Show Ransack search results on different page - ruby-on-rails

Question

I am using Ransack to add a simple search form on my homepage. I would like the results of the search to show on a different page, instead of on the homepage.
The HomeController has an index action with the #search variable set as follows
def index
#search = User.search(params[:q])
#users = #search.result
end
The view contains
<%= search_form_for #search do |f| %>
<fieldset>
<legend>User</legend>
<ul>
<li>
<%= f.label :first_name_or_last_name_cont %>
<%= f.text_field :first_name_or_last_name_cont %>
</li>
<li>
<%= f.label :email_cont %>
<%= f.text_field :email_cont %>
</li>
</ul>
</fieldset>
<fieldset>
<legend>User's Posts</legend>
<ul>
<li>
<%= f.label :posts_title_cont %>
<%= f.text_field :posts_title_cont %>
</li>
</ul>
</fieldset>
<%= f.submit %>
<% end %>
<%= render 'results' %>
How can I set up the controller so that I can use <%= render 'results' %> in a different view for a different action, say a search action? How can I do this so that when I submit the search form I am directed to a new page for the search action which displays the search results?

Answer 1

Great question! To answer your question, you can create a private method with a redirect_to a different page (that has <%=render 'results' %>) IF search params are passed in your HomeController.
class HomeController < ApplicationController
before_action :search
def index
#search = User.search(params[:q])
#users = #search.result
end
private
def search
if params[:q]
search_params = CGI::escapeHTML(params[:q])
redirect_to (url --> see below how to get the url)
end
end
end
However, if you want to start building out your app, you want your search results to display on that dedicated page, no matter where you are at in the app. I am pasting in a full answer from a small rails app. The code is only slightly different (form_tag instead of search_form_for), but I know it works, so hopefully it will help you.
Below, is a nav bar partial that is displayed across the app and then the relevant code for the home page and the ListingController index action. If search params are passed, then index.html.erb renders the #listings partial (_listing.html.erb) and nothing below the <% else %> tag on the home page.
_navigation.html.erb
<%= form_tag search_path, :method => :get do %>
<div class="form-group">
<%= text_field_tag :search, params[:search], class: "form-control", placeholder: "Search" %>
</div>
<%= submit_tag "Submit", :name => nil, :class => "btn btn-primary" %>
<% end %>
index.html.erb
<% if params[:search] %>
<h2>Search Results</h2>
<%= render #listings %>
<% else %>
...what usually shows up on my home page with no search results.
<% end %>
listings_controller
def index
#listings = Listing.search(params[:search])
end
routes.rb
get 'search' => "listings#search"
This works great. However, if I am in a different view/controller, like the one showing all the categories, and try to search, then it basically searches the current page. So, I added the following to the categories controller:
categories_controller
before_action :search
......
private
def search
if params[:search]
search_params = CGI::escapeHTML(params[:search])
redirect_to ("/listings?utf8=%E2%9C%93&search=#{search_params}")
end
end
BUT, for your specific app, to get the search to redirect to the home page and display the search results, first do a search on your home page and see what is generated in the url. Let's say I typed 'cheese' (/listings?utf8=%E2%9C%93&search=cheese). Notice the %E2%9C%93...you may not see this b/c this normally displays as a check in the url on your browser (http://unicode-search.net/unicode-namesearch.pl?term=mark)...so just paste it into text wrangler or stackoverflow text area to get the 'full url' like above. Then at the end of the url, just replace what you typed into the search box with #{search_params}.
This passes whatever was typed into the search box to your dedicated search results page (in my case index.html.erb)!
Here is some documentation on CGI escapeHTML (for security reasons): http://ruby-doc.org/stdlib-2.0/libdoc/cgi/rdoc/CGI.html#method-c-escapeHTML