Getting Started

Ruby on Rails Guides: Getting Started with Rails
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Getting Started with Rails

ThisguidecoversgettingupandrunningwithRubyonRails.Afterreadingit, youshouldbefamiliarwith:
InstallingRails,creatinganewRailsapplication,andconnectingyour applicationtoadatabase ThegenerallayoutofaRailsapplication ThebasicprinciplesofMVC(Model,ViewController)andRESTfuldesign HowtoquicklygeneratethestartingpiecesofaRailsapplication.
Chapters
1. GuideAssumptions 2. WhatisRails? TheMVCArchitecture TheComponentsofRails REST 3. CreatingaNewRailsProject InstallingRails CreatingtheBlogApplication InstallingtheRequiredGems ConfiguringaDatabase CreatingtheDatabase 4. Hello,Rails! StartinguptheWebServer SayHello,Rails SettingtheApplicationHomePage 5. GettingUpandRunningQuicklywithScaffolding 6. CreatingaResource RunningaMigration AddingaLink WorkingwithPostsintheBrowser TheModel AddingSomeValidation UsingtheConsole ListingAllPosts CustomizingtheLayout CreatingNewPosts ShowinganIndividualPost EditingPosts DestroyingaPost 7. AddingaSecondModel
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GeneratingaModel AssociatingModels AddingaRouteforComments GeneratingaController 8. Refactoring RenderingPartialCollections RenderingaPartialForm 9. DeletingComments DeletingAssociatedObjects 10. Security 11. BuildingaMulti-ModelForm 12. ViewHelpers 13. WhatsNext? 14. ConfigurationGotchas 15. Changelog
ThisGuideisbasedonRails3.0.SomeofthecodeshownherewillnotworkinearlierversionsofRails.
1 Guide Assumptions
ThisguideisdesignedforbeginnerswhowanttogetstartedwithaRailsapplicationfromscratch.Itdoesnotassumethatyouhaveanyprior experiencewithRails.However,togetthemostoutofit,youneedtohavesomeprerequisitesinstalled: TheRubylanguageversion1.8.7orhigher NotethatRuby1.8.7p248andp249havemarshalingbugsthatcrashRails3.0.RubyEnterpriseEditionhavethesefixedsincerelease 1.8.7-2010.02though.Onthe1.9front,Ruby1.9.1isnotusablebecauseitoutrightsegfaultsonRails3.0,soifyouwanttouseRails3with 1.9.xjumpon1.9.2forsmoothsailing. TheRubyGemspackagingsystem AworkinginstallationoftheSQLite3Database RailsisawebapplicationframeworkrunningontheRubyprogramminglanguage.IfyouhavenopriorexperiencewithRuby,youwillfindavery steeplearningcurvedivingstraightintoRails.TherearesomegoodfreeresourcesontheinternetforlearningRuby,including: Mr.NeighborlysHumbleLittleRubyBook ProgrammingRuby Whys(Poignant)GuidetoRuby
2 What is Rails?
RailsisawebapplicationdevelopmentframeworkwrittenintheRubylanguage.Itisdesignedtomakeprogrammingwebapplicationseasierby makingassumptionsaboutwhateverydeveloperneedstogetstarted.Itallowsyoutowritelesscodewhileaccomplishingmorethanmany otherlanguagesandframeworks.ExperiencedRailsdevelopersalsoreportthatitmakeswebapplicationdevelopmentmorefun. Railsisopinionatedsoftware.Itmakestheassumptionthatthereisabestwaytodothings,anditsdesignedtoencouragethatwayandin somecasestodiscouragealternatives.IfyoulearnTheRailsWayyoullprobablydiscoveratremendousincreaseinproductivity.Ifyoupersist inbringingoldhabitsfromotherlanguagestoyourRailsdevelopment,andtryingtousepatternsyoulearnedelsewhere,youmayhavealess happyexperience. TheRailsphilosophyincludesseveralguidingprinciples: DRYDontRepeatYourselfsuggeststhatwritingthesamecodeoverandoveragainisabadthing. ConventionOverConfigurationmeansthatRailsmakesassumptionsaboutwhatyouwanttodoandhowyouregoingtodoit,rather thanrequiringyoutospecifyeverylittlethingthroughendlessconfigurationfiles.
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RESTisthebestpatternforwebapplicationsorganizingyourapplicationaroundresourcesandstandardHTTPverbsisthefastest waytogo.
2.1 The MVC Architecture

AtthecoreofRailsistheModel,View,Controllerarchitecture,usuallyjustcalledMVC.MVCbenefitsinclude: Isolationofbusinesslogicfromtheuserinterface EaseofkeepingcodeDRY Makingitclearwheredifferenttypesofcodebelongforeasiermaintenance 2.1.1 Models Amodelrepresentstheinformation(data)oftheapplicationandtherulestomanipulatethatdata.InthecaseofRails,modelsareprimarily usedformanagingtherulesofinteractionwithacorrespondingdatabasetable.Inmostcases,onetableinyourdatabasewillcorrespondto onemodelinyourapplication.Thebulkofyourapplicationsbusinesslogicwillbeconcentratedinthemodels. 2.1.2 Views Viewsrepresenttheuserinterfaceofyourapplication.InRails,viewsareoftenHTMLfileswithembeddedRubycodethatperformtasksrelated solelytothepresentationofthedata.Viewshandlethejobofprovidingdatatothewebbrowserorothertoolthatisusedtomakerequests fromyourapplication. 2.1.3 Controllers Controllersprovidethegluebetweenmodelsandviews.InRails,controllersareresponsibleforprocessingtheincomingrequestsfromtheweb browser,interrogatingthemodelsfordata,andpassingthatdataontotheviewsforpresentation.
2.2 The Components of Rails

