# Sharing a variable between methods? **URL:** \ **Category:** Rails\ **Created:** [December 27, 2007, 5:14am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/sharing-a-variable-between-methods/124259 "2007-12-27T05:14:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Gedeon](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/g/e9c0ed/32.png) [@Gedeon](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/Gedeon)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2007, 5:14am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/sharing-a-variable-between-methods/124259/1 "2007-12-27T05:14:48Z")
Hello! I need some help on something that seems very basic and ‘noobish’ to me but that I cant figure out… I’m going to try to make it as simple as possible… I have a method that initializes an array. Let’s call it "main\_view’. Why? Because it is the main view. The corresponding view - main\_view.rhtml - does not do anything with this array, instead, it contains links to ajax-powered partials that let users alter this array in different ways, depending on what link they click on. If my page was made in ascii-‘art’ and I had a 2 minutes deadline, it would probably look as bad as this: * * * Add elements Remove elements Swap elements * * * Partial to let user alter the array * * * * * * So, when I click on a link, it goes to, for example, an “add\_element” method and loads the partial. Then I edit/alter/… the array, + all those things users have to do. Then, once i am done, it goes to an “update\_array” method that gets the data from the partial and updates the array with it. Now, the big problem i am facing : I cannot find how to cleanly and elegantly pass the array from my ‘main\_view’ method to the ‘add\_element’ (or other), then to the ‘update’ method and finally back to ‘main\_view’ for another round of modifications. I could probably pass it like this, using hidden fields or whatever comes to my mind : main\_view method =\> main\_view.rhtml _user clicks on add element_ =\> add\_element method =\> \_add\_element.rhtml _user updates the array from the view and clicks on update_ =\> update method =\> main\_view.rhtml =\> … But just thinking about how ugly it is is gonna make me have nightmares tonight. Or… I could make this array a sessions variable, but it’s not clean either as it might stay in the session variable for ever… And i dont want dust on my variables. So, is there any nice way of doing this? Am i missing something here, some part of Rails’ magic? Any help would be greatly appreciated, I am kinda tired and dont want to have nightmares tonight 🙂 Thank you! Gedeon ---
**Author:** ![Gedeon](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/g/e9c0ed/32.png) [@Gedeon](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/Gedeon)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2007, 5:20am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/sharing-a-variable-between-methods/124259/2 "2007-12-27T05:20:04Z")
## You could use a session variable and store it all in that. Ryan B. > **[frozenplague.net](http://www.frozenplague.net)** > > This domain may be for sale! Feel free to add me to MSN and/or GTalk as this email. ---
**Author:** ![Gedeon](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/g/e9c0ed/32.png) [@Gedeon](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/Gedeon)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2007, 6:08am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/sharing-a-variable-between-methods/124259/3 "2007-12-27T06:08:00Z")
Thank you Ryan, Yes, I could do that but from what i read, it is not recommended because of unexpired sessions that will pile up and could create a performance problem… Which is why I am posting here. It should be ok for my project as it will have a limited number of users, but still, I’d rather like to make it clean and scalable… Besides, I’m sure I’ll bump into this problem again on other projects so I’ll need a better solution… Gedeon ---
**Author:** ![Gedeon](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/g/e9c0ed/32.png) [@Gedeon](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/Gedeon)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2007, 6:19am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/sharing-a-variable-between-methods/124259/4 "2007-12-27T06:19:07Z")
@Gedeon: For something like this, I would definitely use the session. The purpose of the session is to persist data between requests. Do not worry about unexpired sessions… unless you have explicitly turned sessions OFF in your controllers, you’re already creating them. Investigate database session storage or cookie-based storage as they each have benefits and disadvantages. ---
**Author:** ![Gedeon](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/g/e9c0ed/32.png) [@Gedeon](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/Gedeon)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2007, 6:12am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/sharing-a-variable-between-methods/124259/5 "2007-12-27T06:12:41Z")
Store the object in a database and then link to directly to a user? I need to understand what you’re trying to do first. On Dec 27, 2007 3:37 PM, Gedeon [removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid](mailto:removed_email_address@domain.invalid) wrote: > Gedeon > > On Dec 27, 11:19 am, “Ryan B.” [removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid](mailto:removed_email_address@domain.invalid) wrote: > > > ## You could use a session variable and store it all in that. > > > > Ryan B.[http://www.frozenplague.net](http://www.frozenplague.net) > > Feel free to add me to MSN and/or GTalk as this email. – Ryan B. > **[frozenplague.net](http://www.frozenplague.net)** > > This domain may be for sale! Feel free to add me to MSN and/or GTalk as this email. ---
**Author:** ![Gedeon](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/g/e9c0ed/32.png) [@Gedeon](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/Gedeon)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2007, 6:26am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/sharing-a-variable-between-methods/124259/6 "2007-12-27T06:26:42Z")
I guess I’ll do that then 🙂 I am already using the session variable but only for ‘small’ things, such as the currently logged in user id, selected css id, … For some reason, I was scared i might cause some kind of meltdown, lose my hair,… or even worse by storing ‘bigger’ variables in there. Thank you, Gedeon ---
**Author:** ![Gedeon](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/g/e9c0ed/32.png) [@Gedeon](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/Gedeon)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2007, 7:16am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/sharing-a-variable-between-methods/124259/7 "2007-12-27T07:16:23Z")
On Dec 26, 2007, at 11:26 PM, Gedeon wrote: > I guess I’ll do that then 🙂 > I am already using the session variable but only for ‘small’ things, I was doing that for a while, but with large arrays things would get clobbered and I’d get a 500 error. What I did instead is put enough info in the the session to know how to rebuild the array. ---
**Author:** ![Gedeon](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/g/e9c0ed/32.png) [@Gedeon](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/Gedeon)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2008, 1:53pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/sharing-a-variable-between-methods/124259/8 "2008-01-03T13:53:18Z")
Hello You could investigate nondatabase Model too … this model object could act as a wrapper for your array and persist between request (you may or may not store it in the session) Don’t really know if it would fit, you’ll have to investigate a bit. Gilles. ---
**Author:** ![Gedeon](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/g/e9c0ed/32.png) [@Gedeon](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/Gedeon)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2007, 6:28am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/sharing-a-variable-between-methods/124259/9 "2007-12-27T06:28:49Z")
If the list they are creating is important enough that it should be stored in the database and displayed as a list to the user using something such as the “acts\_as\_list” plugin. If the list is not database worthy, then store it in the session. In Rails 2.0, session data is actually stored as an encrypted cookie on the client computer by default. All the data is stored on the client computer and as such there is no “cruft” to build up. Not to mention, you can clear the session data at any time once they are finished. There is really only five ways to persist data between actions (read: requests) : 1. Session 2. Cookies 3. Database 4. Files 5. Background Process For your needs, it seems that persisting an array would be best suited in the session or in the database.