Rails - Feb 2006 - calling a controller/action from another controller

Hi,

Is there a way to call a controller/action pair from another controller 
as well as render the view for that pair?  I have tried using "render 
''ctrl/action''" and that works, but the controller code
isn''t called
(only the view is rendered).  A redirect_to isn''t desirable either as I
want the resulting content to be rendered in the current controller''s 
layout.

I have thought of a workaround, but it seems to violate some design 
principles of Rails.  That is, the put the controller code for the 
actions that I need to do this with in helpers and let the action 
essentially call the controller.  However, this doesn''t seem like a
very
elegant solution.  Is there a better way?

Thanks,
Jonathan

P.S.  I thought I read a topic along these lines before, but I can''t 
seem to locate it now.

-- 
Posted via http://www.ruby-forum.com/.

On Feb 16, 2006, at 9:15 AM, Jonathan Leonard wrote:
> Hi,
>
> Is there a way to call a controller/action pair from another  
> controller
> as well as render the view for that pair?  I have tried using "render
> ''ctrl/action''" and that works, but the controller
code isn''t called
> (only the view is rendered).  A redirect_to isn''t desirable either
> as I
> want the resulting content to be rendered in the current
controller''s
> layout.
>
> I have thought of a workaround, but it seems to violate some design
> principles of Rails.  That is, the put the controller code for the
> actions that I need to do this with in helpers and let the action
> essentially call the controller.  However, this doesn''t seem like
a
> very
> elegant solution.  Is there a better way?
>
> Thanks,
> Jonathan
>
> P.S.  I thought I read a topic along these lines before, but I
can''t
> seem to locate it now.
>

	Use render_component:

<%= render_component :controller => ''foo'', :action =>
''bar'' %>

Cheers-
-Ezra Zygmuntowicz
Yakima Herald-Republic
WebMaster
http://yakimaherald.com
509-577-7732
ezra@yakima-herald.com

Ezra Zygmuntowicz wrote:
> On Feb 16, 2006, at 9:15 AM, Jonathan Leonard wrote:
> 
>>
>> P.S.  I thought I read a topic along these lines before, but I
can''t
>> seem to locate it now.
>>
> 
> 
> 	Use render_component:
> 
> <%= render_component :controller => ''foo'', :action
=> ''bar'' %>
> 
Thanks for the response.

But, this looks like view code.  I''m trying to do this from the 
controller.  (The reason I can''t use the view is I have an action
called
''menu'' in my controller which handles menu hits (it can be one
of many
different actions).

I tried calling render_component from the controller, but that was 
basically the same as a redirect_to (i.e., it didn''t preserve the 
current controller''s layout. I even tried adding :layout => 
''currentController'' to the render_component call.  Am I
missing
something?

--J

-- 
Posted via http://www.ruby-forum.com/.

On Feb 16, 2006, at 10:34 AM, Jonathan Leonard wrote:
> Ezra Zygmuntowicz wrote:
>> On Feb 16, 2006, at 9:15 AM, Jonathan Leonard wrote:
>>
>>>
>>> P.S.  I thought I read a topic along these lines before, but I
can''t
>>> seem to locate it now.
>>>
>>
>>
>> 	Use render_component:
>>
>> <%= render_component :controller => ''foo'',
:action => ''bar'' %>
>>
>
> Thanks for the response.
>
> But, this looks like view code.  I''m trying to do this from the
> controller.  (The reason I can''t use the view is I have an action
> called
> ''menu'' in my controller which handles menu hits (it can
be one of many
> different actions).
>
> I tried calling render_component from the controller, but that was
> basically the same as a redirect_to (i.e., it didn''t preserve the
> current controller''s layout. I even tried adding :layout =>
> ''currentController'' to the render_component call.  Am I
missing
> something?
>
> --J
>
Yes you need to set a flag in the render component call to tell the  
other controllers action to render without layout:


render_component :controller => ''foo'', :action ->
''bar'', :no_layout
=> true


Then in the other controller action you check for the flag and render  
without a layout if its present:

def bar
   # do stuff you need
   if params[:no_layout]
      render :layout => false && return
   end
   # do the normal render however you like
end

Hope that helps

-Ezra Zygmuntowicz
Yakima Herald-Republic
WebMaster
http://yakimaherald.com
509-577-7732
ezra@yakima-herald.com

Ezra Zygmuntowicz wrote:
> 
> Yes you need to set a flag in the render component call to tell the
> other controllers action to render without layout:
> 
> 
> render_component :controller => ''foo'', :action ->
''bar'', :no_layout
> => true
>
I think you meant:

render_component :controller => ''foo'', :action =>
''bar'', :params => {
"no_layout" => true }
> 
> Then in the other controller action you check for the flag and render
> without a layout if its present:
> 
> def bar
>    # do stuff you need
>    if params[:no_layout]
>       render :layout => false && return
>    end
>    # do the normal render however you like
> end
> 
Ok.  This actually worked (but didn''t produce the intended result).  It
just removed all formatting (i.e., style).

So, I changed the above code slightly to be :params => {
''layout'' =>
''theDesiredLayout'' } and set :layout =
params[''layout''] in the call to
render.  This brought back the style that was there previously (the 
scaffold stylesheet), but still didn''t display the content in the
proper
layout (i.e., the calling controller''s layout).

