Question

Using Rails 3. This is a front-end design question.

Goal:

Contact | Email | URL

show.html.erb:

<% if !@shop.contact.blank? %>
  <%= @shop.contact %>
<% end %>
<% if !@shop.email.blank? %>
  <%= @shop.email %>
<% end %>
<% if !@shop.url.blank? %>
  <%= link_to @shop.url, @shop.url, :target => "_blank" %>
<% end %>

How do I put in | only when the previous and after element has values? At current stage, if there is no value, nothing is output.

Many thanks.

Answer 1

<% url = link_to(@shop.url, @shop.url, :target => "_blank") if @shop.url.present? %>
<%= [@shop.contact, @shop.email, url].select(&:present?).join(" | ") %>

This creates an array of all your elements, selects those which have a value (as present? is the opposite of blank?) and then joins each element of the remaining array by putting a pipe between them.

That said, if you have more complex logic, you should probably create a helper method. The ERB templates are not a good place for complex logic. This above is bordering acceptable.