Rails - Feb 2006 - Why doesn''t my "action" take action?

I have the following code in my index.rhtml:
        <div id="how_many_images"
style="background-color:#eee;">
            <%= render(:partial => ''form'')
%></div>

...and the following in my _form.rhtml
        <%= form_remote_tag(:update => "images_div_main",
                            :url    => { :action => 
''get_reordered_images''}) %>
        <label for="num_images_requested">How many
images?</label>
        <%= text_field_tag :numreq %>
        <%= submit_tag "Click to get images" %>
        <%= end_form_tag %>

...and of course, this im my Mycontroller_controller.rb:
    def get_reordered_images
        @sock_serv = TCPSocket.new("192.168.107.7", 9000)
        xml = "<?xml version=''1.0'' ?>"
        @sock_serv.send(xml,0)
        @results = @sock_serv.recv(1000)
        @sock_serv.close
        render(:layout => false)
    end

and I even have this in my get_reordered_images.rhtml file:
   <%= @results %>

It works great!  Gets me what I want, where I want it on the page.  But 
what I also want to do, is "execute" this "action" when the
page is
first rendered.  I feel like I should just "call" this from the index 
page, perhaps is ruby brackets, but I''ve spent ours and nothing happens
until I do the form_remote_tag click and then the "replacement"
partial
page appears.

What do I need to do to have "get_reorder_images" execute on first 
rendering of html.

Eventually, I will put in logic or a new "action" so that some 
parameters are passed with subsequent calls, but this first call has a 
default mode.

Thanks,
Dave

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

Okay, I figured this one out.  I have to:
<%= render(:partial => ''get_reordered_images'') %> in
my index.rhtml file

Then create a _get_reordered_images file in my application''s Views file
in which I only have:
<%= render_component(:action => ''get_reordered_images'')
%>

Which calls my "def get_reordered_images" action in my controller.rb 
file.

Now I have two really nagging questions:
1.  Can someone explain to me why this is "efficient" (to have all of 
these different types of files just passing along a slightly altered 
call...I know there must be an abstract explanation, but my trivial 
application does show it)?

2.  How come some posts that can be really complicated receive multiple 
comments almost immediately, but most of my posts asking simple 
questions, most of the time get no responses?

I''m guessing the multi-post responses are a tight group of colleagues 
and my questions are not of interest, but maybe I''m asking them the 
wrong way.

Thoughts? Comments?  write to me directly at DTL "at"
Stanfordalumni.org
(I''m afraid I won''t scroll down to find if anyone posted to
me).
David T-L wrote:
> I have the following code in my index.rhtml:
>         <div id="how_many_images"
style="background-color:#eee;">
>             <%= render(:partial => ''form'')
%></div>
> 
> ...and the following in my _form.rhtml
>         <%= form_remote_tag(:update => "images_div_main",
>                             :url    => { :action => 
> ''get_reordered_images''}) %>
>         <label for="num_images_requested">How many
images?</label>
>         <%= text_field_tag :numreq %>
>         <%= submit_tag "Click to get images" %>
>         <%= end_form_tag %>
> 
> ...and of course, this im my Mycontroller_controller.rb:
>     def get_reordered_images
>         @sock_serv = TCPSocket.new("192.168.107.7", 9000)
>         xml = "<?xml version=''1.0'' ?>"
>         @sock_serv.send(xml,0)
>         @results = @sock_serv.recv(1000)
>         @sock_serv.close
>         render(:layout => false)
>     end
> 
> and I even have this in my get_reordered_images.rhtml file:
>    <%= @results %>
> 
> It works great!  Gets me what I want, where I want it on the page.  But 
> what I also want to do, is "execute" this "action" when
the page is
> first rendered.  I feel like I should just "call" this from the
index
> page, perhaps is ruby brackets, but I''ve spent ours and nothing
happens
> until I do the form_remote_tag click and then the "replacement"
partial
> page appears.
> 
> What do I need to do to have "get_reorder_images" execute on
first
> rendering of html.
> 
> Eventually, I will put in logic or a new "action" so that some 
> parameters are passed with subsequent calls, but this first call has a 
> default mode.
> 
> Thanks,
> Dave

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

I literally lol''d when I had the ephiphany (re my # 2 question below)
that when someone responds to your post, the post goes back to the top.
I didn''t know that!!  So those posts that show 12 responses in 2
minutes
really mean that the last response was two minutes ago, not all 12 of
them.  Doh!

David T-L wrote:
> Okay, I figured this one out.  I have to:
> <%= render(:partial => ''get_reordered_images'')
%> in my index.rhtml file
> 
> Then create a _get_reordered_images file in my application''s Views
file
> in which I only have:
> <%= render_component(:action =>
''get_reordered_images'') %>
> 
> Which calls my "def get_reordered_images" action in my
controller.rb
> file.
> 
> Now I have two really nagging questions:
> 1.  Can someone explain to me why this is "efficient" (to have
all of
> these different types of files just passing along a slightly altered 
> call...I know there must be an abstract explanation, but my trivial 
> application does show it)?
> 
> 2.  How come some posts that can be really complicated receive multiple 
> comments almost immediately, but most of my posts asking simple 
> questions, most of the time get no responses?
> 
> I''m guessing the multi-post responses are a tight group of
colleagues
> and my questions are not of interest, but maybe I''m asking them
the
> wrong way.
> 
> Thoughts? Comments?  write to me directly at DTL "at"
Stanfordalumni.org
> (I''m afraid I won''t scroll down to find if anyone posted
to me).
> David T-L wrote:

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

On Feb 18, 2006, at 10:51 AM, David T-L wrote:
> 2.  How come some posts that can be really complicated receive  
> multiple
> comments almost immediately, but most of my posts asking simple
> questions, most of the time get no responses?
I have no direct knowledge of your past posts, but I know that from my
perspective when a poster asks a trivial question that can be answered
via Google and/or a reading of the Rails book, I don''t bother to  
respond.

