Rails - May 2006 - Instance or local vars for field helpers in partial template

I''m getting confused.

If I have a view (.rhtml), I can use a field helper like:

  <%= text_field :mymodel, :attribute %>

This uses the value from @mymodel.attribute

Now, if I am rendering a template normally (i.e. not partial), I would 
expect @mymodel to be a model object defined as an instance variable in 
the controller.

However, if I am rendering a partial template, I either have:

  render :partial => ''mything'', :object => @mymodel
  or
  render :partial => ''mything'', :collection =>
@mymodelcollection

Now, inside the template, the @mymodel object is available as the 
*local* variable mything (same as template name).

If I have a field helper, I cannot now use:

  text_field :mything, :attribute

because text_field expects @mything (an instance variable).

I can get around this my putting at the top of my partial template:

  <% @mything = mything %>

but this seems a little clunky and un-Ruby-ish. Is there a better way?

Thanks,

Julian


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

On 5/4/06, Julian Gall <julian.gall@gmail.com>
wrote:
> I''m getting confused.
>
> If I have a view (.rhtml), I can use a field helper like:
>
>   <%= text_field :mymodel, :attribute %>
>
> This uses the value from @mymodel.attribute
>
> Now, if I am rendering a template normally (i.e. not partial), I would
> expect @mymodel to be a model object defined as an instance variable in
> the controller.
>
> However, if I am rendering a partial template, I either have:
>
>   render :partial => ''mything'', :object => @mymodel
>   or
>   render :partial => ''mything'', :collection =>
@mymodelcollection
>
> Now, inside the template, the @mymodel object is available as the
> *local* variable mything (same as template name).
>
> If I have a field helper, I cannot now use:
>
>   text_field :mything, :attribute
>
> because text_field expects @mything (an instance variable).
>
> I can get around this my putting at the top of my partial template:
>
>   <% @mything = mything %>
>
> but this seems a little clunky and un-Ruby-ish. Is there a better way?
>
Not that I''m aware of.  That''s the way DHH told me to do it.
Heh.