# How do I emulate directory structure with routes? **URL:** \ **Category:** Rails\ **Created:** [February 12, 2006, 5:01pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/how-do-i-emulate-directory-structure-with-routes/53632 "2006-02-12T17:01:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![john-anes](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/j/22d042/32.png) [@john-anes](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/john-anes)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2006, 5:01pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/how-do-i-emulate-directory-structure-with-routes/53632/1 "2006-02-12T17:01:09Z")
I’ve got something that I’m not sure is actually doable. I have a very complex model relationship with a lot of parent/child/grandchild/ greatgrandchild etc stuff going on. Is there a way to do a route like this? > **[TLD Computers – Delivering strategic IT solutions and services to businesses...](https://www.tld.com/)** > > At TLD computers, we offer a comprehensive range of IT solutions and services, focusing on helping businesses reach their long-term objectives through creative solutions and outstanding customer service. projects/:project\_name/:sequence\_acronym/:shot\_number/:department/:eleme nt\_name/:version/ where: project is the parent of sequence sequence is the parent of shot shot and department are parents to element element (will) exists in an acts\_as\_versioned model. or to also show it [tld.com/projects/:project\_name/:department/:element\_name/:version/](http://tld.com/projects/:project_name/:department/:element_name/:version/) Which would show a specific version of an element. I’m also interested in stepping this down as emulated directory structure. [tld.com/projects/:project\_name/](http://tld.com/projects/:project_name/) [tld.com/projects/:project\_name/:sequence\_acronym/](http://tld.com/projects/:project_name/:sequence_acronym/) [tld.com/projects/:project\_name/:sequence\_acronym/:shot\_number/](http://tld.com/projects/:project_name/:sequence_acronym/:shot_number/) etc. Is this kind of stuff doable? Is this acts\_as\_tree (which i’ve seen in the book but never in a live implementation) – John A. removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid Meticulous | [www.meticulous.com](http://www.meticulous.com) (work) Rotoscope | [www.rotoscope.com](http://www.rotoscope.com) (sound: rock band) Boboroshi & Kynz | [www.boboroshiandkynz.com](http://www.boboroshiandkynz.com) (sound: electronic) Personal Weblog | [www.boboroshi.com](http://www.boboroshi.com) (play) “Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety.” - Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) Reply of the Pennsylvania Assembly to the Governor November 11, 1755 ---
**Author:** ![john-anes](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/j/22d042/32.png) [@john-anes](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/john-anes)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2006, 6:21pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/how-do-i-emulate-directory-structure-with-routes/53632/2 "2006-02-12T18:21:48Z")
Hi ! 2006/2/12, John A. [removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid](mailto:removed_email_address@domain.invalid): > [tld.com/projects/:project\_name/:sequence\_acronym/:shot\_number/:department/:element\_name/:version/](http://tld.com/projects/:project_name/:sequence_acronym/:shot_number/:department/:element_name/:version/) > > where: > > project is the parent of sequence > sequence is the parent of shot > shot and department are parents to element > element (will) exists in an acts\_as\_versioned model. No problem. Simply implement the right action, and you’ll be fine. I do something similar in a product catalog application. My routes are: map.product\_details ‘products/details/:product\_no’, :controller =\> ‘admin/product\_catalog/products’, :action =\> ‘public\_view’, :product\_no =\> /^[-\w."'%]+$/ map.product\_list ‘products/\*category\_path’, :controller =\> ‘admin/product\_catalog/products’, :action =\> ‘public\_index’ > Is this kind of stuff doable? Is this acts\_as\_tree (which i’ve seen in the > book but never in a live implementation) acts\_as\_tree makes an ActiveRecord model behave as if it were a tree. It has nothing to do with routes. If you need more help, don’t hesitate to ask ! Bye ! ---
