Returns a hash that maps format names to their formatter classes, for use with the formatter shortcut. Supported formats are :html, :csv, :pdf, and :text by default.

Sample override:

  class MyController < Ruport::Controller

    def built_in_formats
      super.extend(:xml => MyXMLFormatter,
                   :json => MyJSONFormatter)
    end
  end

This would allow for:

  class ChildController < MyController

    formatter :xml do
      # ...
    end

    formatter :json do
      # ...
    end
  end

Registers a hook to look for in the Formatter object when the render() method is called.

Usage:

  class MyController < Ruport::Controller
     # other details omitted...
     finalize :apple
  end

  class MyFormatter < Ruport::Formatter
     renders :example, :for => MyController

     # other details omitted...

     def finalize_apple
        # this method will be called when MyController tries to render
        # the :example format
     end
  end

 If a formatter does not implement this hook, it is simply ignored.

Lists the formatters that are currently registered on a controller, as a hash keyed by format name.

Example:

  >> Ruport::Controller::Table.formats
  => {:html=>Ruport::Formatter::HTML,
  ?>  :csv=>Ruport::Formatter::CSV,
  ?>  :text=>Ruport::Formatter::Text,
  ?>  :pdf=>Ruport::Formatter::PDF}

Generates an anonymous formatter class and ties it to the Controller. This method looks up the built in formats in the hash returned by built_in_formats, but also explicitly specify a custom Formatter class to subclass from.

Sample usage:

  class ControllerWithAnonymousFormatters < Ruport::Controller

    stage :report

    formatter :html do
      build :report do
        output << textile("h1. Hi there")
      end
    end

    formatter :csv do
      build :report do
        build_row([1,2,3])
      end
    end

    formatter :pdf do
      build :report do
        add_text "hello world"
      end
    end

    formatter :text do
      build :report do
        output << "Hello world"
      end
    end

    formatter :custom => CustomFormatter do

      build :report do
        output << "This is "
        custom_helper
      end

    end

  end

Provides a shortcut to render() to allow render(:csv) to become render_csv

Allows you to set class-wide default options.

Example:

 options { |o| o.style = :justified }

Registers a hook to look for in the Formatter object when the render() method is called.

Usage:

  class MyController < Ruport::Controller
     # other details omitted...
     prepare :apple
  end

  class MyFormatter < Ruport::Formatter
     renders :example, :for => MyController

     def prepare_apple
        # this method will be called when MyController tries to render
        # the :example format
     end

     # other details omitted...
  end

 If a formatter does not implement this hook, it is simply ignored.

Builds up a controller object, looks up the appropriate formatter, sets the data and options, and then does the following process:

  * If the controller contains a module Helpers, mix it in to the instance.
  * If a block is given, yield the Controller instance.
  * If a setup() method is defined on the Controller, call it.
  * Call the run() method.
  * If the :file option is set to a file name, appends output to the file.
  * Return the results of formatter.output

Please see the examples/ directory for custom controller examples, because this is not nearly as complicated as it sounds in most cases.

Defines attribute writers for the Controller::Options object shared between Controller and Formatter. Will throw an error if the user does not provide values for these options upon rendering.

usage:

  class MyController < Ruport::Controller
     required_option :employee_name, :address
     # other details omitted
  end

Registers hooks to look for in the Formatter object when the render() method is called.

Usage:

  class MyController < Ruport::Controller
     # other details omitted...
     stage :apple,:banana
  end

  class MyFormatter < Ruport::Formatter
     renders :example, :for => MyController

     def build_apple
        # this method will be called when MyController tries to render
        # the :example format
     end

     def build_banana
        # this method will be called when MyController tries to render
        # the :example format
     end

     # other details omitted...
  end

 If a formatter does not implement these hooks, they are simply ignored.

The data that has been passed to the active formatter.

Sets data attribute on the active formatter.

Returns the active formatter.

If a block is given, it is evaluated in the context of the formatter.

If an IO object is given, Formatter#output will use it instead of the default String. For Ruport’s core controllers, we technically can use any object that supports the << method, but it’s meant for IO objects such as File or STDOUT

Controller::Options object which is shared with the current formatter.

Call the run method. You can override this method in your custom controller if you need to define other actions.