Mastering Ruby on Rails routing is essential for any developer looking to build robust web applications efficiently. Whether you're a novice or a seasoned developer, enhancing your routing skills can significantly elevate your development process.
Let me share with you in this article some invaluable tips to level up your Ruby on Rails routing expertise. From filtering routes effectively with grep to leveraging custom actions and understanding dynamic segments, and to exploring various techniques to streamline your routing workflow and maximize productivity.
Enjoy the ride!
Filter out the noise by passing a keyword to the grep command line like so:
$ rails routes | grep usersWhich lists only the lines containing the keyword.
new_user_password GET /users/password/new(.:format)
edit_user_password GET /users/password/edit(.:format)
user_password PATCH /users/password(.:format)
PUT /users/password(.:format)
POST /users/password(.:format)
new_user_session GET /users/sign_in(.:format)
user_session POST /users/sign_in(.:format)
destroy_user_session GET /users/sign_out(.:format)Suppose you have a resource called articles, what happens if you nest actions such as print, download and publish?
resources :articles do
get :print
get :download
post :publish
endNotice how the param :article_id for the custom actions is inconsistent with RESTful actions param :id.
article_print GET /articles/:article_id/print(.:format)
article_download GET /articles/:article_id/download(.:format)
article_publish POST /articles/:article_id/publish(.:format)
articles GET /articles(.:format)
POST /articles(.:format)
new_article GET /articles/new(.:format)
edit_article GET /articles/:id/edit(.:format)
article GET /articles/:id(.:format)
PATCH /articles/:id(.:format)
PUT /articles/:id(.:format)
DELETE /articles/:id(.:format)
This is not ideal because you will need to write separate callbacks to load the record for each key param in your controller.
class ArticlesController < ApplicationController
before_action :set_article, only: [:show, :edit, :update, :des
before_action :set_article2, only: [:print, :download, :publis
# ...
def set_article() = @article = Article.find(params[:id])
def set_article2() = @article = Article.find params[:article_i
end
Bound Parameters and Dynamic segments may yield exactly what you need. It's also easy to understand.
resources :articles do
collection do
get ':id/print', to: 'articles#print'
get ':id/download', to: 'articles#download'
post ':id/publish', to: 'articles#publish'
end
end
But this won't generate routing aliases, losing URL helpers.
GET /articles/:id/print(.:format)
GET /articles/:id/download(.:format)
POST /articles/:id/publish(.:format)By nesting under member routes, we retain consistent key params.
resources :articles do
member do
get :print
get :download
post :publish
end
endWhile also retaining URL helpers.
print_article GET /articles/:id/print(.:format)
download_article GET /articles/:id/download(.:format)
publish_article POST /articles/:id/publish(.:format)This only works with aliased resource actions. You can shorten a link_to argument.
link_to "Download Article", download_article_path(@article)By enclosing record with the action Symbol in an Array:
link_to "Download Article", [:download, @article]
As you dive deeper into implementing these advanced routing techniques in your Ruby on Rails projects, remember: mastery is a journey filled with practice and experimentation.
Each tip shared here brings a fresh perspective to optimizing your routing structure, offering the flexibility and efficiency required to conquer even the most complex application challenges. By weaving these strategies into your development workflow, you'll not only elevate the maintainability and scalability of your codebase but also empower yourself to navigate the intricate web of routes with confidence.
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