       => disposition,
         'Content-Transfer-Encoding' => 'binary',
@@ -228,17 +278,6 @@ module Merb
       Digest::MD5.hexdigest("#{inspect}#{Time.now}#{rand}")
     end  
     
-    def rand_uuid
-      "%04x%04x-%04x-%04x-%04x-%06x%06x" % [
-                                            rand(0x0010000),
-                                            rand(0x0010000),
-                                            rand(0x0010000),
-                                            rand(0x0010000),
-                                            rand(0x0010000),
-                                            rand(0x1000000),
-                                            rand(0x1000000),
-                                           ]
-    end
 
     def escape_xml(obj)
       obj.to_s.gsub(/[&<>"']/) { |s| Merb::Const::ESCAPE_TABLE[s] }

data/lib/merb/mixins/erubis_capture_mixin.rb

@@ -41,14 +41,7 @@ module Merb
     def throw_content(name, content = nil, &block)
       eval "@_#{name}_content = (@_#{name}_content || '') + capture(&block)"
     end
-    
-    # catch_content catches the thrown content from another template
-    # So when you throw_content(:foo) {...} you can catch_content :foo
-    # in another view or the layout.
-    def catch_content(name)
-      instance_variable_get("@_#{name}_content")
-    end
-    
+        
     private
       def capture_block(*args, &block)
         block.call(*args)

data/lib/merb/mixins/form_control_mixin.rb

@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@ require 'date'
 require 'ostruct'
 
