Rails - Nov 2006 - Displaying action partial on index page - object id doesn't persist

This problem is a continuation of an earlier thread "Partial
doesn''t
yet have object" but I don''t think as many people saw it because
my
question came up in a reply.

- I''m building an store app that include a product catalog, details
page, and cart.
- I''m attempting to put them in the same layout using partials.
- Product catalog is the index action of the store controller

Clicking on the product in the catalog invokes the "view_details"
action, which is fine if it not a partial (i.e. path in the browser is
/store/view_details/5). The problem is, according to my understanding
so far of partials, the action in "view_details" must
"redirect_to
:action => :index". Because of that redirect, it appears as though the
selection doesn''t persist and therefore my "view_details"
(i.e. the
currently selected item) never displays.

So I''m starting to think that I have to store the current product
selected in the session by way of something like a "Basket" (more
temporary than a cart? good names are welcome) model.

Does that makes sense? Or is there a better way to make my selection
persist so I can display the catalog, deatails and cart all on the same
page?


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Brandon Wright wrote:
> This problem is a continuation of an earlier thread "Partial
doesn''t
> yet have object" but I don''t think as many people saw it
because my
> question came up in a reply.
> 
> - I''m building an store app that include a product catalog,
details
> page, and cart.
> - I''m attempting to put them in the same layout using partials.
> - Product catalog is the index action of the store controller
> 
> Clicking on the product in the catalog invokes the "view_details"
> action, which is fine if it not a partial (i.e. path in the browser is
> /store/view_details/5). The problem is, according to my understanding
> so far of partials, the action in "view_details" must
"redirect_to
> :action => :index". Because of that redirect, it appears as though
the
> selection doesn''t persist and therefore my
"view_details" (i.e. the
> currently selected item) never displays.
> 
> So I''m starting to think that I have to store the current product
> selected in the session by way of something like a "Basket" (more
> temporary than a cart? good names are welcome) model.
> 
> Does that makes sense? Or is there a better way to make my selection
> persist so I can display the catalog, deatails and cart all on the same
> page?
You could use the flash to save the curent object for one request, and 
its cleared automatically after that:

  def view_details
    flash[:product_id] = params[:id]
    redirect_to :action => ''index''
  end
  def index
    if flash[:product_id]
      @product = Product.find(flash[:product_id])
    end
  end

Or you could use ajax to insert the partial into your index page.

Or, most simple of all, simply send people to a page wit info about the 
product, without redirecting then back to the index page.  The URLs and 
navigation will be much simpler and cleaner this way.

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

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(Yes, I''m this far behind reading the list mail, but I wanted to reply 
since I may still have something to add.)

I think the main problem you have right now is a misunderstanding of how 
layouts work.

Let''s first assume your controller is named store_controller.rb.  
Instead of using a partial, let your method render it''s default 
template.  In the case of the view_details method in 
store_controller.rb, this would be app/views/store/view_details.rhtml.  
Rails will first render this template, save the output and then look for 
an optional layout for the current controller (since layouts are 
controller-specific).

Rails looks for the layout in the following order (see section 17.9 in 
Agile Web Development with Rails or section 22.9 in the second edition.)

    o Layout specified explicitly in a render command
    o Layout specified in the current controller''s "layout"
command
    o A layout named after the current controller, located in 
app/views/layouts
      (app/views/layouts/store.rhtml in your case).
    o Lastly, the file app/views/layouts/application.rhtml.

If found, the saved output of your template will replace the line in the 
layout body matching "<%= yield :layout %>".  (Since
":layout" is the
default you could just specify "<%= yield %>".)  The older
method, "<%=
@content_for_layout %>" also works.

So, without using partials or explicit renders you would have your 
view_details method which would render from the following files:

app/views/store/view_details.rhtml   (template for 
store_controller#view_details)
app/views/layouts/store.rhtml        (layout file for store_controller.rb)

If you wanted a global layout for all controllers then that layout file 
could be:

app/views/layouts/application.rb

Now, both your template AND the selected layout can both still use 
partials.  For example, I often have common code for the <head> section 
in my layout:

app/views/layouts/store.rhtml:
<html>
  <head>
    <%= render :partial => ''layouts/head'' %>
  </head>
  ...
</html>

This would render app/views/layouts/_head.rhtml and place that output in 
the <head> section of my page.

Hope this helps,

David Schmidt

Brandon wrote:
> This problem is a continuation of an earlier thread "Partial
doesn''t
> yet have object" but I don''t think as many people saw it
because my
> question came up in a reply.
>
> - I''m building an store app that include a product catalog,
details
> page, and cart.
> - I''m attempting to put them in the same layout using partials.
> - Product catalog is the index action of the store controller
>
> Clicking on the product in the catalog invokes the "view_details"
> action, which is fine if it not a partial (i.e. path in the browser is
> /store/view_details/5). The problem is, according to my understanding
> so far of partials, the action in "view_details" must
"redirect_to
> :action => :index". Because of that redirect, it appears as though
the
> selection doesn''t persist and therefore my
"view_details" (i.e. the
> currently selected item) never displays.
>
> So I''m starting to think that I have to store the current product
> selected in the session by way of something like a "Basket" (more
> temporary than a cart? good names are welcome) model.
>
> Does that makes sense? Or is there a better way to make my selection
> persist so I can display the catalog, deatails and cart all on the same
> page?
>
>
> >   

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