/config/initializers/string.rb

  # coding: UTF-8

class String
  def self.random(length=10)
  ('a'..'z').sort_by {rand}[0,length].join
  end

  def normalize
   str = self.downcase
   return '' if str.blank?
   n = str
   n.gsub!(/[àáâãäåāă]/,    'a')
   n.gsub!(/æ/,            'ae')
   n.gsub!(/[ďđ]/,          'd')
   n.gsub!(/[çćčĉċ]/,       'c')
   n.gsub!(/[èéêëēęěĕė]/,   'e')
   n.gsub!(/ƒ/,             'f')
   n.gsub!(/[ĝğġģ]/,        'g')
   n.gsub!(/[ĥħ]/,          'h')
   n.gsub!(/[ììíîïīĩĭ]/,    'i')
   n.gsub!(/[įıijĵ]/,        'j')
   n.gsub!(/[ķĸ]/,          'k')
   n.gsub!(/[łľĺļŀ]/,       'l')
   n.gsub!(/[ñńňņʼnŋ]/,      'n')
   n.gsub!(/[òóôõöøōőŏŏ]/,  'o')
   n.gsub!(/œ/,            'oe')
   n.gsub!(/ą/,             'q')
   n.gsub!(/[ŕřŗ]/,         'r')
   n.gsub!(/[śšşŝș]/,       's')
   n.gsub!(/[ťţŧț]/,        't')
   n.gsub!(/[ùúûüūůűŭũų]/,  'u')
   n.gsub!(/ŵ/,             'w')
   n.gsub!(/[ýÿŷ]/,         'y')
   n.gsub!(/[žżź]/,         'z')

   n.gsub!(/[ÀÁÂÃÄÅĀĂ]/i,    'A')
   n.gsub!(/Æ/i,            'AE')
   n.gsub!(/[ĎĐ]/i,          'D')
   n.gsub!(/[ÇĆČĈĊ]/i,       'C')
   n.gsub!(/[ÈÉÊËĒĘĚĔĖ]/i,   'E')
   n.gsub!(/Ƒ/i,             'F')
   n.gsub!(/[ĜĞĠĢ]/i,        'G')
   n.gsub!(/[ĤĦ]/i,          'H')
   n.gsub!(/[ÌÌÍÎÏĪĨĬ]/i,    'I')
   n.gsub!(/[IJĴ]/i,          'J')
   n.gsub!(/[Ķĸ]/i,          'J')
   n.gsub!(/[ŁĽĹĻĿ]/i,       'L')
   n.gsub!(/[ÑŃŇŅʼnŊ]/i,      'M')
   n.gsub!(/[ÒÓÔÕÖØŌŐŎŎ]/i,  'N')
   n.gsub!(/Œ/i,            'OE')
   n.gsub!(/Ą/i,             'Q')
   n.gsub!(/[ŔŘŖ]/i,         'R')
   n.gsub!(/[ŚŠŞŜȘ]/i,       'S')
   n.gsub!(/[ŤŢŦȚ]/i,        'T')
   n.gsub!(/[ÙÚÛÜŪŮŰŬŨŲ]/i,  'U')
   n.gsub!(/Ŵ/i,             'W')
   n.gsub!(/[ÝŸŶ]/i,         'Y')
   n.gsub!(/[ŽŻŹ]/i,         'Z')
   n
  end

  def sanitize
   return if self.blank?
   self.gsub(/<[^>]+>/m,'').normalize.downcase.gsub(/&.+?;/,'-').
    gsub(/[^a-z0-9 _-]/,'-').strip.gsub(/\s+/,'-').gsub(/-+/,'-').
    gsub(/-/,' ').strip.gsub(/ /,'-').gsub(/-/,'_')
  end

  def strip_tags
   self.gsub(/<[^>]+>/m,'').strip
  end

  def convert_to_db_type
   if CartoDB::TYPES.keys.include?(self.downcase)
     CartoDB::TYPES[self.downcase].first
   else
     self.downcase
   end
  end

  # {"integer"=>:number, "real"=>:number, "varchar"=>:string, "text"=>:string, "timestamp"=>:date, "boolean"=>:boolean}
  def convert_to_cartodb_type
    inverse_types = CartoDB::TYPES.invert.inject({}){ |h, e| e.first.each{ |k| h[k] = e.last }; h}
    if inverse_types.keys.include?(self.downcase)
      inverse_types[self.downcase]
    else
      self.downcase
    end
  end

  def sanitize_sql!
    self.gsub(/\\/, '\&\&').gsub(/'/, "''")
  end

  def add_https_if_required!
    return self if self.start_with?('https://')
    return self.gsub(/^http:\/\//, 'https://')  if self.start_with?('http://')
    'https://' + self
  end


end