Rails - Feb 2006 - How can I put the error messages generated by the validation routines into it''s own side frame and how can a click on a error message take me right to the error?

Hello,

I''m a newbie, coming from Visual FoxPro - a database centric and object
orientated scripting language with a rich set of graphical user 
interface controlls. Lerning ruby on rails means for me to lern html as 
well. But now to my

problem:
The validation errors are listed at the top of the page without any 
order. Depending on the size of the form and the numbers of errors 
listed the data entry fields containing the corresponding invalid data 
eventually are out of sight. If the user corrected the value of a field 
the corresponding error message should indicate that something was done.

idea:
1. Bring the error messages into a meaningful order (there have already
   been posts covering this task)
2. Display the error messages in a side frame with it''s own scrollbar.
3. Make a specific part of the message interactive, so a click of the
   user on this part will take him right a way to the corresponding data
   entry field.
4. Change the color of the error message if the field entry was changed.

implementation:
???

Thanks in advance

Jochen

For now, you can use my plugin (see signature) to order your fields. I was
only 3 days into Ruby/Rails when I wrote it so it definitely needs to be
refactored. Eventually, I''ll submit it as patch. As for the display and
location, CSS and Javascript are your friends.

Another option if you want to get personal, is to generate your own error
handling/display using the error_on function.

Bob Silva
http://www.railtie.net/

-----Original Message-----
From: rails-bounces@lists.rubyonrails.org
[mailto:rails-bounces@lists.rubyonrails.org] On Behalf Of Jochen Dress
Sent: Monday, February 13, 2006 8:04 AM
To: rails@lists.rubyonrails.org
Subject: [Rails] How can I put the error messages generated by the
validation routines into it''s own side frame and how can a click on a
error
message take me right to the error?

Hello,

I''m a newbie, coming from Visual FoxPro - a database centric and object
orientated scripting language with a rich set of graphical user 
interface controlls. Lerning ruby on rails means for me to lern html as 
well. But now to my

problem:
The validation errors are listed at the top of the page without any 
order. Depending on the size of the form and the numbers of errors 
listed the data entry fields containing the corresponding invalid data 
eventually are out of sight. If the user corrected the value of a field 
the corresponding error message should indicate that something was done.

idea:
1. Bring the error messages into a meaningful order (there have already
   been posts covering this task)
2. Display the error messages in a side frame with it''s own scrollbar.
3. Make a specific part of the message interactive, so a click of the
   user on this part will take him right a way to the corresponding data
   entry field.
4. Change the color of the error message if the field entry was changed.

implementation:
???

Thanks in advance

Jochen
 

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>2. Display the error messages in a side frame with it''s own
scrollbar.
Ugh. Don''t do that. Scrolling subcontainers or side frames are rarely  
good UI decisions in HTML pages. If you have so many validation errors  
that the list is very long, consider placing the error messages adjacent  
to the fields instead of in a group.
>3. Make a specific part of the message interactive, so a click of the
>   user on this part will take him right a way to the corresponding data
>   entry field.
Great idea. Use the Prototype javascript library to set focus on the  
field you get the error on. Make sure that the focus is very very  
obvious, since simply setting the cursor in the field isn''t easy to
notice.
>4. Change the color of the error message if the field entry was changed.
I think this is also a great idea. You''ll might want to submit your
form
when the user tabs away from each field, and update a div with the  
relevant errors. The trick is to make sure you *don''t* display an error
for a field the user hasn''t yet put a value into. That''s where
it gets a
little tricky, since you probably also want to insure certain fields  
aren''t empty.


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