1 files changed, 26 insertions, 4 deletions
diff --git a/repoze/bfg/view.py b/repoze/bfg/view.py
index 180c020a0..e3f22dc08 100644
--- a/repoze/bfg/view.py
+++ b/repoze/bfg/view.py
@@ -39,10 +39,11 @@ def render_view_to_iterable(context, request, name='', secure=True):
     found and called but the view does not return an object which
     implements ``repoze.bfg.interfaces.IResponse``.  You can usually
     get the string representation of the return value of this function
-    by calling ``''.join(iterable)``.  If ``secure`` is ``True``, and
-    the view is protected by a permission, the permission will be
-    checked before calling the view function.  If the permission check
-    disallows view execution (based on the current security policy), a
+    by calling ``''.join(iterable)``, or just use ``render_view``
+    instead.  If ``secure`` is ``True``, and the view is protected by
+    a permission, the permission will be checked before calling the
+    view function.  If the permission check disallows view execution
+    (based on the current security policy), a
     ``repoze.bfg.security.Unauthorized`` exception will be raised; its
     ``message`` attribute explains why the view access was disallowed.
     If ``secure`` is ``False``, no permission checking is done."""
@@ -53,6 +54,27 @@ def render_view_to_iterable(context, request, name='', secure=True):
         raise ValueError('response did not implement IResponse: %r' % response)
     return response.app_iter
 
+def render_view(context, request, name='', secure=True):
+    """ Render the view named ``name`` against the specified
+    ``context`` and ``request``, and unwind the the view response's
+    ``app_iter`` (see the interface named
+    ``repoze.bfg.interfaces.IResponse``) into a single string.  This
+    function will return ``None`` if a corresponding view cannot be
+    found.  Additionally, this function will raise a ``ValueError`` if
+    a view function is found and called but the view does not return
+    an object which implements ``repoze.bfg.interfaces.IResponse``.
+    If ``secure`` is ``True``, and the view is protected by a
+    permission, the permission will be checked before calling the view
+    function.  If the permission check disallows view execution (based
+    on the current security policy), a
+    ``repoze.bfg.security.Unauthorized`` exception will be raised; its
+    ``message`` attribute explains why the view access was disallowed.
+    If ``secure`` is ``False``, no permission checking is done."""
+    iterable = render_view_to_iterable(context, request, name, secure)
+    if iterable is None:
+        return None
+    return ''.join(iterable)
+
 def is_response(ob):
     """ Return True if ``ob`` implements the
     ``repoze.bfg.interfaces.IResponse`` interface, False if not.  Note