I'd like to debug a variable #num in my Rails controller, so I'm evaluating
<%= #num %>
in my Rails view. However, I cannot distinguish between #num being '', ' ', and ' ' (and other different types of whitespace) when it's printed in the HTML. Is there any way to print it out clearly?
If you want to be really sure:
<%= #num.inspect %>
When #num = ' ' this should render:
" "
#inspect is great when you want to a representation of some object as a string.
If this is a complex object or large array or deep hash, I often prefer #to_yaml for inspection which lays it out in a somewhat readable format.
# controller
#foo = {:a => [:bar, :baz], :b => 123, :c => 'omg'}
# view
<pre><%= #foo.to_yaml %></pre>
# visible output
---
:b: 123
:c: omg
:a:
- :bar
- :baz
<%=debug #num %>
Will format it in haml.
<%= #num.inspect %>
Will format it as "p" does.
See Debugging Rails Applications (rails guides)
Related
I would like to make editing form fields as user-friendly as possible. For example, for numeric values, I would like the field to be displayed with commas (like number_with_precision).
This is easy enough on the display side, but what about editing? Is there a good way to do this?
I am using the Rails FormBuilder. Upon investigation, I found that it uses InstanceTag, which gets the values for fields by using <attribute>_value_before_type_cast which means overriding <attribute> won't get called.
The best I have come up with so far is something like this:
<%= f.text_field :my_attribute, :value => number_with_precision(f.object.my_attribute) %>
Or my_attribute could return the formatted value, like this:
def my_attribute
ApplicationController.helpers.number_with_precision(read_attribute(:my_attribute))
end
But you still have to use :value
<%= f.text_field :my_attribute, :value => f.object.my_attribute %>
This seems like a lot of work.
I prefer your first answer, with the formatting being done in the view. However, if you want to perform the formatting in the model, you can use wrapper methods for the getter and setter, and avoid having to use the :value option entirely.
You'd end up with something like this.
def my_attribute_string
foo_formatter(myattribute)
end
def my_attribute_string=(s)
# Parse "s" or do whatever you need to with it, then set your real attribute.
end
<%= f.text_field :my_attribute_string %>
Railscasts covered this with a Time object in a text_field in episode #32. The really clever part of this is how they handle validation errors. It's worth watching the episode for that alone.
This is an old question, but in case anyone comes across this you could use the number_to_X helpers. They have all of the attributes you could ever want for displaying your edit value:
<%= f.text_field :my_number, :value => number_to_human(f.object.my_number, :separator => '', :unit => '', :delimiter => '', :precision => 0) %>
There are more attributes available too: http://api.rubyonrails.org/classes/ActionView/Helpers/NumberHelper.html
If you want a format to be created or maintained during editing, you will need to add Javascript to implement "masks." Here is a demo.
It was the first hit in these results.
You can use the number_format plugin. By specifying a number_format for an existing numeric attribute inside your model, the attribute will now appear as formatted to Rails in all forms and views. It will also be parsed back from that format (when assigned via forms) prior to insertion into the database. (The plugin also creates purely numeric unformatted_<attribute-name> accessors which can continue to be used for arithmetic, or for direct numerical assignment or retrieval by you for seamless integration.)
class MyModel < ActiveRecord::Base
# this model has the balance attribute, which we
# want to display using formatting in views,
# although it is stored as a numeric in the database
number_format :balance,
:precision => 2,
:delimiter => ',',
:strip_trailing_zeros => false
def increment_balance
unformatted_balance += 10
end
You can also combine the above with a Javascript solution, which can force the user to maintain the decimal point and thousands separators in place while editing, although this is really not necessary.
