# Change an xml\_http\_request to http\_request **URL:** \ **Category:** Rails\ **Created:** [November 18, 2005, 12:16pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/change-an-xml-http-request-to-http-request/48274 "2005-11-18T12:16:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![charlysisto](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/c/ad7895/32.png) [@charlysisto](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/charlysisto)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2005, 12:16pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/change-an-xml-http-request-to-http-request/48274/1 "2005-11-18T12:16:50Z")
Hi, I use ajax to edit or create entry in my DB : a div box opens on top of the page (a bit like a pop up) with all the fileds to fill. Now to display properly an error message in the div box I use the remote tag for the ‘update’ or ‘create’ action edit.rhtml : \<%= form\_remote\_tag :update=\>‘ajax\_div’, :url=\>{:controller=\>‘matters\_crud’, :action =\>:update,:id =\> @matter } %\> \<%= render\_partial ‘form’ %\> \<%= submit\_tag ‘Edit’ %\> \<%= end\_form\_tag %\> matter\_crud\_controller.rb : def update @matter = Matter.find(params[:id]) if @matter.update\_attributes(params[:matter]) flash[:notice] = ‘Matter was successfully updated.’ render :action=\>‘confirm’ else render :action =\> ‘edit’ end end The thing is, if their isn’t any error I would like the hole page to refresh, like in a normal http request so my new or updated entry appears properly. One solution I thought of is this: when update or save is successfull I render ‘confirm’ which has ‘onLoad=window.location.reload( false )’ but that doesn’t seem to work (it does though with onClick for example). So my question is how could I make an xml\_http\_request behave as a normal http request when condition x is met. I’ve seen in the pragmatic book this is possible when browser has javascript disabled. Of course it’s not the same here since the condition to be evaluated is on the server side. Any ideas for a workaround ? Thanks ---
**Author:** ![charlysisto](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/c/ad7895/32.png) [@charlysisto](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/charlysisto)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2005, 3:27pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/change-an-xml-http-request-to-http-request/48274/2 "2005-11-18T15:27:23Z")
When I’ve needed something like this, I will typically manage things manually. Instead of specifying the :update element, I will handle all of that in a :complete handler by hand. The :complete handler checks the value of a custom header (‘X-What-To-Do’, for example). If the header is ‘error’, then I update the ‘ajax\_div’ element with the request.responseText data. If the header is ‘ok’, then I execute window.location.reload(false). Does that make sense? If not, let me know and I can post a more detailed example. - Jamis ---
**Author:** ![charlysisto](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/c/ad7895/32.png) [@charlysisto](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/charlysisto)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2005, 6:32pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/change-an-xml-http-request-to-http-request/48274/3 "2005-11-18T18:32:01Z")
Hello Jamis I have the same plablem Charly have. Could you pls elaborate a little more on how to implement the :complete handler? Thank you! Okada. 2005/11/18, Jamis B. [removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid](mailto:removed_email_address@domain.invalid): ---
**Author:** ![charlysisto](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/c/ad7895/32.png) [@charlysisto](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/charlysisto)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2005, 6:44pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/change-an-xml-http-request-to-http-request/48274/4 "2005-11-18T18:44:06Z")
On Nov 18, 2005, at 10:31 AM, Carlos Y. Okada wrote: > Hello Jamis > > I have the same plablem Charly have. Could you pls elaborate a > little more on how to implement the :complete handler? > > Thank you! > > Okada. Sure, here’s a snippet from the hypothetical RHTML file: \<%= form\_remote\_tag :complete=\>'handleComplete(request)', :url=\>{:controller=\>'matters\_crud', :action =\>:update, :id =\> @matter} %\> \<%= render\_partial 'form' %\> \<%= submit\_tag 'Edit' %\> Then, in your controller, you just do: def update @matter = Matter.find(params[:id]) if @matter.update\_attributes(params[:matter]) headers[‘X-Instruction’] = “ok” render :nothing =\> true else headers[‘X-Instruction’] = “error” render :partial =\> ‘error’ end end - Jamis ---
**Author:** ![charlysisto](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/c/ad7895/32.png) [@charlysisto](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/charlysisto)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2005, 3:25pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/change-an-xml-http-request-to-http-request/48274/5 "2005-11-24T15:25:54Z")
I’m using form\_remote\_tag from a page that lists a few records to allow users to create/update one of the records in place (very much like the Todo list in Basecamp). My problem is: Whe validation fails, I want to update the showing the error\_message\_for and the form again, but when update succeed, I want to refresh the whole page. I’m trying to use the solution Jamis sugests bellow, and it works. The only problem is that if an error occurs in controller during create/update actions, nothing happens at the browser. I can see the error in the log, but how can I give feedback to the user? Tks Okada. 2005/11/18, Jamis B. [removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid](mailto:removed_email_address@domain.invalid): ---
**Author:** ![charlysisto](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/c/ad7895/32.png) [@charlysisto](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/charlysisto)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2005, 7:50pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/change-an-xml-http-request-to-http-request/48274/6 "2005-11-18T19:50:53Z")
Thanks a lot for your answer Jamis, I had sent a reply earlier asking for more insight but I dont understand how gmane handles responses. Maybe it will appear soon…