 class OpenStruct
-  def temp hash
+  def temp(hash)
     OpenStruct.new(@table.merge(hash))
   end
 end
@@ -10,91 +10,329 @@ end
 module Merb
   module FormControls
     #
-    # this is the main merb form control helper. It can build
-    # either textfield, textarea, date selects, or time selects.
+    # This is the main merb form control helper. 
+    # The types that can be rendered are
+    #   
+    #   text     => A standard textfield
+    #   textarea => A textarea
+    #   password => A password field
+    #   date     => A select menu with day, month and year
+    #   time     => As date + hour, minute and second
+    #   select   => A select menu for a custom collection in Array or Hash
     #
-    # <%= control_for @post, :title, :text, :id => 'foo', :size => 53 %>
-    # <%= control_for @post, :intro, :textarea, :class => 'post_intro', 
-    #	                                          :rows => 10, :cols => 50 %>
-    # <%= control_for @post, :created_at, :time %>
-    # <%= control_for @post, :published_at, :date %>
     #
-    # TODO : is this useful enough? Needs some love
-    def control_for(obj, meth, type, opts={})
+    # HTML-formatting and some control-options can be given in +options+
+    #
+    # === Defaults
+    #   id    => obj.class       (class_name_in_camel_case)
+    #   name  => obj.class[meth] (class_name_in_camel_case[control_method])
+    #   value => The value of obj.meth 
+    #
+    # ==== Options
+    # +HTML+, +DOM+ and +CSS+
+    #   :class, :size, :rows, :cols, :name, ...
+    #
+    # +label+
+    # Setting this label will include a label tag pointing at the field that 
+    # displays the value of :label in the options hash
+    #
+    #
+    # ==== Examples
+    # The bare minimum
+    #   <%= control_for @post, :title, :text%>
+    # renders a textfield for @post.title
+    #
+    #   <%= control_for @post, :content, :textarea %>
+    # renders a textarea for @post.content
+    #
+    #   <%= control_for @post, :secret, :password %>
+    # renders a password-field for @post.secret
+    #     
+    # Some HTML and CSS options
+    #   <%= control_for @post, :title, :text, 
+    #       :id => 'foo', :size => 53 %>
+    #
+    #   <%= control_for @post, :content, :textarea, 
+    #       :class => 'post_intro', :rows => 10, :cols => 50 %>
+    #
+    #
+    # === Time and date
+    #
+    # +monthnames+
+    # for time and date selects, shows monthnames as text. 
+    # An array of monthnames can be supplied
+    #   (defaults to Date::MONTHNAMES)
+    # 
+    # +min_year+ and +max_year+
+    # for time and date selects, sets the first and last year
+    #   (defaults to 1950 and 2050)
+    #
+    # ==== Examples
+    #
+    # Simple time and date
+    #   <%= control_for @post, :created_at, :time %>
+    #   <%= control_for @post, :published_at, :date %>
+    #
+    # In time and date controls, monthnames can be added
+    #   <%= control_for @post, :created_at, :time, :monthnames => true %>
+    #
+    # You can also specify other month-names                      
+    #   <%= control_for @post, :published_at, :date, 
+    #                       :monthnames => Date::ABBR_MONTHNAMES %>
+    # or 
+    #   french_months = [nil] + %w(janvier février mars avril mai juin 
+    #                   juillet août septembre octobre novembre décembre)
+    #   
+    #   <%= control_for @post, :published_at, :date, 
+    #                         {:monthnames => french_months} %> 
+    #                       
+    # In time and date controls, :min_year and :max_year can be specified. 
+    # Defaults to 1950..2050
+    #   <%= control_for @post, :created_at, :time, 
+    #       :min_year => 2000, :max_year => 2010 %>
+    #   
+    #   <%= control_for @post, :published_at, :date, 
+    #       :min_year => Date.today.year, :max_year => Date.today.year+2 %>
+    # 
+    # 
+    # === Select Tags
+    # The control_for( object, :method, :select, {:collection => collection} )
+    # creates a <select> tag that automatically selects the given object
+    #
+    # === Special Options
+    # +collection+
+    # The collection can be an array of objects, or a hash of arrays of objects.  
+    # This is required if you want any options to be displayed
+    # 
+    # +text_method+
+    # The method that will provide the text for the option to display to the user.  
+    # By default it will use the control method
+    # 
+    # +include_blank+
+    # Includes a blank option at the top of the list if set to true
+    # 
+    # All options provided to the call to control_for are rendered as xml/html tag attributes
+    #
+    # ==== Examples
+    #
+    # Imagine cars, with a brand (BMW, Toyota, ...) a model
+    # (Z3, Carina, Prius) and some internal code.
+    #
+    #   class Car 
+    #     ...
+    #     attr_reader :brand, :model, :code
+    #   end
+    #
+    # An array of objects 
+    #   @all_cars = [ car1, car2, car3 ]
+    # 
+    #   <%= control_for @car2, :code, :select, 
+    #                {:text_method => :model, :collection => @all_cars } %>
+    #
+    #   <select name="car[code]" id="car_code">
+    #     <option                     value="code_for_car_1">Z3</option>
+    #     <option selected="selected" value="code_for_car_2">Carina</option>
+    #     <option                     value="code_for_car_3">Prius</option>
+    #   </select>
+    #
+    # The same array of cars but run through a group_by on :brand to give a hash
+    #  
+    #   @all_cars = @all_cars.group_by{|car| car.brand }
+    #  
+    #   { :bmw    => [car1],
+    #     :toyota => [car2, car3] 
+    #   }
+    # 
+    #   <%= control_for @car2, :code, :select, 
+    #                {:text_method => :model, :collection => @all_cars } %>
+    #
+    #   <select name="car[code]" id="car_code">
+    #     <optgroup label="BMW">
+    #       <option value="code_for_car_1">Z3</option>
+    #     </optgroup>
+    #     <optgroup label="Toyota">
+    #       <option selected="selected" value="code_for_car_2">Carina</option>
+    #       <option                     value="code_for_car_3">Prius</option>
+    #     </optgroup>
+    #  </select>
+    #
+
+    
+    def control_for( obj, meth, type, opts = {} )
       instance = obj
       obj = obj.class
-      o = OpenStruct.new(:name  => "#{obj.to_s.downcase}[#{meth}]",
-                         :value => (instance.send(meth) rescue nil),
-                         :title => (opts.has_key?(:title) ? opts.delete(:title) : nil),
-                         :html  => opts)            
-      Control.send(type, o)                
+      # FooBar        => foo_bar
+      # Admin::FooBar => admin_foo_bar
+      obj_dom_id = Inflector.underscore(obj.to_s).gsub('/', '_')
+      default_opts = {
+        # These are in here to make sure that they are set.  They can be overridden if the user wants to.
+        :id   => "#{obj_dom_id}_#{meth}",
+        :name => "#{obj_dom_id}[#{meth}]",
+        :value => (instance.send(meth) rescue nil) || ""
+      }
+      o = OpenStruct.new(
+                         :value => default_opts[:value], # Just for convenience
+                         :label => ( opts.has_key?( :label ) ? opts.delete( :label ) : nil ),
+                         :monthnames => (if opts.has_key?(:monthnames)
+                                           opts[:monthnames]==true ? Date::MONTHNAMES : opts.delete(:monthnames)
+                                         else
+                                           nil 
+                                         end), 
+                         :meth  => meth,
+                         :obj   => instance,
+                         :min_year => (opts.has_key?(:min_year) ? opts.delete(:min_year) : 1950),
+                         :max_year => (opts.has_key?(:max_year) ? opts.delete(:max_year) : 2050),
+                         :html  => default_opts.merge(opts))
+      Control.send(type, o)
     end
     
