remove_accents_extension.rb

# String extension to remove non-ascii/graphic accent characters
# pt-BR: métodos para remover acentos (e espaços) de String
require 'iconv'
class String
  
  # São José do Poço -> Sao Jose do Poco
  def remove_non_ascii
    Iconv.iconv("ASCII//IGNORE//TRANSLIT", "UTF-8", self).join.gsub(/[^a-z._0-9 -]/i, "").tr(".", "_")
  end
  
  # São José do Poço -> sao-jose-do-poco
  # perfect for slugs!
  def remove_non_ascii_and_spaces
    # very compact, heh!?
    remove_non_ascii.gsub(/(\s+)/, "_").dasherize.downcase
  end
  
  # São José do Poço -> saojosedopoco
  def remove_non_ascii_and_spaces_and_dashes
    remove_non_ascii.gsub(/(\s+)/, "").downcase
  end
end