I have done something similar. We format times and lengths using a custom form builder. It makes use of the existing text_field, but wraps it so the value can be customized:
class SuperFormBuilder < ActionView::Helpers::FormBuilder
include ApplicationHelper
include FormHelper
include ActionView::Helpers::TagHelper
include ActionView::Helpers::FormTagHelper
def length_field(label,*args)
scale = 'medium'
args.each do |v|
if v.has_key?(:scale)
scale = v[:scale]
v.delete(:scale)
end
end
value = length_conversion(#object.send(label.to_sym),scale)
options = (args.length > 0) ? args.pop : {}
return has_error(label, text_field_tag(field_name(label),value,*args) + ' ' + length_unit(scale))
end
private
def field_name(label)
return #object_name + "[#{label}]"
end
def has_error(label, output)
return "<div class='fieldWithErrors'>#{output}</div>" if #object.errors[label]
return output
end
And it is used like this:
<%= form_for( #section, {:action => 'save', :id => #section.id}, :builder => SuperFormBuilder) do |sf| %>
<%= sf.length_field :feed_size_min_w, :size => 3, :scale => 'small' %>
<% end %>
The end result is a value in the appropriate unit based off their choice on system (Metric, Imperial) and scale IE small = inches or millimeters.
I basically copied the text_field method from the existing form builder, which uses the text_field_tag itself.
There are two gotchas: 1) Knowing the name of the object field and how to access the object to get the value which you want to format. 2) Getting the name right so when the form is submitted it is part of the correct params hash.
The form builder is given a class variable #object. You can get the value of the field using the .send method. In my case I send the label :feed_size_min_w to the #object and get its length back. I then convert it to my desired format, and give it to the text_field_tag.
The name of the field is key to having it end up in the params hash, in my instance the params[:sections] one. I made a little helper function called field_name that takes care of this.
Finally the has_error wraps the field in an error div if there are errors on that label.
I needed "nicer" format on some specified text fields, resolved it by adding this to my initializers. Seems to work nicely on Rails ~= 5.2 and it should be easy to customize.
class ActionView::Helpers::Tags::TextField
private
def value_before_type_cast # override method in ActionView::Helpers::Tags::Base
v = super
# format as you like, when you like
if #options.delete(:nice_decimal)
v = v.to_s.gsub('.', ',') if v.is_a?(BigDecimal)
end
v
end
end
Usage in form f
<%= f.text_field :foo, nice_decimal: true %>
For my form, I have this:
<%= tag_field.collection_select( :id, Material.order(:name), :id, :name,
:prompt => "-select-")%>
This prints my materials names.
example:
Cat
Cat
However, this is not helpful because the materials have the same names.
There is another attribute in the Material record, :color.
I want it to print out this in the dropdown
Cat - Brown
Cat - Orange
How do I go about doing this? I tried calling a method instead, but it doesn't print out the way I want it to. Here's what I did.
View:
<%= tag_field.collection_select( :id, Material.order(:name), :id, :something,
:prompt => "-select-")%>
Model:
def something
materials_array = []
Material.all.each do |material|
if material.color == nil
material.name + '-' + material.size
else
materials_array.push(material.name + '-' + material.color)
end
end
materials_array
end
However, the dropdown prints out like this:
["Cat - Brown", "Cat - Orange"]
["Cat - Brown", "Cat - Orange"]
It prints out twice, with the same values. I think I'm close? Please help.
I think it's easier if you use select instead of collection_select. Try it:
<%= tag_field.select :id, Material.order(:name).map{ |m| [ "#{m.name} - #{m. color}", m.id ] }, {prompt: "-select-"} %>
This answer explains clearly the usage of collection_select helper. The method :name_with_initial (which corresponds to the method something in your code) is explained as:
:name_with_initial, # this is name of method that will be called for
# every row, result will be set as value
# as a result, every option will be generated by the following rule:
# <option value=#{author.id}>#{author.name_with_initial}</option>
# 'author' is an element in the collection or array
So if you are getting results twice it means the collection/array has redundant values.
I'm using a select field in a Rails app that is NOT tied to a related model, but stores integer values for a static series of options , i.e.,
<%= select (:this_model, :this_field, [['Option1',1],['Option2',2],['Option3',3],['Option4',4]] ) %>
In a show/ index view, if I want to display the option text (i.e. Option1, Option2, etc) rather than the integer value stored in the database, how do I achieve this?
Thanks for helping a noob learn the ropes!
EDIT
Based on Thorsten's suggestion below, I implemented the following. But it is returning nil, and I can't figure out why.
