# How to show a hierarchical list (like Mac Finder/Explorer) **URL:** \ **Category:** Rails\ **Created:** [February 22, 2010, 6:16am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/how-to-show-a-hierarchical-list-like-mac-finder-explorer/183871 "2010-02-22T06:16:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![jeffpritchard](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/j/43a26b/32.png) [@jeffpritchard](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/jeffpritchard)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2010, 6:16am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/how-to-show-a-hierarchical-list-like-mac-finder-explorer/183871/1 "2010-02-22T06:16:49Z")
I have a list of Groups with members and sub-groups in an unlimited depth. It has the same basic structure as a directory listing in either Mac Finder or Windoze Explorer where the files a roughly analogous to my members, and the sub-dirs are analogous to my sub-groups. Just as in Mac Finder, I would like to have it remember the “open-ness” of the dirs/sub-dirs in the db so user will see it the same way on subsequent uses of the app. Is there some sort of a plugin for displaying this kind of a data set in Rails? If not, how would you go about designing this? I’m stuck. thanks, jp ---
**Author:** ![jeffpritchard](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/j/43a26b/32.png) [@jeffpritchard](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/jeffpritchard)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2010, 6:47am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/how-to-show-a-hierarchical-list-like-mac-finder-explorer/183871/2 "2010-02-22T06:47:43Z")
Jeff P. wrote: > I have a list of Groups with members and sub-groups in an unlimited > depth. Here’s one example that might work for you: [http://jquery.bassistance.de/treeview/demo/](http://jquery.bassistance.de/treeview/demo/) ---
**Author:** ![jeffpritchard](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/j/43a26b/32.png) [@jeffpritchard](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/jeffpritchard)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2010, 7:16am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/how-to-show-a-hierarchical-list-like-mac-finder-explorer/183871/3 "2010-02-22T07:16:53Z")
Robert W. wrote: > Jeff P. wrote: > > > I have a list of Groups with members and sub-groups in an unlimited > > depth. > > Here’s one example that might work for you: > [http://jquery.bassistance.de/treeview/demo/](http://jquery.bassistance.de/treeview/demo/) Thanks Robert. This looks very interesting. I’m php-challenged, so I will have to study it to figure out how to adapt it to Rails. I don’t suppose you’ve done that before? Have any Rails demo code? At a minimum, the notion of using and some fancy css gives me a start. thanks, jp ---
**Author:** ![jeffpritchard](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/j/43a26b/32.png) [@jeffpritchard](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/jeffpritchard)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2010, 11:38pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/how-to-show-a-hierarchical-list-like-mac-finder-explorer/183871/4 "2010-02-22T23:38:17Z")
Jeff P. wrote: > I have a list of Groups with members and sub-groups in an unlimited > depth. > > It has the same basic structure as a directory listing in either Mac > Finder or Windoze Explorer where the files a roughly analogous to my > members, and the sub-dirs are analogous to my sub-groups. Just as in > Mac Finder, I would like to have it remember the “open-ness” of the > dirs/sub-dirs in the db so user will see it the same way on subsequent > uses of the app. > > Is there some sort of a plugin for displaying this kind of a data set in > Rails? > > If not, how would you go about designing this? I’m stuck. Why are you stuck? 2 minutes of Google searching on implementing hierarchical trees in SQL would have led you to the nested-set pattern. Another minute would have led you to the awesome\_nested\_set plugin for Rails. > thanks, > jp ## Best, Marnen Laibow-Koser [http://www.marnen.org](http://www.marnen.org) removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid ---
**Author:** ![jeffpritchard](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/j/43a26b/32.png) [@jeffpritchard](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/jeffpritchard)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2010, 11:48pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/how-to-show-a-hierarchical-list-like-mac-finder-explorer/183871/5 "2010-02-22T23:48:31Z")
Marnen Laibow-Koser wrote: > Jeff P. wrote: > > > I have a list of Groups with members and sub-groups in an unlimited > > depth. > > … > > Is there some sort of a plugin for displaying this kind of a data set in > > Rails? > > > > If not, how would you go about designing this? I’m stuck. > > Why are you stuck? 2 minutes of Google searching on implementing > hierarchical trees in SQL would have led you to the nested-set pattern. > Another minute would have led you to the awesome\_nested\_set plugin for > Rails. > > > thanks, > > jp > > ## Best, > > Marnen Laibow-Koser > [http://www.marnen.org](http://www.marnen.org) > removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid Ok, I’m a moron. I didn’t remember ever seeing one. I came here and searched this group for “hierarchical”. Got bupkis. Thanks much for making me aware of this new thing called Google. Looks very useful. 😉 cheers, jp