Smart Truncate

SmartTruncate.rb

module ApplicationHelper

  def smart_truncate(s, opts = {})
    opts = {:words => 12}.merge(opts)
    if opts[:sentences]
      return s.split(/\./)[0, opts[:sentences]].map{|s| s.strip}.join('. ') + '.'
    end
    a = s.split(/\s/) # or /[ ]+/ to only split on spaces
    n = opts[:words]
    a[0...n].join(' ') + (a.size > n ? '...' : '')
  end
end

smart_truncate("a b c. d e f. g h i.", :sentences => 2) #=> "a b c. d e f."
smart_truncate("apple blueberry cherry plum", :words => 3) #=> "apple blueberry cherry..."