Problems integrating the Shortcode gem (Or, how do I get a list of my custom helpers?)

#1

I have a Middleman application that uses Frontmatter data heavily. Instead populating a template file with Markdown, I have pretty much everything defined in the Frontmatter and then the layout file handles all the formatting.

Because erb is not evaluated before the Frontmatter is parsed (gripes!), I needed a way to do some processing on the current_page.data values in a layout.

First Some Background…

I have a helper method for looking up pages using their type and id Frontmatter attributes. Something like the following:

# /helpers/page_helpers.rb
module PageHelpers
  def get_page(type, id)
    # searches the sitemap for resource that has the matching :type and :id Frontmatter values
  end
end

A simplified version of two page templates with their Frontmatter:

source/topics/something-cool.html.erb:

---
type: topic
id: something_cool
title: This is Something Cool
---

source/contact/chat.html.erb:

---
type: contact
id: chat
title: Chat Now
intro: Fill out the form below to chat with us. Or you can learn more here.
---

Ok, Now the Issue

I would now like the ability to link to the /topic/something-cool page from within the Frontmatter of the contact/chat page. Something like the following:

---
type: contact
id: chat
title: Chat Now
intro: Fill out the form below to chat with us. Or you can [link type="topic" id="something_cool"]learn more here.[/link]
---

I found the Shortcode gem and thought it may be a good fit. In my layout I would have another helper that would handle parsing these defined shortcodes.

After including the gem in my Gemfile I included the following in config.rb:

Shortcode.setup do |config|
  config.template_path = 'shortcodes'
  config.block_tags = [:link]
  config.helpers = [Padrino::Helpers]
end

I also have the following shortcode template defined in shortcodes/link.erb:

<%= link_to @content, get_page(@attributes[:type], @attributes[:id]) %>

I have access to the link_to method in my shortcode template because I have included the Padrino::Helpers module in my shortcode configuration. However, I’m not seeing how I can include my PageHelpers module. I tried the following:

Shortcode.setup do |config|
  ...
  config.helpers = [Padrino::Helpers, PageHelpers]
end

But I get the following when starting up the server:

$ middleman server
.../config.rb:154:in `block in initialize': uninitialized constant Middleman::Application::MiddlemanApplication1::PageHelpers (NameError)

My Questions

  1. How can I tell the Shortcode config about the PageHelpers modules (and others located in the helpers/*.rb directory?
  2. I also have a simple custom extension which I have defined in config.rb. It provides a helper method. How would I also tell my Shortcode config about this helper method?
#2

@robertwbradford did you ever manage to get this working?