I'm programming a large application using Rails 3 and I keep creating search forms like so:
= form_tag search_companies_path, :method => "get" do
= label_tag :search
= text_field_tag :search
= submit_tag "Search"
Should this be put into a Helper method or Partial?
I tried to get it working through a Helper:
module ApplicationHelper
def search_form(path)
form_tag path, :method => "get" do
label_tag :search
text_field_tag :search
submit_tag "Search"
end
end
end
This creates a form with a button, am I on the right track here?
Putting it into a helper - in my humble opinion - is not a good practice since helpers are supposed to take code out of views, not to take views excerpts - which is the case for partials.
I would definitely use partials for this function!
If you want to share a partial between different parts of your application, you can store them in a folder called "shared" (or whatever name you like) and insert them into the view by calling render :partial => '/shared/name_of_the_partial'.
i think that partial is a more manutenible way to accomplish that task, because it's easier updating the code and also because you should save memory because the application helper is include in all helper.
You can create that partial on shared, naming it _search.html.erb.
Related
What is the 'Rails way' to provide access to methods such as the following from a view
def approve!
self.update_attribute status, 'approved'
end
Is it best to create a link to a custom route
<%= link_to 'Approve', approve_object_path(#object) %>
#objects_controller.rb
def approve
#object.approve!
end
Or to create an update form
<%= simple_form_for #object do |f| %>
<%= f.input :status, input_html { value: 'approved' }, as: :hidden %>
<%= f.submit %>
<% end %>
On the one hand, using a form and not using the approve! method at all seems to align better with restful routes.
On the other hand, a link to a custom route seems to provide less opportunity for submitted values to be manipulated by the user, and also requires less code to implement.
Which is the preferred way to do this?
I don't know if there's a preferred best practice, per se...
Just my opinion, but I normally do the link_to approach, and for an "state machine" like your example. The need for an entire form for a simple action like this is a lot of extra code that isn't necessary when an action can be called to change the state.
The counter argument to this is that it breaks CRUD, and requires a non-CRUD route. Convention over configuration champions would probably prefer an entire new controller to change the state of the object.
TL;DR - I do the link_to approach, and I use :remote => true to make it asynchronous so the page doesn't even reload (unless you need the page to redirect elsewhere).
You can change state remotely with both the scenarios.
But I think if only a state has to be changed then use link_to. As we don't need to have form features with listed attributes in params here.
I'm new to RoR and I've managed to make a basic search form but keep getting errors when trying to expand the search tags (name).. I have a model with various data (location, website, email, telephone) and was wondering how I can add these to my current search code.
/models/ciir.rb
def self.search(search)
if search
find(:all, :conditions => ['name LIKE ?', "%#{search}%"])
else
find(:all)
end
end
static_pages_controller.rb
def home
#ciirs = Ciir.search(params[:search])
end
/home.html.erb
<%= form_tag ciirs_path, :method => 'get' do %>
<p>
<%= text_field_tag :search, params[:search] %>
<%= submit_tag " Search Database Records ", :name => nil %>
</p>
<% end %>
When clicking the submit button (no search terms) the url is:
ciirs?utf8=✓&search=
but when modifying the name condition to something like 'website' the url changes to
ciirs?utf8=✓&search=&commit=+Search+Database+Records+ –
Since you mentioned you are new to RoR, I must share the way I learned RoR was reading, using and analyzing one issue at a time. I would suggest you to take a look at following points one at a time and try & learn how RoR treats them and how these fit your question:
How form_tag works?
How text_field_tag works?
Once you have understood form_tag, difference between text_field_tag and f.text_field?
How params objects are created, and it uses names of form controls?
How and when to use GET and/or POST form methods? Inadvertently, what are different types of method and when to use them?
How URL are used in the form_tag and what components are they made of?
Sprinkle a bit of knowledge of Ruby language by learning between Arrays and Hashes? In fact, learn Ruby as much as you can.
