Template "specialisation"

Rails
1

I want to use a sitewide default template and use a specific version in
some
controllers to have a good DRY approach to my layout. Those controllers
should add a little bit more HTML before rendering the results of the
actions, in order to avoid copying the entire sitelayout every time.
How can I do that? Currently my code is like this:

class WelcomeController < ApplicationController
#before_filter :show_options
layout ‘mydefault’

    def contact
            render :partial => "contact"
    end

    private
            def show_options
                    render :partial => "welcome"
            end

end

This only shows the app/views/welcome/_contact.rhtml page. It does not
show
the layout (that does work in other controllers where I don’t use these
things). If I then enable the before_filter (is that the right usage, it
does not feel like that) then it only shows the
app/views/welcome/_welcome.rhtml page, which is not what I want either.

So how should I do this? How should I have this controller use the
layout ‘mydefault’, render the _welcome partial before every method and
also render the contact partial when the contact action is called?

I really think I’m not using the right tools here, especially
before_filter
seems a bit wrong here.

Thanks for your help,
Bart

2

Hi Bart,

The way I would do it is to get rid of the partials from your controller
and put them in the views. Keep the layout ‘mydefault’ at the top of
your WelcomeController as you have it. Your ‘mydefault’ layout should
look something like:

header stuff…
<%= render :partial => “welcome” %>
<%= @content_for_layout %>
footer stuff…

The above layout will always render the “welcome” partial for all
actions. You don’t need the before filter. For your contact view, you
can include whatever you want in its .rhtml view file. So contact.rhtml
can have this in it:
<% render :partial => “contact” %>

I’m not sure why you would even need the partial. Just put the contents
directly in contact.rhtml in your views folder.

Best Regards,

Tamim

3

Hi Tamim (and thanks for your fast reply),

Indeed I should have put the contact stuff in contact.rhtml. But… the
mydefault layout is also used for controllers that do not have any
welcome
information to show. Wouldn’t you solution show the welcome partial
everywhere?

Regards and thanks,
Bart

4

Hi Bart,

From your message, I got the impression that you wanted the _welcome
partial to be rendered before every method:

“So how should I do this? How should I have this controller use the
layout ‘mydefault’, render the _welcome partial before every method and
also render the contact partial when the contact action is called?”

Another possible way that could work is if you create a simple private
method that does this

private
def show_welcome
@welcome = true
end

Then at the top, you can run your before filter

before_filter :show_welcome

Then in ‘mydefault’:

header stuff…
<% if @welcome == true %>
<%= render :partial => “welcome” %>
<% end %>
<%= @content_for_layout %>
footer stuff…

There’s probably a better way to do it, but that’s my brainstorming at
the moment.

Best Regards,

Tamim

5

You can also check which controller and/or action you’re in from the
view and display appropriately. For instance, for all actions in
controllers one, two, and three, show the welcome:

<% if params[:controller] =~ /one|two|three/ %>
<%= render :partial => “welcome” %>
<% end %>

6

Tamim A. wrote:

There’s probably a better way to do it, but that’s my brainstorming at the
moment.

Your suggestion works, thanks!
And sorry if my questions were not entirely clear all the time…

Regards,
Bart

7

Curtis S. wrote:

You can also check which controller and/or action you’re in from the
view and display appropriately. For instance, for all actions in
controllers one, two, and three, show the welcome:

<% if params[:controller] =~ /one|two|three/ %>
<%= render :partial => “welcome” %>
<% end %>

That seems like a good trick! I’ll try to use that one.

Regards,
Bart