     module Control
       
-      # This is ripped wholesale from Ramaze with some modifications to work
-      # with AR objects instead of Og. Thanks again to Michael Fellinger
+      # This was ripped wholesale from Ramaze and has had some fairly major modifications to work
+      # with AR objects instead of Og. Thanks again to Michael Fellinger.
       class << self
 
         def number(o)
-          o.value ||= 0
+          o.value = o.html[:value] = 0 if o.value == ""
           text(o)
         end
 
         def hidden(o)
-          o.value ||= ""
-          %{<input type="hidden" name="#{o.name}" value="#{o.value}" #{o.html ? o.html.map{|k,v| "#{k}=\"#{v}\""}.join(' ') : nil}/>}
+          input_tag( o.html.merge( :type => 'hidden' ) )
         end
         
         def text(o)
-          o.value ||= ""
           tag = ''
-          tag << "#{o.title}: " if o.title
-          tag << %{<input type="text" name="#{o.name}" value="#{o.value}" #{o.html ? o.html.map{|k,v| "#{k}=\"#{v}\""}.join(' ') : nil}/>}
+          tag << label_for_object( o )
+          tag << input_tag( o.html.merge( :type => 'text' ) )
         end
+        
+       def password(o)
+         o.html.delete( :value ) if o.html.has_key?( :value ) # The password field should not be filled in
+         tag = ''
+         tag << label_for_object( o )
+         tag << input_tag( o.html.merge( :type => 'password' ) )
+       end
 
         def textarea(o)
-          o.value ||= ""
-          %{<textarea name="#{o.name}" #{o.html ? o.html.map{|k,v| "#{k}=\"#{v}\""}.join(' ') : nil}>#{o.value}</textarea>}
+          tag = ''
+          tag << label_for_object( o )
+          tag << %{<textarea #{options_as_attributes( o.html ) }>#{o.value}</textarea>}
         end
 
         def date(o)
           o.value ||= Date.today
           selects = []
-          selects << date_day(o.temp(:value => o.value.day))
+          selects << label_for_object( o )
+          selects << date_day(o.temp(:value   => o.value.day))
           selects << date_month(o.temp(:value => o.value.month))
-          selects << date_year(o.temp(:value => o.value.year))
+          selects << date_year(o.temp(:value  => o.value.year))
           selects.join("\n")
         end
 
         def time(o)
           o.value ||= Time.now
           selects = []
-          selects << date_day(o.temp(:value => o.value.day))
-          selects << date_month(o.temp(:value => o.value.month))
-          selects << date_year(o.temp(:value => o.value.year))
-          selects << time_hour(o.temp(:value => o.value.hour))
+          selects << label_for_object( o )
+          selects << date_day(o.temp(:value    => o.value.day))
+          selects << date_month(o.temp(:value  => o.value.month))
+          selects << date_year(o.temp(:value   => o.value.year))
+          selects << time_hour(o.temp(:value   => o.value.hour))
           selects << time_minute(o.temp(:value => o.value.min))
           selects << time_second(o.temp(:value => o.value.sec))
           selects.join("\n")
         end
 
