Rails helper method refactor

Question

I have this messy helper method:

def gesture(klass, item, text, desc)
 element_class = klass.to_s + " gesture"
 content_tag :li do
 if klass == :sell 
 link_to new_reply_path(item_id: item.id), title: desc, data: {qtip: desc}, class: element_class do
 content_tag(:div, nil, class: element_class) +
 content_tag(:span, text, class: 'gesture-text')
 end
 elsif klass == :alternative
 link_to new_reply_path(item_id: item.id, alternative: true), title: desc, data: {qtip: desc}, class: element_class do
 content_tag(:div, nil, class: element_class) +
 content_tag(:span, text, class: 'gesture-text')
 end
 elsif klass == :join
 link_to new_item_affiliation_path(item), title: desc, data: {qtip: desc}, class: element_class do
 content_tag(:div, nil, class: element_class) +
 content_tag(:span, text, class: 'gesture-text')
 end
 end 
 end 
end

As you can see, it has a lot of repetition, any idea on how I can refactor it?

Answer 1

I'd write:

def gesture(klass, item, text, desc)
 element_class = [klass.to_s, "gesture"]
 url = case klass
 when :sell
 new_reply_path(item_id: item.id)
 when :alternative
 new_reply_path(item_id: item.id, alternative: true)
 when :join
 new_item_affiliation_path(item)
 else
 fail("Unsupported klass: #{klass}")
 end
 content_tag(:li) do
 link_to(url, title: desc, data: {qtip: desc}, class: element_class) do
 content_tag(:div, nil, class: element_class) +
 content_tag(:span, text, class: 'gesture-text')
 end 
 end 
end