Rails: Render in a model

OK, this is really out there. Yes, the real answer is, “Don’t do it.”

Are you sure you aren’t going to be sad when the content of your database doesn’t change to keep up with your refactoring? Have you sufficiently explored other options and questioned the wisdom of what you are trying to do? Are you being asked to just to it anyway?

I found two approaches at http://davetroy.blogspot.com/2008/02/actsasrenderer-brings-output-to-models.html and http://blog.choonkeat.com/weblog/2006/08/rails-calling-r.html. I only tried the second of these, which didn’t like my use of polymorphic URLs and named routes in the template. I didn’t find the first approach before I had an interesting realization: if functional tests can do it then why can’t models?

def render_as_test(render_options, vars = {})
  controller = ApplicationController.new
  class << controller
    def set_instance_variables_and_render(render_options, vars)
      vars.keys.each do |k|
        instance_variable_set "@#{k}", vars[k]
      end
      render render_options
    end
  end
  require 'action_controller/test_process'
  request = ActionController::TestRequest.new
  response = ActionController::TestResponse.new
  controller.process(request, response,
    :set_instance_variables_and_render,
    render_options, vars).body
end

Now all my URLs generate. Use it responsibly. In fact, don’t use it at all. I am definitely not interested in pluginizing.