-        def time_second(o) select(o.name+'[second]', (0...60),o.value) end
-        def time_minute(o) select(o.name+'[minute]', (0...60),o.value) end
-        def time_hour(o)   select(o.name+'[hour]', (0...24),o.value) end
-        def date_day(o)    select(o.name+'[day]', (1..31),o.value) end
-        def date_month(o)  select(o.name+'[month]', (1..12),o.value) end
-        def date_year(o)   select(o.name+'[year]', (1950..2050),o.value) end
-
-        def select(name, range, default)
+        def time_second(o) select_tag(o.html[:name] +'[second]', (0...60),o.value) end
+        def time_minute(o) select_tag(o.html[:name] +'[minute]', (0...60),o.value) end
+        def time_hour(o)   select_tag(o.html[:name] +'[hour]',   (0...24),o.value) end
+        def date_day(o)    select_tag(o.html[:name] +'[day]',    (1..31),o.value)  end
+        def date_month(o)  select_tag(o.html[:name] +'[month]',  (1..12),o.value, ( o.monthnames.compact unless o.monthnames.nil? )) end
+        def date_year(o)   select_tag(o.html[:name] +'[year]',   (o.min_year..o.max_year),o.value) end
+        
+        def select( o )
+          options = {}
+            [:collection, :text_method, :include_blank].each do |value|
+            options[value] = o.html.has_key?( value ) ? o.html.delete( value ) : nil
+          end
+          out = ""
+          out << label_for_object( o )
+          out << %{<select #{options_as_attributes( o.html )}>}
+          out << %{#{options_for_select( o.obj, o.meth, options )}}
+          out << %{</select>}
+        end
+        
+        # Creates an input tag with the given +option+ hash as xml/html attributes
+        def input_tag( options )
+          %{<input #{options_as_attributes( options ) }/>}
+        end
+        
+        # Creates an select tag that is not nesiscarily bound to an objects value
+        # === Options
+        # +name+ The name of the select tag
+        # +range+ A range or array that specifies the values of the options
+        # +default+ The default value.  This will be selected if present
+        # +txt+ A parrallel array of text values
+        def select_tag(name, range, default, txt = nil)
           out = %{<select name="#{name}">\n}
-          range.each do |i|
-            out << %{  <option value="#{i}"#{' selected="selected"' if default == i}>#{i}</option>\n}
+          range.each_with_index do |value, index |
+            out << option_for_select( value, (txt ? txt[index] : value ), (default == value ) )
           end
           out << "</select>\n"
         end
+        
+        protected
+        
+        # Creates a label from the openstruct created in control_for
+        def label_for_object( o )
+          o.label.nil? ? "" : %{<label for="#{o.html[:id]}">#{o.label}</label>}
+        end
+        
+        # Converts a hash to use as attributes in an xml/html tag
+        def options_as_attributes( options )
+          options ? options.map{ |k,v| "#{k}=\"#{v}\""}.join( ' ' ) : nil
+        end      
+        
+        # The gateway to creating options for a select box
+        def options_for_select( obj, value_method, options )
+          text_method = options[:text_method] || value_method
+          collection = options[:collection] || []
+          
+          out = ""
+          out = "<option></option>" if options[:include_blank]
+          out << case collection
+          when Array
+            options_for_select_from_array( obj, collection, value_method, text_method )
+          when Hash
+            options_for_select_from_hash( obj, collection, value_method, text_method )
+          end
+        end
+        
+        def options_for_select_from_array( selected_object, collection, value_method, text_method )
+          out = ""
+          collection.each do | element|
+            out << option_for_select( element.send( value_method ), element.send( text_method ), (selected_object == element) )
+          end
+          out
+        end
+        
+        def options_for_select_from_hash( selected_object, collection, value_method, text_method )
+          out = ""
+          collection.keys.sort.each do |key|
+            out << %{<optgroup label="#{key.to_s.humanize.titleize}">}
+            out << options_for_select_from_array( selected_object, collection[key], value_method, text_method )
+            out << %{</optgroup>}
+          end
+          out
+        end
+        
+        # Creates that actual option tag for any given value, text and selected (true/false) combination
+        def option_for_select( value, text, selected )
+          out = %{<option#{ selected ? " selected=\"selected\"" : nil } }
+          out << %{value="#{value}">#{text}</option>}
+        end
       end
 
     end # Control
   end # FormHelper
-end  # Merb
+end  # Merb