Ruby on rails Simple Search not displaying results - ruby-on-rails

Question

Hey guys im developing a rails application that stores quotes in a database and then allows you to search through the quotes using a simple search. I have implemented the search form but the results do not appear and I cant figure out why.
controller:
class BasicsController < ApplicationController
def quotations
#quotations = Quotation.all
if params[:search]
#quotations = Quotation.search(params[:search]).order("created_at DESC")
else
#quotations = Quotation.all.order("created_at DESC")
end
if params[:quotation]
#quotation = Quotation.new( params[:quotation] )
if #quotation.save
flash[:notice] = 'Quotation was successfully created.'
#quotation = Quotation.new
end
elsif
#quotation = Quotation.new
end
if params[:sort_by] == "date"
#quotations = Quotation.order(:created_at)
else
#quotations = Quotation.order(:category)
end
end
end
model:
class Quotation < ApplicationRecord
def self.search(search)
where("author_name LIKE ? OR quote LIKE ?", "%#{search}", "%#{search}")
end
end
view:
<%= form_tag basics_quotations_path, :method => 'get' do %>
<p>
<%= text_field_tag :search, params[:search], placeholder: "Search Quotations" %>
<%= submit_tag "Search", :name => nil %>
</p>
<% end %>
<h3>Quotations</h3>
<ul>
<% for quotation in #quotations %>
<li><%= h quotation.author_name %>: <%= h quotation.quote %></li>
<% end %>
</ul>
<br/>
<% if params[:sort_by] == "date" %>
<%= link_to "Sort by category", :action => :quotations, :sort_by => :category %>
<% else %>
<%= link_to "Sort by date", :action => :quotations, :sort_by => :date %>
<% end %>
<hr/>
<h3>New quotation</h3>
<%= form_for #quotation, :url => { :action => :quotations } do |form| %>
<fieldset>
<legend>Enter details</legend>
<div class="form_row">
<%= form.label :author_name %>
<%= form.text_field :author_name, :size => 20, :maxlength => 40 %>
</div>
<div class="form_row">
<%= form.label :category %>
<% #cats = [] %>
<% Quotation.select('DISTINCT category').map(&:category).each do |element| %>
<% #cats << element %>
<% end %>
<%= form.select(:category,options_for_select([[#cats[0],1],[#cats[1], 2], [#cats[2],3]])) %>
</div>
<div class="form_row">
<%= form.label :new_category%>
<%= form.text_field :category , :size =>20 , :maxlength => 40 %>
</div>
<div class="form_row">
<%= form.label :quote %>
<%= form.text_area :quote, :rows => 2, :cols => 40, :maxlength => 500 %>
</div>
</fieldset>
<p>
<div class="form_row">
<%= form.submit 'Create' %>
</div>
</p>
<% end %>
routes:
Rails.application.routes.draw do
get 'basics/quotations'
resources :quotation, :quotations
# For details on the DSL available within this file, see http://guides.rubyonrails.org/routing.html
end

Answer 1

You've got EVERYTHING in one action, which isn't great. You might want to review some of the simple rails tutorials available.
On the subject of search in particular, note the last four lines of your method...
if params[:sort_by] == "date"
#quotations = Quotation.order(:created_at)
else
#quotations = Quotation.order(:category)
end
So regardless of the results of your seach, you'll replace #quotations at that point with all quotations in either created_at or category order.

Answer 2

It is not wise to place all the stuffs into a single action,your action should be very clear and well defined.But you can achieve what you wanted to do like this.
class BasicsController < ApplicationController
before_action :new_quotation, only:[:search_quotations,:index,:quotations]
def search_quotations
respond_to do |format|
if params[:search]
#quotations = Quotation.search(params[:search]).order("created_at DESC")
else
#quotations = Quotation.all.order("created_at DESC")
end
if params[:sort_by] == "date" && quotations.present?
#quotations = #quotations.order(:created_at)
else
#quotations = #quotations.order(:category)
end
format.js{}
end
end
def quotations
if params[:quotation]
#quotation = Quotation.new( quotation_params)
if #quotation.save
flash[:notice] = 'Quotation was successfully created.'
end
redirect_to root_path
end
end
def index
#quotations = Quotation.all
end
private:
def new_quotation
#quotation = Quotation.new
end
//If you are using rails4 for later version then go for this line.
def quotation_params
params.require(:quotation).permit(:author_name, :quote,:category)
end
end
You need to actually separate the logic into above actions and where 'quotation' action is meant for creating a new quotation and 'seach_quotation' is for searching all the quotations and it should returns js response cause we are going to need this while rendering a partial '_list.html.erb'.
Your view(index.htm.erb) will be looking like this.
<div>
<%= form_tag basics_search_quotations_path, :method => 'get', remote: true do %>
<p>
<%= text_field_tag :search, params[:search], placeholder: "Search Quotations" %>
<%= submit_tag "Search", :name => nil %>
</p>
<% end %>
</div>
#This partial will be used for refreshing the quotations list via remote true feature for searching and sorting.
<div id="quotation_list">
<%= render 'basics/shared/list',{quotations: #quotations} %>
</div>
br/>
<% if params[:sort_by] == "date" %>
<%= link_to "Sort by category", :action => :search_quotations, :sort_by => :category, :remote => true %>
<% else %>
<%= link_to "Sort by date", :action => :search_quotations, :sort_by => :date, :remote => true %>
<% end %>
<hr/>
<h3>New quotation</h3>
<%= form_for #quotation, :url => { :action => "quotations", :controller => "basics" } do |form| %>
<fieldset>
<legend>Enter details</legend>
<div class="form_row">
<%= form.label :author_name %>
<%= form.text_field :author_name, :size => 20, :maxlength => 40 %>
</div>
<div class="form_row">
<%= form.label :category %>
<%= form.select(:category,options_for_select(['Love','Romance','Sadness'])) %>
</div>
<div class="form_row">
<%= form.label :category%>
<%= form.text_field :category , :size =>20 , :maxlength => 40 %>
</div>
<div class="form_row">
<%= form.label :quote %>
<%= form.text_area :quote, :rows => 2, :cols => 40, :maxlength => 500 %>
</div>
</fieldset>
<p>
<div class="form_row">
<%= form.submit 'Create' %>
</div>
</p>
<% end %>
Here is the partial that display the list of Quotations /basics/shared/_list.html.erb
<h3>Quotations</h3>
<ul>
<% for quotation in #quotations %>
<li><%= h quotation.author_name %>: <%= h quotation.quote %></li>
<% end %>
</ul>
Here is the routes you need to add routes.rb
resources :quotation, :quotations
get "basics/search_quotations" => "basics#search_quotations"
post "basics/quotations" => "basics#quotations"
root 'basics#index'
Instead of performing any calculation in views its better to perform it in controller/model if needed.
so instead of this following line in your view
<% #cats = [] %>
<% Quotation.select('DISTINCT category').map(&:category).each do |element| %>
<% #cats << element %>
<% end %>
<%= form.select(:category,options_for_select([[#cats[0],1],[#cats[1], 2], [#cats[2],3]])) %>
You can create an instance variable let's say #categories or something and use it like this
<%= form.select(:category,options_for_select(#categories)) %>
And last but not the least we have to have a search_quotations.js.erb because we are sending ajax request for fetching the search result and returning 'js' response.
$("#quotation_list").html("<%= escape_javascript(render('basics/shared/list', {quotations: #quotations })) %>")