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.
