updated readme and added some argument checking to the helpers

README

@@ -23,18 +23,17 @@ This library should be considered to be a derivative work of Thickbox, and is al
 
 http://jquery.com/demo/thickbox/
 
-Redbox Rails plugin development by Craig Ambrose from Tinbox
+Redbox Rails plugin development by Craig Ambrose
 
 http://www.craigambrose.com
-http://www.tinboxsoftware.com
 
 Additional code submissions, testing and bugfixes by:
 - Brandon Keepers
 - Niko Dittmann
 - Randy Parker
 - Julien Coupard
 - Erin Staniland
-
+(and many more)
 
 Licence
 =======
@@ -50,3 +49,41 @@ Usage
 =====
 
 Examine the public methods of redbox_helper.rb. They will all look familiar, much like the existing link helpers, except that they work with redboxes. You should not need to interact with the javascript directly.
+
+Redbox provides three helpers which are used instead of a regular “link_to” helper when linking to a redbox.
+
+link_to_redbox(name, id, html_options = {})
+
+This is used if you already have an HTML element in your page (presumably hidden, but it doesn’t have to be) and you wish to use it for your redbox. Specify it by it’s id, and you’re in business.
+
+link_to_component_redbox(name, url_options = {}, html_options = {})
+
+This serves essentially the same purpose, but it uses the url_options supplied to load another page from your app into a hidden div on page load. This saves you having to do it yourself, but beware that there are definite performance implications to using components.
+
+link_to_remote_redbox(name, link_to_remote_options = {}, html_options = {})
+
+This waits until the link is clicked on to load the redbox using ajax, and displays loading graphics while it’s waiting.
+
+link_to_close_redbox(name, html_options = {})
+
+Allows you to put a link (presumably inside the redbox) to close it. Other way to close it is to refresh the entire page, but obviously closing it with javascript is spiffier.
+
+More Info
+=========
+
+A static page is maintained for this plugin at:
+
+	http://www.craigambrose.com/projects/redbox
+
+Updates are always posted at:
+
+	http://blog.craigambrose.com
+
+Bugs, once you have tracked down the exact problem and can reproduce a failure case, can be reported to:
+
+	[email protected]
+
+If you find this plugin useful, you can give something back to the community by examining your own code and seeing
+what bits of functionality are generic enough to be useful as a rails plugin. Releasing rails plugins is dead
+simple, and helps us all do better work.
+

lib/redbox_helper.rb

@@ -1,15 +1,18 @@
 module RedboxHelper
 
   def link_to_redbox(name, id, html_options = {})
+    @uses_redbox = true
     link_to_function name, "RedBox.showInline('#{id.to_s}')", html_options
   end
 
   def link_to_component_redbox(name, url_options = {}, html_options = {})
+    @uses_redbox = true
     id = id_from_url(url_options, html_options[:id])
     link_to_redbox(name, id, html_options) + content_tag("span", render_component(url_options), :id => id, :style => 'display: none;')
   end
 
   def link_to_remote_redbox(name, link_to_remote_options = {}, html_options = {})
+    @uses_redbox = true
     id = id_from_url(link_to_remote_options[:url], html_options[:id])
     hidden_content_id = "hidden_content_#{id}"
     link_to_remote_options = redbox_remote_options(link_to_remote_options, hidden_content_id)
@@ -18,14 +21,17 @@ def link_to_remote_redbox(name, link_to_remote_options = {}, html_options = {})
   end
 
   def link_to_close_redbox(name, html_options = {})
+    @uses_redbox = true
     link_to_function name, 'RedBox.close()', html_options
   end
 
   def button_to_close_redbox(name, html_options = {})
+    @uses_redbox = true
     button_to_function name, 'RedBox.close()', html_options
   end  
 
   def launch_remote_redbox(link_to_remote_options = {}, html_options = {})
+    @uses_redbox = true
     id = id_from_url(link_to_remote_options[:url], html_options[:id])
     hidden_content_id = "hidden_content_#{id}"
     hidden_content = build_hidden_content(hidden_content_id)
@@ -40,12 +46,18 @@ def id_from_url(url_options, link_id)
     result = ''
     result = link_id.to_s + '_' unless link_id.nil?
 
-    if url_options.is_a? String
+    if url_options.nil?
+      raise ArgumentError, 'You are trying to create a RedBox link without specifying a valid url.'
+    elsif url_options.is_a? String
       result + url_options.delete(":/")
     else
-      result + url_options.values.join('_')
+      result + url_to_id_string(url_options.values.join('_'))
     end
   end
+
+  def url_to_id_string(value)
+    value.sub(/[?=&]/, '')
+  end
 
   def build_hidden_content(hidden_content_id)
     content_tag("div", '', :id => hidden_content_id, :style => 'display: none;')