Invoice model:
##payment_status_data = { 1 => "Pending Invoice" , 2 => "Invoiced" , 3 => "Deposit Received", 4 => "Paid in Full"}
def text_for_payment_status
##payment_status_data[payment_status]
end
Invoice show view:
Payment Status: <%= #invoice.text_for_payment_status %>
In the console:
irb > i=Invoice.find(4)
=> [#<Invoice id: 4, payment_status: 1 >]
irb > i.text_for_payment_status
=> nil
I've tried defining the hash with and without quotes around the keys. What am I missing?
something like this would work:
<%= form_for #my_model_object do |form| %>
<%= form.label :column_name "Some Description" %>
<%= form.select :field_that_stores_id, options_for_select({"text1" => "key1", "text 2" => "key2"}) %>
<% end %>
Update
If you later want to display the text you can get it from a simple hash like this:
{"key1" => "text 1", "key2" => "text2"}[#my_object.field_that_stores_id]
But you better store this hash somewhere in a central place like the model.
class MyModel < ActiveRecord
##my_select_something_data = {"key1" => "text 1", "key2" => "text2"}
def text_for_something_selectable
##my_select_something_data[field_that_stores_id]
end
end
Then you can use it in your views like
#my_object.text_for_something_selectable
There are many possible variations of this. But this should work and you would have all information in a central place.
Update
Ok, I used something similar for our website. We need to store return_headers for rma. Those need to store a return reason as a code. Those codes are defined in an external MS SQL Server Database (with which the website exchanges lots of data, like orders, products, and much more). In the external db table are much more return reasons stored than I actually need, so I just took out a few of them. Still must make sure, the codes are correct.
So here goes he model:
class ReturnHeader < AciveRecord::Base
##return_reason_keys = {"010" => "Wrong Produc",
"DAM" => "Damaged",
"AMT" => "Wrong Amount"}
def self.return_reason_select
##return_reason_keys.invert
end
def return_reason
##return_reason_keys[nav_return_reason_code]
end
end
Model contains more code of course, but that's the part that matters. Relevant here is, that keys in the hash are strings, not symbols.
In the views i use it like this:
In the form for edit:
<%= form_for #return_header do |form| %>
<%= form.label :nav_return_reason_code "Return Reason" %>
<%= form.select :nav_return_reason_code, options_for_select(ReturnHeader.return_reason_select, #return_header.nav_return_reason_code) %>
<% end %>
(Maybe no the most elegant way to do it, but works. Don't know, why options_for_select expects a hash to be "text" => "key", but that's the reason, why above class level method returns the hash inverted.)
In my index action the return reason is listed in one of the columns. There I can get the value simply by
#return_headers.each do |rh|
rh.return_reason
end
If you have trouble to get it run, check that keys a correct type and value. Maybe add some debug info with logger.info in the methods to see what actual data is used there.
<%= 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 string and then show an ellipsis (...)
In rails 4.2 you can use truncate_words.
'Once upon a time in a world far far away'.truncate_words(4)
=> "Once upon a time..."
you can use truncate to limit length of string
truncate("Once upon a time in a world far far away", :length => 17, :separator => ' ')
# => "Once upon a..."
with given space separator it won't cut your words.
If you want exactly 5 words you can do something like this
class String
def words_limit(limit)
string_arr = self.split(' ')
string_arr.count > limit ? "#{string_arr[0..(limit-1)].join(' ')}..." : self
end
end
text = "aa bb cc dd ee ff"
p text.words_limit(3)
# => aa bb cc...
Try the following:
'this is a line of some words'.split[0..3].join(' ')
=> "this is a line"
# 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
I would like to make editing form fields as user-friendly as possible. For example, for numeric values, I would like the field to be displayed with commas (like number_with_precision).
This is easy enough on the display side, but what about editing? Is there a good way to do this?
I am using the Rails FormBuilder. Upon investigation, I found that it uses InstanceTag, which gets the values for fields by using <attribute>_value_before_type_cast which means overriding <attribute> won't get called.
The best I have come up with so far is something like this:
<%= f.text_field :my_attribute, :value => number_with_precision(f.object.my_attribute) %>
Or my_attribute could return the formatted value, like this:
def my_attribute
ApplicationController.helpers.number_with_precision(read_attribute(:my_attribute))
end
But you still have to use :value
<%= f.text_field :my_attribute, :value => f.object.my_attribute %>
This seems like a lot of work.
I prefer your first answer, with the formatting being done in the view. However, if you want to perform the formatting in the model, you can use wrapper methods for the getter and setter, and avoid having to use the :value option entirely.
