More Nested Resources Questions

Rails
1

Ok… quick example…

client has_many :locations
vendor has_many :locations

so my resources is something like…

map.resources :clients, :has_many => :locations
map.resources :vendors, :has_many => :locations
map.resources :locations

Now, my new location view’s form looks like this…

form_for( [ @client, @location ] ) do |f|

N.B.: I have a before_filter in my Location controller that sets
@client = Client.find(params[:client_id])

the problem is, what if the new location is supposed to belong to a
vendor? Do I need to have a separate resource for the two different
types of resources? What’s the best way to go about tackling this
issue?

I swear once I get this all figured out I’m gonna write up a nice
little write up for google to catch :slight_smile:

2

No clue?

3

It’s scary how little information there is on RESTful development in
Rails, yet it’s supposed to be “the way” to program. :frowning:

I’ve been reading all night and I can’t figure this one out. can
anyone point me to a direction that might be able to help.

I apologize if this is un-necessary “spam” or “bumping”

4

I am going to assume that you’re using a polymorphic association on
location, something like:

class Location < ARec::Base
belongs_to :locatable, :polymorphic=>true
end

class Vendor (or Client) < ARec::Base
has_many :locations, :as=>:locatable
end

The polymorphic association gives you the clue. Instead of finding a
@client or a @vendor, find a @locatable

locations_controller.rb
…
def new
@locatable = params[:vendor_id] ? Vendor.find(params[:vendor_id]) :
nil
@locatable ||= Client.find(params[:client_id]) if params[:client_id]
@location = @locatable.locations.build
end
…

locations/new.html.erb
form_for( [ @locatable, @location ] ) do |f|
…
end

5

Duh,
OK so clients and vendor have many locations (seems like they would
have one)

map.resources :clients do |client|
client.resources :locations
end

map.resources :vendors do |vendor|
vendor.resources :locations
end

This should give you vendor and client routes like:
vendors/3/location/2
clients/5/location/2

BUT… Maybe you learned the difference between singular and plural
RESTful routes.

Teedub

6

check out
http://api.rubyonrails.org/classes/ActionController/Resources.html
Disclaimer:
I too am still learning RESTful routes, which is pretty involved.

But I think you need to nest the routes as each Client and vendor will
have only one location.

like

map.resources :clients do |client|
client.resource :location
end

map.resources :vendors do |vendor|
vendor.resource :location
end

This should give you vendor and client routes like:
vendors/3/location
clients/5/location

Note that clients and vendors are plural and thus use map.resources
(plural)
and that location is singular and the receiver of the singular
‘resource’ message is a vendor object, not a map.

Good reading on the subject can be found in David A Black’s “Rails
Routing”, which is a bit outdated, but gives you a good fundamental
understanding of RESTful Routes. I think it is still well worth the 15
bucks as David has a wonderful gift of presenting complex material in
a manner in which mere mortals can understand.

On Apr 24, 7:22 am, sw0rdfish [email protected] wrote:

Ok… quick example…
Now, my new location view’s form looks like this…

I swear once I get this all figured out I’m gonna write up a nice

little write up for google to catch :slight_smile:

7

The more I think about it, the form_for thing isn’t really an
issue… since one would be coming from the Client’s Views, and one
would be coming from the Vendor’s view…

Then based on the view it came from, ( IE is @vendor or @client set )
redirect back to the correct SHOW action in the correct controller…

8

Thanks Andy, I’ll check that out… that may be what I’m looking for…

Frank, I understand the concepts you’re outining, my issues arise when
I try to redirect after adding a location for example… do I go to
show a client or do I go to show a vendor? And no, they can have many
locations for example if my client is Walmart, they have many
locations that I want to know of…

Where it breaks down for me is with the forms for and the redirects
after a CRUD call, because I don’t know how to tell the app to go to
show the Client or the Vendor or whatever the location object belongs
to. And passing @client, @location to the form_for works, but what
about the vendor form? I’d have to have some ugly if statements in my
view… and what if location is associated with 10 different
models… i’m hoping Andy’s advice helps.