Ajax on html block in Ruby on Rails 3 - ruby-on-rails

Question

I would like to use Ajax in my Ruby on Rails 3 application. Problem is I want the Ajax link to surround a div tag. If possible I'd rather it be with jQuery rather than prototype. How would I accomplish this?
I would like a solution involving some rails type programing something like link_to.

Answer 1

First of all add 'jquery-rails' gem to your Gemfile:
gem 'jquery-rails'
Then run bundle install and rails g jquery:install. That's all. Now you can work with jQuery.
Add a div into your view, for example:
<div id='ajax_div'><%= #article.title %></div>
Now you can include some javascript this way:
$(
function(){
$("#ajax_div").click(function(){
$.ajax(...)
}
}
)
More about $.ajax: http://api.jquery.com/jQuery.ajax/ (you can use either $.post or $.get or $.getScript)
UPD
working with ajax through link_to
<%= link_to some_path, :remote => true do %>
<div id='ajax_div'><%= #article.title %></div>
<% end %>
FROM THE BEGINNING
Let's create new rails application. From scratch. To show how ajax works. I won't test it, so here can be misstypes and mistakes.
rails new ajaxapp
cd ajaxapp
rails g scaffold Comment body:text
rake db:create
rake db:migrate
add gem 'jquery-rails' to Gemfile => bundle install => rails g jquery:install
let's edit comments/index.html.erb:
<h1>Listing comments</h1>
<%= link_to comments_path, :remote => true, :method => :post do %>
<div>Click me to add random comment</div>
<% end -%>
<div id='comments'>
<%= render #comments %>
</div>
_comment partial:
<p>
<%= comment.body %>
</p>
Now we will add app/views/create.js.erb file:
$("#comments").append("<%= escape_javascript( render #comment ) %>")
comments_controller create action:
def create
#comment = Comment.new
#comment.body = (0...50).map{ ('a'..'z').to_a.<<(" ")[rand(27)] }.join
#comment.save
end
that's all. Now run rails s. Go to localhost:3000/comments.