When a person asks a question that is unique (and perhaps difficult),  
then
I want to respond and join because it''s breaking new ground.

-- 
-- Tom Mornini

Tom,

I appreciate your feedback.

For me, I don''t ask questions until I''ve been spinning for a
few hours.

I can tell you that with the structure of Ruby on Rails and Ajax, there 
are assumptions of location going on under the covers that, as a newbie, 
it is hard to know when something isn''t possible versus when
I''m
misunderstanding the difference between a method, a module, a helper, 
and a component.

I sit here with both "Agile Web Development with Rails" and the
pickaxe
"Programming Ruby" and I''m all over Google with searches,
especially for
error messages.

For example, I thought I should initialize a flag ($new_search) in the 
controller.  The flag is used by a action (method? component?) in the 
controller.  Now, it appears the flag gets "re-initialized" everytime 
the action is called.  Okay.  But I don''t want to put this code in my 
index.rhtml file to initialize it (by that I mean give it the value true 
when the page first renders).

So where should I initialize the flag?

I''m sure this is a trivial question, but for a newbie it opens up a 
whole vista of "getting it".

Thanks,
Dave



Tom Mornini wrote:
> On Feb 18, 2006, at 10:51 AM, David T-L wrote:
> 
>> 2.  How come some posts that can be really complicated receive  
>> multiple
>> comments almost immediately, but most of my posts asking simple
>> questions, most of the time get no responses?
> 
> I have no direct knowledge of your past posts, but I know that from my
> perspective when a poster asks a trivial question that can be answered
> via Google and/or a reading of the Rails book, I don''t bother to
> respond.
> 
> When a person asks a question that is unique (and perhaps difficult),
> then
> I want to respond and join because it''s breaking new ground.
> 
> --
> -- Tom Mornini

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

On Feb 18, 2006, at 12:45 PM, David T-L wrote:
> For example, I thought I should initialize a flag ($new_search) in the
> controller.  The flag is used by a action (method? component?) in the
> controller.  Now, it appears the flag gets "re-initialized"
everytime
> the action is called.  Okay.  But I don''t want to put this code in
my
> index.rhtml file to initialize it (by that I mean give it the value  
> true
> when the page first renders).
Here''s the rub, and I''m only saying this to be helpful, and
I''m
certainly
only speaking for myself.

Have you seen any other code, in the Pickaxe or AWDR or Google  
seaches on
Rails subjects, that have variables that begin with a dollar sign? Ruby
variables are not prefixed by dollar signs.

This mailing list is comprised of some of the most helpful and
knowledgeable people as any I''ve ever subscribed to. That said, a  
mailing
list is NOT intended as a programming peer that you can just shoot
questions out to, as though all the members are sitting next to you in a
small room.

So, aforementioned helpful and knowledgeable people on the list will  
give
more time and attention to people that have clearly spent *enough* time
to get familiar with the environment. Since they did this themselves,  
they
know where the sticking point are, as nearly each and everyone of them
started in the same place you did: new to Ruby, new to Rails, coming
from another language, Pickaxe and AWDR on knee.

Now, to answer your question: You *cannot*, under any circumstances with
Rails, store values that will persist from one request to the next by
using in memory variables. Doesn''t matter where they''re set,
doesn''t
matter what kind they are. The only way to persist values across  
requests
is via session (disregarding roll your own inter request mechanisms).

As a general style suggestion, I don''t think anyone would give you  
advice
to set any sort of flag in a view. Setting a flag is about controlling
the application, and therefore belongs in the controller.

-- 
-- Tom Mornini

Tom Mornini wrote:

Thanks for directing your comments in a constructive way.  I appreciate 
that it would be easier to "walk away".
> 
> Here''s the rub, and I''m only saying this to be helpful,
and I''m
> certainly only speaking for myself.
> 
> Have you seen any other code, in the Pickaxe or AWDR or Google
> seaches on
> Rails subjects, that have variables that begin with a dollar sign? Ruby
> variables are not prefixed by dollar signs.
I know this isn''t really your main point, but it did make me wonder how
I got off on my global variable track.  I could NOT find ANY code using 
$nnnnn  (I was surprised, I would have sworn I saw it!), but I did find 
some examples (Pickaxe pp 15, 17) where $ is used to demonstrate an 
example of a Global variable.

I finally remembered why I started using it:  Pickaxe p.331.  I was 
having problems figuring out what was controlling what and I needed to 
use a variable in an action and figure out why it was getting changed or 
not set.  In my simplistic approach, I figured I''d avoid the
"problems"
of "undefined variable or method".
> Now, to answer your question: You *cannot*, under any circumstances with
> Rails, store values that will persist from one request to the next by
> using in memory variables. Doesn''t matter where they''re
set, doesn''t
> matter what kind they are. The only way to persist values across
> requests
> is via session (disregarding roll your own inter request mechanisms).
That would have been good to read (or remember if I had read it).  I''m 
coming from a ''non-session'', non-object enviornment, so I
wasn''t
thinking of my process in that way.  Clear to me now!
> As a general style suggestion, I don''t think anyone would give you
> advice
> to set any sort of flag in a view. Setting a flag is about controlling
> the application, and therefore belongs in the controller.
I buy into that, that''s what was puzzling me.

Thanks for helping me understand the best use of this forum.

Dave

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