= Sinatra::Controller - Lightweight, fast controllers for Sinatra

This gem provides a Sinatra controller implementation that gets you the MVC functionality you need in a fraction of the LOC of a Rails controller. Using Sinatra::Controller has several advantages over Sinatra out of the box:

1. Keeps code much DRYer (meaning less bugs)
2. Provides per-route before/after filters
3. Safely encapsulates routes/actions from each other
4. Enables custom (or multiple) view layouts
5. Inherits from Sinatra::Base so is completely modular (Rails Metal/etc)

Enough talk, let's dance.

== Installation

Install gemcutter if you don't have it already:

sudo gem install gemcutter sudo gem tumble

Now install this gem:

sudo gem install sinatra-application

== Example

In your main Sinatra application/environment file, create a subclass that all your other controllers will inherit from:

require 'sinatra/base' require 'sinatra/controller'

class Application < Sinatra::Controller # Any Sinatra configuration goes here end

Since Sinatra::Controller is a subclass of Sinatra::Base, simply configure your application using the {Sinatra configuration options}[http://www.sinatrarb.com/configuration.html].

Then, create a simple controller:

app/controllers/users_controller.rb

class UsersController < Application layout 'main' get do erb 'index' end post do @user = User.create(params[:user]) erb 'show' end get ':id' do @user = User.find(params[:id]) erb 'show' end put ':id' do @user = User.find(params[:id]) @user.update_attributes(params[:user]) erb 'show' end delete ':id' do @user = User.find(params[:id]) @user.destroy halt 200 end end

A couple things to note here:

1. It still looks like Sinatra - no separate routes.rb file you have to cross-reference to figure out what method is called how.

2. The familiar +get+, +post+, etc DSL verbs are extended to accept (a) a relative path or (b) no path at all. If a relative path is specified, the path is prefixed with +route_prefix+ (the controller name by default). If no path is specified, then the +default_route+ is used.

3. You can continue to use a /full/url in any +get+, +post+, etc DSL block and it will work just like you're used to.

4. You are NOT required to suffix your controllers with "_controller". However, be careful that your controller names don't collide with your model names or you will have issues (this is just standard Ruby, but an easy mistake to make).