Answering your question,
/home.html.erb
<%= form_tag "/static_pages/home", :method => 'post' do %>
<p>
<%= text_field_tag "search[name]", params.has_key?("search") && params[:search].has_key?("name") ? params[:search][:name] : "" %>
<%= submit_tag " Search Database Records " %>
</p>
<% end %>
/models/ciir.rb
def self.search(search)
if search
find(:all, :conditions => ["name LIKE '%?%'", search[:name]])
else
find(:all)
end
end
So I modified your form, and told RoR about search params containing data for name.
params is a Hash (which is a key-value pair) having key named search, which further is a Hash having key named name.
The same principle is followed in the model code. We passed the Hash of key search to the function and in there, used the value of key named name.
I also updated the url in form_tag, to point it to home action of your controller. Assuming that you have added it to your routes.rb file, it usually follows the pattern controller_name/action_name or the function name action_name_controller_name_path or action_name_controller_name_url. Run rake routes command at your root directory to list out all paths in your application.
Also note, I used POST method instead of original GET. You may wish to use GET here, so please change it back.
I hope this works.
I found no error in your code. the url changed to ciirs?utf8=✓&search=&commit=+Search+Database+Records+ is normal. submit_tag generates a button named "commit" defaultly, it will be parsed in the params. I see you add :name => nil , it will fix the problem, the other part of your code needn't to be modified. I copied your code and tested it, it ran smoothly.
I have this route...
match '/set_current_location/:contract_id' => 'contracts#set_current_location',
:as => :set_current_location
I've written the ContractsController#set_current_location action and tests and that's all working as expected.
I'm having trouble with the view code.
I understand that this isn't The Rails Way, but because of the underlying DB structure (which I didn't create and am not allowed to change), it would be best in this one special case to not base the form on a model at all.
So my question is, how can I create a non-model form that posts to that route?
This should work for you:
<%= form_tag(set_current_location_path(contract_id), method: :post) do %>
...
<% end %>
I have created a custom helper in my application.rb file, which looks like:
module ApplicationHelper
def add_feature_field(feature_type, object_form_builder, actions_visible)
object_form_builder.object.features.build
fields = object_form_builder.fields_for :features do |features_builder|
render :partial => "features/fixed_feature", :locals => {:feature => features_builder, :fixed_feature_type => feature_type, :form_actions_visible => actions_visible}
end
end
end
I am calling this helper from my view like so:
<%= add_feature_field("First Name", customer, false) %>
<%= add_feature_field("Last Name", customer, false) %>
<%= add_feature_field("Date of Birth", customer, false) %>
This is working pretty much as anticipated, except for one major hurdle: the second time the helper is called, it renders 2 fields instead of a single field, and the third time it renders 3 fields.
I assume that what is happening is that the fields_for loop in my helper is picking up the previously built objects, and also rendering those - can anyone suggest a way of preventing this?
EDIT: For clarity, as per the comments, this helper method is being used within the Customer form; the Features being created are nested attributes.
I want to display product count in a link_to, the link_to is a part of partial displayed in application.erb.html, the problem is, I have a method in my application controller named products_on_cart which return products count, when I try this code:
<%= link_to "<%= products_on_cart%>", :controller=>"carts", :action=>"index"%>
rails give me an error:
"syntax error, unexpected '>'
...er=>"carts", :action=>"index"%>"
I don't really understand why, can somebody help me?
You can't use <%= .. %> inside of <%= .. %>.
<%= link_to products_on_cart, [:carts] %>
You're nesting ERb tags. Make sure products_on_cart() is available as a helper method, then rewrite your link_to code without nested ERb tags as follows:
<%= link_to products_on_cart(), :controller => "carts", :action => "index" %>
To make products_on_cart() a helper method, either move it to app/helpers/application.rb, or declare it as a helper in your controller:
def products_on_cart()
# method definition goes here
end
helper_method :products_on_cart
If you only need to access products_on_cart from your views and not from your controllers, putting it in app/helpers/application.rb is the preferred way to go. If you need to use it in both controllers and views, use the helper_method approach above instead.