**Author:** ![john-anes](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/j/22d042/32.png) [@john-anes](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/john-anes)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2006, 12:58am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/how-do-i-emulate-directory-structure-with-routes/53632/3 "2006-02-13T00:58:18Z")
I don’t understand how that directly relates to setting up a route where almost every value is a variable… so projects/whitetiger/ would pull the projects/show/2 projects/whitetiger/opn/ would pull the opening sequence in white tiger (sequence is a model where acronym is unique within scope of project\_id or the parent) and so on and so forth. On Feb 12, 2006, at 12:21 PM, Francois B. wrote: > > project is the parent of sequence > > map.product\_list ‘products/\*category\_path’, :controller =\> > > ‘admin/product\_catalog/products’, :action =\> ‘public\_index’ – John A. removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid Meticulous | [www.meticulous.com](http://www.meticulous.com) (work) Rotoscope | [www.rotoscope.com](http://www.rotoscope.com) (sound: rock band) Boboroshi & Kynz | [www.boboroshiandkynz.com](http://www.boboroshiandkynz.com) (sound: electronic) Personal Weblog | [www.boboroshi.com](http://www.boboroshi.com) (play) “Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety.” - Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) Reply of the Pennsylvania Assembly to the Governor November 11, 1755 ---
**Author:** ![john-anes](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/j/22d042/32.png) [@john-anes](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/john-anes)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2006, 3:04am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/how-do-i-emulate-directory-structure-with-routes/53632/4 "2006-02-13T03:04:16Z")
AH!!! Okay. I wasn’t quite understanding the controller aspects of how to make it work. Thank you 🙂 Off to play… On Feb 12, 2006, at 8:42 PM, Francois B. wrote: > :controller =\> ‘elements’, :action =\> ‘view’, :version =\> nil, > @element = @dept.elements.find\_by\_name(params[:element\_name] > So, > > ## Bye ! > > François Beausoleil > [http://blog.teksol.info/](http://blog.teksol.info/) > > * * * > > Rails mailing list > removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid > [http://lists.rubyonrails.org/mailman/listinfo/rails](http://lists.rubyonrails.org/mailman/listinfo/rails) – John A. removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid Meticulous | [www.meticulous.com](http://www.meticulous.com) (work) Rotoscope | [www.rotoscope.com](http://www.rotoscope.com) (sound: rock band) Boboroshi & Kynz | [www.boboroshiandkynz.com](http://www.boboroshiandkynz.com) (sound: electronic) Personal Weblog | [www.boboroshi.com](http://www.boboroshi.com) (play) “Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety.” - Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) Reply of the Pennsylvania Assembly to the Governor November 11, 1755 ---
**Author:** ![john-anes](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/j/22d042/32.png) [@john-anes](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/john-anes)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2006, 2:42am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/how-do-i-emulate-directory-structure-with-routes/53632/5 "2006-02-13T02:42:47Z")
Hi ! 2006/2/12, John A. [removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid](mailto:removed_email_address@domain.invalid): > I don’t understand how that directly relates to setting up a route where > almost every value is a variable… Let’s take one of your routes as an example: map.connect ‘projects/:project\_name/:department/:element\_name/:version’, :controller =\> ‘elements’, :action =\> ‘view’, :version =\> nil, :requirements =\> {:version =\> /^\d+$/} This tells Rails to match any URLs from the form above, and call #view in ElementsController. Here’s a possible implementation of said method: class ElementsController \< ApplicationController def view @project = Project.find\_by\_project\_name(params[:project\_name] @dept = @project.departments.find\_by\_name(params[:department] @element = @dept.elements.find\_by\_name(params[:element\_name] if params[:version] then @element = @element.find\_version(params[:version]) end end end Notice in the route I put :version =\> nil, :requirements =\> {:version =\> /^\d+$/} ? That tells Rails tht the version parameter is optional, but if it is present, it must match the given regular expression. So, [http://localhost/projects/zoomer/finance/budget](http://localhost/projects/zoomer/finance/budget) will retrieve the latest version of the budget, while [http://localhost/projects/zoomer/finance/budget/4](http://localhost/projects/zoomer/finance/budget/4) will retrieve version 4 of the budget. Ask away if you need more info ! Bye !