Rails - May 2005 - start_form_tag has a design problem with its parameters

After writing heaps of

  link_to "blah", { :action => ''foo'', :id =>
id }, :class => ''widget''

I kinda got used to that pattern for the parameters: URL options go in
their own hash; HTML options are listed afterwards.

So when I tried to edit a form tag, I did this

  start_form_tag { :action => ''foo'' }, :name =>
''bar''

and it didn''t work.  The Rails API doc tells me that it''s
correct
(i.e. start_form_tag(url_for_options = {}, options = {}, *params_for_url)
but a subtle Ruby factor prevents the above line from working.

Ruby interprets the above line as though { :action => ''foo''
} were a
block, not a hash, and raises a syntax error when it encounters the ",
:name => ''bar''".

The reason this coding style works for link_to and not start_form_tag
is because link_to has the mandatory first (string) parameter, which
means the "{" is not thought of as the beginning of a block.

It''s a shame I can''t code similar constructs the same way, but
I doubt
much can/will be done about it.  File under "annoyance".

BTW to get the above line to work:

  start_form_tag({ :action => ''foo'' }, :name =>
''bar'')

Gavin