Rails - Dec 2005 - Acts_as_tree and routing

I''ve got an acts_as_tree structure which I want to be able to represent
in the URL, with one field identified as the url component.  In other 
words, if I''ve got this:

def self.up
	create_table :nodes do |t|
		t.column :parent_id, :integer
		t.column :tag, :string	
	end
end

and

class Node < ActiveRecord::Base
	acts_as_tree
end

and what I want the urls to be is something like:

map.connect ''node/view/*tag'',
/*somethingIdon''tknowhere*/

what''s the easiest way to make this work, assuming that I can validate 
that no two siblings have the same tag?  It doesn''t seem that unusual a
requirement, but I can''t see any documentation for this sort of 
arrangement anywhere.

Thanks,
-- 
Alex

On Dec 15, 2005, at 6:40 AM, Alex Young wrote:
> I''ve got an acts_as_tree structure which I want to be able to  
> represent in the URL, with one field identified as the url  
> component.  In other words, if I''ve got this:
>
> def self.up
> 	create_table :nodes do |t|
> 		t.column :parent_id, :integer
> 		t.column :tag, :string	
> 	end
> end
>
> and
>
> class Node < ActiveRecord::Base
> 	acts_as_tree
> end
>
> and what I want the urls to be is something like:
>
> map.connect ''node/view/*tag'',
/*somethingIdon''tknowhere*/
>
> what''s the easiest way to make this work, assuming that I can  
> validate that no two siblings have the same tag?  It doesn''t seem
> that unusual a requirement, but I can''t see any documentation for
> this sort of arrangement anywhere.
>
> Thanks,
> -- 
> Alex
>
Alex,

Check this page out:
http://blog.chanezon.com/articles/2005/05/20/rails-tip-create-a-route- 
with-an-arbitrary-number-of-parameters

It seems to be what you''re looking for.

Also, I would suggest making a method similar to this one in your  
model for easy conversion of a path to an array of nodes:

   def self.to_chain(path)
     node_names = path.is_a?(String) ? path.split(''.'') :  path

     links = []
     parent_id = node = nil
     for name in node_names
       node = Node.find_by_tag_and_parent_id(name, parent_id)
       if node.nil?
         links = nil
         break
       end
       links << node
       parent_id = node.id
     end
     links
   end

Then in your controller:
before_filter :set_node

def set_node
   chain = Tag.to_chain(params[:tag])
   @node = chain.last unless chain.nil?
end	

Duane Johnson
(canadaduane)

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Duane Johnson wrote:
> 
> On Dec 15, 2005, at 6:40 AM, Alex Young wrote:
<snip>
> Alex,
> 
> Check this page out: 
>
http://blog.chanezon.com/articles/2005/05/20/rails-tip-create-a-route-with-an-arbitrary-number-of-parameters
> 
> It seems to be what you''re looking for.
I saw that, but it''s not obvious at all how to make it work for the 
url_for functions.  Will I have to just bodge it each time, or is there 
a nice way of making it generate the *tag portion automatically?
> Also, I would suggest making a method similar to this one in your model 
> for easy conversion of a path to an array of nodes:
> 
>   def self.to_chain(path)
<snip>
>   end
> 
> Then in your controller:
> before_filter :set_node
> 
> def set_node
>   chain = Tag.to_chain(params[:tag])
>   @node = chain.last unless chain.nil?
> end
I''ve got something similar to that already, but I didn''t put
it in a
before_filter because the structure''s only used for a single method at 
the moment.

Thanks,
-- 
Alex

On Dec 15, 2005, at 7:28 AM, Alex Young wrote:
> Duane Johnson wrote:
>> On Dec 15, 2005, at 6:40 AM, Alex Young wrote:
> <snip>
>> Alex,
>> Check this page out: http://blog.chanezon.com/articles/2005/05/20/ 
>> rails-tip-create-a-route-with-an-arbitrary-number-of-parameters
>> It seems to be what you''re looking for.
> I saw that, but it''s not obvious at all how to make it work for
the
> url_for functions.  Will I have to just bodge it each time, or is  
> there a nice way of making it generate the *tag portion automatically?
>
The route generator will not do recursive things like that.  You''ll  
need to make your own ''url_for'' helper method that generates a
string
path, e.g.:

def path_to(node, prefix = ''node/'')
   prefix + node.chain.join(''/'')
end

(the ''chain'' method is a custom method that returns an array  
containing each Node object from the given node to the root of the tree)

Then something like this wouldn''t be too messy: <%= link_to
''click
here'', path_to(@current_node) %>

Duane Johnson
(canadaduane)

Duane Johnson wrote:
> 
> On Dec 15, 2005, at 7:28 AM, Alex Young wrote:
> 
>> Duane Johnson wrote:
>>
>>> On Dec 15, 2005, at 6:40 AM, Alex Young wrote:
>>
>> <snip>
>>
>>> Alex,
>>> Check this page out: http://blog.chanezon.com/articles/2005/05/20/ 
>>> rails-tip-create-a-route-with-an-arbitrary-number-of-parameters
>>> It seems to be what you''re looking for.
>>
>> I saw that, but it''s not obvious at all how to make it work
for the
>> url_for functions.  Will I have to just bodge it each time, or is  
>> there a nice way of making it generate the *tag portion automatically?
>>
> 
> The route generator will not do recursive things like that. 
You''ll
> need to make your own ''url_for'' helper method that
generates a string
> path, e.g.:
Bah.  I thought it''d be something like that :-)
> 
> def path_to(node, prefix = ''node/'')
>   prefix + node.chain.join(''/'')
> end
> 
> (the ''chain'' method is a custom method that returns an
array  containing
> each Node object from the given node to the root of the tree)
In this case, it''s an acts_as_tree, so I can do something convenient 
with node.ancestors.

Thanks anyway,
-- 
Alex