form builder

Sample form builder

class MyformBuilder < ActionView::Helpers::FormBuilder  

  def self.create_tagged_field(method_name)
    define_method(method_name) do |name, *args|
      if object && object.errors.any?
        errors = object.errors.on(name.to_sym)
        errors = errors.join(', ') if errors.kind_of? Array
      end 
      help = Help[object.class.to_s][name.to_s] if Help[object.class.to_s]
      # initialize some local variables
      label = klass = ''

      if args.last.is_a?(Hash)
        arg_label = args.last[:label].to_s
        arg_hint = args.last[:hint].to_s
        arg_suffix = args.last[:suffix].to_s
        arg_klass = args.last[:class].to_s
        arg_required = args.last[:required].to_s
      end
      
      if help
        arg_label = help['label'] if help['label']
        arg_hint = help['hint'] if help['hint']
      end
      
      #Label text, titlize field name if a custom label isn't passed
      label = arg_label.blank? ? name.to_s.titleize : arg_label
      #Label none then make it nil

      label = nil if label == 'none'
      klass = if %w[text_field password_field date_select datetime_select input_field calendar_date_select].include? method_name
                'input_field'
              end
      options = args.last.present? ? args.last : {}
      options[:class] = klass if klass.present? 
      content = ""
      hint = @template.content_tag(:span, arg_hint, :class => :hint) if arg_hint
      content << @template.content_tag(:label, "#{label}", :for => "#{@object_name}_#{name}") if label 

      ex_content = method_name == 'select' ? super : super(name, options)
      # Required Field Notations
      # all: add required notation for all form methods
      # new: only for 'create new' forms, using the form in 'edit' mode should disregard
      ex_content << @template.content_tag("strong", "*", :class => :required) if arg_required == 'all' || (arg_required == 'new' && object.new_record?)
      ex_content<<@template.content_tag(:div, errors, :class => :error) if errors.present?
      @template.content_tag :li, content<<ex_content
    end
  end

  helpers = %w[check_box text_field text_area password_field select date_select datetime_select file_field collection_select state_select label calendar_date_select]
  helpers.each do |name|
    create_tagged_field(name)
  end
end

</code>


Usage

<% form_for @user, :url => users_path , :builder => MyformBuilder, :html => {:id => :settings} do |f| %>
<% end %>