Declaring arrays shared across different controller methods

Rails
1

I would like to have an array saving fields to display for an object
that is used for its form on multiple pages.

I have declared the array in each of the controller methods that would
use it. Where can I put the array so that I only have to define it
once and then use it repeatedly on different pages?

2

ES,

You really can’t do that as you have described because each controller
method represents a different http request and a brand new instance of
the
controller is created. So an array that is saved in a previous request
won’t be available in a subsequent request. To accomplish what you want
will require persisting the information from previous pages. Some
possible
solutions…

  1. Save the previous values in hidden form variables each step along the
    way.
  2. Save the previous values in a session variable.
  3. Save the previous values in flash and use the keep method to maintain
    them between requests.
  4. Use some sort of cache like memcached.

I hope this helps.

Anthony C.

3

On 9 April 2010 15:13, Anthony C. [email protected]
wrote:

  1. Save the previous values in flash and use the keep method to maintain
    them between requests.
  2. Use some sort of cache like memcached.

Or
5) Put them in the database

Colin

4

ES wrote:

I would like to have an array saving fields to display for an object
that is used for its form on multiple pages.

I have declared the array in each of the controller methods that would
use it. Where can I put the array so that I only have to define it
once and then use it repeatedly on different pages?

You could always render that information in a partial so your object
always appears the same to the user no matter what form they are on.

Next implement view caching on that partial. No need to clutter up
session, pass around hidden fields, or necessarily hit the DB for each
display, just render the cached partial.