gistfile1.txt

  api :POST, "/organizations", "Create an organization"
  param :name, String, :desc => "name for the organization"
  param :description, String, :desc => "description"
  def create
    label = params[:label]
    if params[:label].blank?
      # Convert name to label
      label = convert_str_to_label(params[:name])
    end
    render :json => Organization.create!(:name => params[:name], :description => params[:description], :label => label).to_json
  end

....

  # Convert a string into an ASCII restricted label with spaces converted to underscore, eg:
  # "Some string with spaces" => "Some_string_with_spaces"
  def convert_str_to_label(original)
    spaces_to_underscores = original.tr(' ', '_')
    # URLEncode the string to go from UTF8 -> ASSCII
    URI::encode(spaces_to_underscores)
  end