Skip to Content Skip to Search

Abstract Controller Base

AbstractController::Base is a low-level API. Nobody should be using it directly, and subclasses (like ActionController::Base) are expected to provide their own render method, since rendering means different things depending on the context.

Methods
A
C
F
I
M
P
R
S
Included Modules

Attributes

[R] abstract
[R] abstract?

Class Public methods

abstract!()

Define a controller as abstract. See internal_methods for more details.

# File actionpack/lib/abstract_controller/base.rb, line 58
def abstract!
  @abstract = true
end

action_methods()

A list of method names that should be considered actions. This includes all public instance methods on a controller, less any internal methods (see internal_methods), adding back in any methods that are internal, but still exist on the class itself.

Returns

  • Set - A set of all methods that should be considered actions.

# File actionpack/lib/abstract_controller/base.rb, line 97
def action_methods
  @action_methods ||= begin
    # All public instance methods of this class, including ancestors except for
    # public instance methods of Base and its ancestors.
    methods = public_instance_methods(true) - internal_methods
    # Be sure to include shadowed public instance methods of this class.
    methods.concat(public_instance_methods(false))
    methods.map!(&:to_s)
    methods.to_set
  end
end

clear_action_methods!()

action_methods are cached and there is sometimes a need to refresh them. ::clear_action_methods! allows you to do that, so next time you run action_methods, they will be recalculated.

# File actionpack/lib/abstract_controller/base.rb, line 112
def clear_action_methods!
  @action_methods = nil
end

controller_path()

Returns the full controller name, underscored, without the ending Controller.

class MyApp::MyPostsController < AbstractController::Base

end

MyApp::MyPostsController.controller_path # => "my_app/my_posts"

Returns

  • String

# File actionpack/lib/abstract_controller/base.rb, line 127
def controller_path
  @controller_path ||= name.delete_suffix("Controller").underscore unless anonymous?
end

internal_methods()

A list of all internal methods for a controller. This finds the first abstract superclass of a controller, and gets a list of all public instance methods on that abstract class. Public instance methods of a controller would normally be considered action methods, so methods declared on abstract classes are being removed. (ActionController::Metal and ActionController::Base are defined as abstract)

# File actionpack/lib/abstract_controller/base.rb, line 77
def internal_methods
  controller = self
  methods = []

  until controller.abstract?
    methods += controller.public_instance_methods(false)
    controller = controller.superclass
  end

  controller.public_instance_methods(true) - methods
end

method_added(name)

Refresh the cached action_methods when a new action_method is added.

# File actionpack/lib/abstract_controller/base.rb, line 132
def method_added(name)
  super
  clear_action_methods!
end

supports_path?()

Returns true if the given controller is capable of rendering a path. A subclass of AbstractController::Base may return false. An Email controller for example does not support paths, only full URLs.

# File actionpack/lib/abstract_controller/base.rb, line 200
def self.supports_path?
  true
end

Instance Public methods

action_methods()

Delegates to the class’s ::action_methods.

# File actionpack/lib/abstract_controller/base.rb, line 172
def action_methods
  self.class.action_methods
end

action_name

Returns the name of the action this controller is processing.

# File actionpack/lib/abstract_controller/base.rb, line 44
attr_internal :action_name

available_action?(action_name)

Returns true if a method for the action is available and can be dispatched, false otherwise.

Notice that action_methods.include?("foo") may return false and available_action?("foo") returns true because this method considers actions that are also available through other means, for example, implicit render ones.

Parameters

  • action_name - The name of an action to be tested

# File actionpack/lib/abstract_controller/base.rb, line 187
def available_action?(action_name)
  _find_action_name(action_name)
end

controller_path()

Delegates to the class’s ::controller_path.

# File actionpack/lib/abstract_controller/base.rb, line 167
def controller_path
  self.class.controller_path
end

formats

Returns the formats that can be processed by the controller.

# File actionpack/lib/abstract_controller/base.rb, line 48
attr_internal :formats

performed?()

Tests if a response body is set. Used to determine if the process_action callback needs to be terminated in AbstractController::Callbacks.

# File actionpack/lib/abstract_controller/base.rb, line 193
def performed?
  response_body
end

process(action, ...)

Calls the action going through the entire Action Dispatch stack.

The actual method that is called is determined by calling method_for_action. If no method can handle the action, then an AbstractController::ActionNotFound error is raised.

Returns

  • self

# File actionpack/lib/abstract_controller/base.rb, line 154
def process(action, ...)
  @_action_name = action.to_s

  unless action_name = _find_action_name(@_action_name)
    raise ActionNotFound.new("The action '#{action}' could not be found for #{self.class.name}", self, action)
  end

  @_response_body = nil

  process_action(action_name, ...)
end

response_body

Returns the body of the HTTP response sent by the controller.

# File actionpack/lib/abstract_controller/base.rb, line 40
attr_internal :response_body