--J

-- 
Posted via http://www.ruby-forum.com/.

On Feb 16, 2006, at 2:16 PM, Jonathan Leonard wrote:
> Ezra Zygmuntowicz wrote:
>>
>> Yes you need to set a flag in the render component call to tell the
>> other controllers action to render without layout:
>>
>>
>> render_component :controller => ''foo'', :action
-> ''bar'', :no_layout
>> => true
>>
>
> I think you meant:
>
> render_component :controller => ''foo'', :action =>
''bar'', :params => {
> "no_layout" => true }
>
Ahh yes, you are right. I was just typing it and didn''t test anything
;)
>>
>> Then in the other controller action you check for the flag and render
>> without a layout if its present:
>>
>> def bar
>>    # do stuff you need
>>    if params[:no_layout]
>>       render :layout => false && return
>>    end
>>    # do the normal render however you like
>> end
>>
>
> Ok.  This actually worked (but didn''t produce the intended  
> result).  It
> just removed all formatting (i.e., style).
>
> So, I changed the above code slightly to be :params => {
''layout'' =>
> ''theDesiredLayout'' } and set :layout =
params[''layout''] in the call to
> render.  This brought back the style that was there previously (the
> scaffold stylesheet), but still didn''t display the content in the
> proper
> layout (i.e., the calling controller''s layout).
>
> --J
What exactly are you wanting to do? I guess I don''t understand. If  
you want to render the action from another controller in the current  
controller/actions view and layout you do need layout false in the  
component that gets rendered.


-Ezra Zygmuntowicz
Yakima Herald-Republic
WebMaster
http://yakimaherald.com
509-577-7732
ezra@yakima-herald.com

Ezra Zygmuntowicz wrote:
> What exactly are you wanting to do? I guess I don''t understand. If
> you want to render the action from another controller in the current
> controller/actions view and layout you do need layout false in the
> component that gets rendered.
> 
> 
Yea, that''s it.  I want to display the result of another 
controller/action in the current controller''s layout/view. 
I''ve tried
render_component with :layout => false and :layout =>
''callingCtrl''.
:layout => false yielded a page with no style at all (as expected) and 
:layout => ''callingCtrl'' yielded the same page I
would''ve gotten from a
redirect_to (except the address remained in the calling controller) or a 
render_component with no layout clause.

BTW, doing this:

render ''ctrlr/action''

renders the page embedded in the current layout like I want, but that 
doesn''t actually call the controller code.  So, if I wanted to use this
approach, I''d either have to duplicate the controller code in the 
calling controller or put that code in a helper and call it from the 
view (or is there another way?? such as a controller helper, or a way to 
directly call something like this:

class CallingController
  def foo
    CalledController.action
    render ''ctrlr/action''
  end
end

I know that won''t work because the action is an instance method instead
of a class method.  Is there an instance of each controller lying around 
somewhere?

--Jonathan

-- 
Posted via http://www.ruby-forum.com/.

Jonathan Leonard wrote:
> I know that won''t work because the action is an instance method
instead
> of a class method.  Is there an instance of each controller lying around 
> somewhere?
> 

I just thought of something that should work.  I could put the 
functionality that''s currently in the called controller in 
application.rb and call it from both the calling controller as well as 
the called controller and use the render ''ctrlr/action''
approach that
works.  Is this the best way?

Thanks,
Jonathan

-- 
Posted via http://www.ruby-forum.com/.

On Feb 16, 2006, at 3:44 PM, Jonathan Leonard wrote:
> Jonathan Leonard wrote:
>
>> I know that won''t work because the action is an instance
method
>> instead
>> of a class method.  Is there an instance of each controller lying  
>> around
>> somewhere?
>>
>
>
> I just thought of something that should work.  I could put the
> functionality that''s currently in the called controller in
> application.rb and call it from both the calling controller as well as
> the called controller and use the render ''ctrlr/action''
approach that
> works.  Is this the best way?
>
> Thanks,
> Jonathan
>

Well it might not belong in the controller at all. I usually use  
render_component in my views to encapsulate sidebars and other  
sections from other controllers into the view. But in any regard  
render_component shouldn''t take the layout => false , that goes in  
the other controller/action being called. you need to conditionally  
decide to render without layout so you just get the content and view  
to render into your current state.

	But yeah you can refactor shared actions into your application  
controller if that works in this particular case.

-Ezra Zygmuntowicz
Yakima Herald-Republic
WebMaster
http://yakimaherald.com
509-577-7732
ezra@yakima-herald.com

Ezra Zygmuntowicz wrote:
> 
> Well it might not belong in the controller at all. I usually use
> render_component in my views to encapsulate sidebars and other
> sections from other controllers into the view. But in any regard
> render_component shouldn''t take the layout => false , that goes
in
> the other controller/action being called. you need to conditionally
> decide to render without layout so you just get the content and view
> to render into your current state.
>
Oops, I meant to say ''render'' there instead of
''render_component.''  That
is what I was actually doing and it still didn''t get the current
layout.

> 	But yeah you can refactor shared actions into your application
> controller if that works in this particular case.
Yea, that makes sense.

Thanks for the help.
Jonathan

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