Displaying Only the first x words of a string in rails

Question

<%= message.content %>

I can display a message like this, but in some situations I would like to display only the first 5 words of the st

Answer 1

   # Message helper
   def content_excerpt(c)
     return unlessc
     c.split(" ")[0..4].join + "..."
   end

   # View
   <%= message.content_excerpt %>

But the common way is truncate method

   # Message helper
   def content_excerpt(c)
     return unless c
     truncate(c, :length => 20)
   end