LittleDecorator: Rails Model Decorator

LittleDecorator is an ultra-lightweight decorator for Rails models. There are only 42 lines of code in lib.

Installation

Include it in your Gemfile.

gem 'little_decorator'

Usage

Create Your Decorator

Add your decorator in app/decorators:

# app/decorators/user_decorator.rb
class UserDecorator < LittleDecorator

  def full_name
    "#{first_name} #{last_name}"
  end

  def updated_at
    record.updated_at.strftime("%A, %B %e, %Y")
  end

end

Method calls are sent to the model via method_missing, so you can call model methods directly as in the full_name method defined above.

Call model methods with record when you want to override a method but still get to the original model.

You can access helper methods and route helpers in your decorators.

Decorate Your Objects

The API consists of a single method: decorate. This method will be available in your controllers and views. You can call decorate on an object or a collection. Examples:

In Controllers

Just call decorate:

decorate(user)

In Views

Just call decorate:

<%= decorate(user) %>

On Collections

Just call decorate. You’ll get an array of decorated objects

decorate(users)

<%= decorate(users) %>

Vim Projections

For use with Rails.vim. Place in config/projections.json.

{
  "app/decorators/*_decorator.rb": {
    "command": "decorator",
    "alternate": "spec/decorators/%s_decorator_spec.rb",
    "template": "class %SDecorator < LittleDecorator\nend"
  }
}

Contribute

Pull requests are welcome, but I want to keep this gem simple.