# Group By - but showing all the groups **URL:** \ **Category:** Rails\ **Created:** [July 15, 2010, 9:27am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/group-by-but-showing-all-the-groups/191610 "2010-07-15T09:27:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Philrup](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/p/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Philrup](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/Philrup)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2010, 9:27am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/group-by-but-showing-all-the-groups/191610/1 "2010-07-15T09:27:42Z")
I know this must be easy but I can not see it. I have a table with types of material and a second table of the materials. So; MaterialType has\_many :materials and Material belongs\_to :material\_type I want to display the list of materials as types and include the types that have no materials, to show; Type 1 2 materials defined Material 1 Material 2 Type 2 0 materials defined Type 3 4 materials defined Material 3 Material 4 Material 5 Material 6 Etc The problem is I can show the materials types that have materials defined but I can not work out how to show all the types especially the ones without materials, so I can include the link to add one! Thanks in advance ---
**Author:** ![Philrup](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/p/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Philrup](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/Philrup)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2010, 9:30am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/group-by-but-showing-all-the-groups/191610/2 "2010-07-15T09:30:37Z")
On Jul 14, 9:31 pm, Philrup [removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid](mailto:removed_email_address@domain.invalid) wrote: > The problem is I can show the materials types that have materials > defined but I can not work out how to show all the types especially > the ones without materials, so I can include the link to add one! Isn’t it a case of doing MaterialType.find :all and then iterating over that list ? Fred ---
**Author:** ![Philrup](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/p/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Philrup](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/Philrup)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2010, 9:35am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/group-by-but-showing-all-the-groups/191610/3 "2010-07-15T09:35:19Z")
On 14 July 2010 21:31, Philrup [removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid](mailto:removed_email_address@domain.invalid) wrote: > I want to display the list of materials as types and include the types > that have no materials, to show; This might be helpful - > **[\#196 Nested Model Form Part 1 - RailsCasts](http://railscasts.com/episodes/196-nested-model-form-part-1)** > > Short Ruby on Rails screencasts containing tips, tricks and tutorials. Great for both novice and experienced web developers. ---
**Author:** ![Philrup](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/p/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Philrup](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/Philrup)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2010, 1:38pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/group-by-but-showing-all-the-groups/191610/4 "2010-07-16T13:38:31Z")
Sorted it out using interations \<% @material\_types.each do |mt| %\> ## \<%= mt.name %\> Number of \<%= mt.name %\> types: \<%= Material.find(:all, :conditions =\> {:material\_type =\> mt.material}).count %\> \<% if Material.find(:all, :conditions =\> {:material\_type =\> mt.material}).count \> 0 %\> \<% Material.find(:all, :conditions =\> {:material\_type =\> mt.material}).each do |mat| %\> ..list all the materials It works! But this does feel like RAILS solutions, does anyone know how to put the Material.find stuff in the controller and just call the .each and .count methods? | No | Name | Moisture | Dose Size | Content | MATERIAL EDITOR | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | ---
**Author:** ![Philrup](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/p/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Philrup](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/Philrup)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2010, 4:21pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/group-by-but-showing-all-the-groups/191610/5 "2010-07-16T16:21:20Z")
On 16 July 2010 12:37, Philrup [removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid](mailto:removed_email_address@domain.invalid) wrote: > cellspacing=“1”\> > the .each and .count methods? Have a look at the rails guide Getting Started at > **[Ruby on Rails Guides](https://guides.rubyonrails.org/)** > > Ruby on Rails Guides Colin