Newbie - better way to build address string

[GorgeousSoul]

I want to build an address string so that my reports and screens that show addresses won't have empty lines or punctuation hanging out in the middle of nowhere (such as commas inbetween city and state - if there's no city or state, there's a blank line with a comma). I wrote this, but it seems too verbose for ruby. Is there a better way to write this?

Thank you!



def full_address
full_address = ''
full_address = Company.address_1 if Company.address_1

if Company.address_2.empty?
else
if full_address == ''
full_address = Company.address_2
else
full_address << 'linebreak' + Company.address_2
end
end

if Company.address_3.empty?
else
if full_address == ''
full_address = Company.address_3
else
full_address << 'linebreak' + Company.address_3
end
end

if Company.city.empty?
else
if full_address == ''
full_address = Company.city
else
full_address << 'linebreak' + Company.city
end
end

if Company.state.empty?
else
if full_address == ''
full_address = Company.state
else
if Company.city.empty?
full_address = full_address + 'linebreak' + Company.state
else
full_address << ', ' + Company.state
end
end
end

if Company.zip.empty?
else
if full_address == ''
full_address = Company.zip
else
full_address << ' ' + Company.zip
end
end

if Company.zip4.empty?
else
if full_address == ''
full_address = Company.zip4
else
if Company.zip.empty?
full_address << ' ' + Company.zip4
else
full_address << '-' + Company.zip4
end
end
end

[ReggieB]

Using an array is the easiest way to deal with this.
It would be worth creating this in your company model.

def address_lines
  [address_1, address_2, address_3, city, state, zip, zip4]
end

Once it is in an array you can use compact or compact! to remove any nil elements, and join to create a string in the format you want. So in your view you could use:

Address: <&#37;= company.address_lines.compact.join("\n<br />") -%>

That will remove the nil elements and then output the remaining elements with a XHTML line break between each one.

[GorgeousSoul]

How would I put the linebreaks and punctuation in? Specifically, a comma after the city (if there's both a city and state) and a dash between the zip and the +4 (if both exist).

Thanks for your time.

[ReggieB]

If this is a Ruby application you could do the following:

company.address_lines.compact.join(",\n")

That will give

address_1, 
address_2, 
address_3, 
city, 
state, 
zip, 
zip4

If it is a Rails app then this will put a comma in as well as the new line break I put in my original

company.address_lines.compact.join(",\n<br />")

This will give

address_1, 
<br />address_2, 
<br />address_3, 
<br />city, 
<br />state, 
<br />zip, 
<br />zip4

For the zip code, I'd add another class/model method to company:

def full_zip
  [zip4, zip].join("-")
end

I'm not sure which way zip and zip4 should go as that looks nothing like the post codes we use this side of the pond. Then update the address_lines method to

def address_lines
  [address_1, address_2, address_3, city, state, full_zip]
end

[GorgeousSoul]

This looks like a good solution.

Thank you very much.

[ReggieB]

You're welcome.