Returns the name of the active layout. If the layout was specified as a method reference (through a symbol), this method is called and the return value is used. Likewise if the layout was specified as an inline method (through a proc or method object). If the layout was defined without a directory, layouts is assumed. So layout "weblog/standard" will return weblog/standard, but layout "standard" will return layouts/standard.

Source Code

# File action_controller/layout.rb, line 232
def active_layout(passed_layout = nil)
  layout = passed_layout || self.class.default_layout(response.template.template_format)
  active_layout = case layout
    when String then layout
    when Symbol then send!(layout)
    when Proc   then layout.call(self)
  end

  # Explicitly passed layout names with slashes are looked up relative to the template root,
  # but auto-discovered layouts derived from a nested controller will contain a slash, though be relative
  # to the 'layouts' directory so we have to check the file system to infer which case the layout name came from.
  if active_layout
    if active_layout.include?('/') && ! layout_directory?(active_layout)
      active_layout
    else
      "layouts/#{active_layout}"
    end
  end
end