gistfile1.rb

  # helper that takes a feedItem hash and converts it to HTML, including
  # properly structuring any included message segments like @mentions.

  def message_segments(msg_segments)
    # an array of hashes - each hash a segment
    html = ''
    msg_segments.each do |segment|
      html << case segment['type']
               when 'Text'
                 segment['text']
               when 'Link'
                 %Q(<a href="#{segment['url']}">#{segment['text']}</a>)
               when 'Mention'
                 %Q(<a href="/users/#{segment['user']['id']}">#{segment['text']}</a>)
               when 'Hashtag' 
                 %Q(<a class="hashtag">#{segment['text']}</a>)
               else # every segment has a text field, this ensures that new unknown segments don't break the app.
                 segment['text'] 
               end                  
    end 
    html 
  end