You'd end up with something like this.
def my_attribute_string
foo_formatter(myattribute)
end
def my_attribute_string=(s)
# Parse "s" or do whatever you need to with it, then set your real attribute.
end
<%= f.text_field :my_attribute_string %>
Railscasts covered this with a Time object in a text_field in episode #32. The really clever part of this is how they handle validation errors. It's worth watching the episode for that alone.
This is an old question, but in case anyone comes across this you could use the number_to_X helpers. They have all of the attributes you could ever want for displaying your edit value:
<%= f.text_field :my_number, :value => number_to_human(f.object.my_number, :separator => '', :unit => '', :delimiter => '', :precision => 0) %>
There are more attributes available too: http://api.rubyonrails.org/classes/ActionView/Helpers/NumberHelper.html
If you want a format to be created or maintained during editing, you will need to add Javascript to implement "masks." Here is a demo.
It was the first hit in these results.
You can use the number_format plugin. By specifying a number_format for an existing numeric attribute inside your model, the attribute will now appear as formatted to Rails in all forms and views. It will also be parsed back from that format (when assigned via forms) prior to insertion into the database. (The plugin also creates purely numeric unformatted_<attribute-name> accessors which can continue to be used for arithmetic, or for direct numerical assignment or retrieval by you for seamless integration.)
class MyModel < ActiveRecord::Base
# this model has the balance attribute, which we
# want to display using formatting in views,
# although it is stored as a numeric in the database
number_format :balance,
:precision => 2,
:delimiter => ',',
:strip_trailing_zeros => false
def increment_balance
unformatted_balance += 10
end
You can also combine the above with a Javascript solution, which can force the user to maintain the decimal point and thousands separators in place while editing, although this is really not necessary.
I have done something similar. We format times and lengths using a custom form builder. It makes use of the existing text_field, but wraps it so the value can be customized:
class SuperFormBuilder < ActionView::Helpers::FormBuilder
include ApplicationHelper
include FormHelper
include ActionView::Helpers::TagHelper
include ActionView::Helpers::FormTagHelper
def length_field(label,*args)
scale = 'medium'
args.each do |v|
if v.has_key?(:scale)
scale = v[:scale]
v.delete(:scale)
end
end
value = length_conversion(#object.send(label.to_sym),scale)
options = (args.length > 0) ? args.pop : {}
return has_error(label, text_field_tag(field_name(label),value,*args) + ' ' + length_unit(scale))
end
private
def field_name(label)
return #object_name + "[#{label}]"
end
def has_error(label, output)
return "<div class='fieldWithErrors'>#{output}</div>" if #object.errors[label]
return output
end
And it is used like this:
<%= form_for( #section, {:action => 'save', :id => #section.id}, :builder => SuperFormBuilder) do |sf| %>
<%= sf.length_field :feed_size_min_w, :size => 3, :scale => 'small' %>
<% end %>
The end result is a value in the appropriate unit based off their choice on system (Metric, Imperial) and scale IE small = inches or millimeters.
I basically copied the text_field method from the existing form builder, which uses the text_field_tag itself.
There are two gotchas: 1) Knowing the name of the object field and how to access the object to get the value which you want to format. 2) Getting the name right so when the form is submitted it is part of the correct params hash.
The form builder is given a class variable #object. You can get the value of the field using the .send method. In my case I send the label :feed_size_min_w to the #object and get its length back. I then convert it to my desired format, and give it to the text_field_tag.
The name of the field is key to having it end up in the params hash, in my instance the params[:sections] one. I made a little helper function called field_name that takes care of this.
Finally the has_error wraps the field in an error div if there are errors on that label.
I needed "nicer" format on some specified text fields, resolved it by adding this to my initializers. Seems to work nicely on Rails ~= 5.2 and it should be easy to customize.
class ActionView::Helpers::Tags::TextField
private
def value_before_type_cast # override method in ActionView::Helpers::Tags::Base
v = super
# format as you like, when you like
if #options.delete(:nice_decimal)
v = v.to_s.gsub('.', ',') if v.is_a?(BigDecimal)
end
v
end
end
Usage in form f
<%= f.text_field :foo, nice_decimal: true %>