Railsshipsasmanyindividualcomponents. ActionPack ActionController ActionDispatch ActionView ActionMailer ActiveModel ActiveRecord ActiveResource ActiveSupport Railties 2.2.1 Action Pack ActionPackisasinglegemthatcontainsActionController,ActionViewandActionDispatch.TheVCpartofMVC. 2.2.2 Action Controller ActionControlleristhecomponentthatmanagesthecontrollersinaRailsapplication.TheActionControllerframeworkprocessesincoming requeststoaRailsapplication,extractsparameters,anddispatchesthemtotheintendedaction.ServicesprovidedbyActionControllerinclude sessionmanagement,templaterendering,andredirectmanagement. 2.2.3 Action View ActionViewmanagestheviewsofyourRailsapplication.ItcancreatebothHTMLandXMLoutputbydefault.ActionViewmanagesrendering templates,includingnestedandpartialtemplates,andincludesbuilt-inAJAXsupport. 2.2.4 Action Dispatch ActionDispatchhandlesroutingofwebrequestsanddispatchesthemasyouwant,eithertoyourapplicationoranyotherRackapplication. 2.2.5 Action Mailer ActionMailerisaframeworkforbuildinge-mailservices.YoucanuseActionMailertoreceiveandprocessincomingemailandsendsimpleplain textorcomplexmultipartemailsbasedonflexibletemplates.
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2.2.6 Active Model ActiveModelprovidesadefinedinterfacebetweentheActionPackgemservicesandObjectRelationshipMappinggemssuchasActiveRecord. ActiveModelallowsRailstoutilizeotherORMframeworksinplaceofActiveRecordifyourapplicationneedsthis. 2.2.7 Active Record ActiveRecordisthebaseforthemodelsinaRailsapplication.Itprovidesdatabaseindependence,basicCRUDfunctionality,advancedfinding capabilities,andtheabilitytorelatemodelstooneanother,amongotherservices. 2.2.8 Active Resource ActiveResourceprovidesaframeworkformanagingtheconnectionbetweenbusinessobjectsandRESTfulwebservices.Itimplementsaway tomapweb-basedresourcestolocalobjectswithCRUDsemantics. 2.2.9 Active Support ActiveSupportisanextensivecollectionofutilityclassesandstandardRubylibraryextensionsthatareusedintheRails,bothbythecorecode andbyyourapplications. 2.2.10 Railties RailtiesisthecoreRailscodethatbuildsnewRailsapplicationsandgluesthevariousframeworksandpluginstogetherinanyRailsapplication.
2.3 REST
ReststandsforRepresentationalStateTransferandisthefoundationoftheRESTfularchitecture.ThisisgenerallyconsideredtobeRoy Fieldingsdoctoralthesis,ArchitecturalStylesandtheDesignofNetwork-basedSoftwareArchitectures.Whileyoucanreadthroughthe thesis,RESTintermsofRailsboilsdowntotwomainprinciples: UsingresourceidentifierssuchasURLstorepresentresources. Transferringrepresentationsofthestateofthatresourcebetweensystemcomponents. Forexample,toaRailsapplicationarequestsuchasthis: DELETE /photos/17 wouldbeunderstoodtorefertoaphotoresourcewiththeIDof17,andtoindicateadesiredactiondeletingthatresource.RESTisanatural styleforthearchitectureofwebapplications,andRailshooksintothisshieldingyoufrommanyoftheRESTfulcomplexitiesandbrowserquirks. IfyoudlikemoredetailsonRESTasanarchitecturalstyle,theseresourcesaremoreapproachablethanFieldingsthesis: ABriefIntroductiontoRESTbyStefanTilkov AnIntroductiontoREST(videotutorial)byJoeGregorio RepresentationalStateTransferarticleinWikipedia HowtoGETaCupofCoffeebyJimWebber,SavasParastatidis&IanRobinson
3 Creating a New Rails Project

Ifyoufollowthisguide,youllcreateaRailsprojectcalledblog,a(very)simpleweblog.Beforeyoucanstartbuildingtheapplication,youneed tomakesurethatyouhaveRailsitselfinstalled.
3.1 Installing Rails

Inmostcases,theeasiestwaytoinstallRailsistotakeadvantageofRubyGems:
Usually run this as the root user: # gem install rails
IfyoureworkingonWindows,youshouldbeawarethatthevastmajorityofRailsdevelopmentisdoneinUnixenvironments.WhileRubyand RailsthemselvesinstalleasilyusingforexampleRubyInstaller,thesupportingecosystemoftenassumesyouareabletobuildC-based rubygemsandworkinacommandwindow.Ifatallpossible,wesuggestthatyouinstallaLinuxvirtualmachineandusethatforRails development,insteadofusingWindows.
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3.2 Creating the Blog Application
Thebestwaytousethisguideistofolloweachstepasithappens,nocodeorstepneededtomakethisexampleapplicationhasbeenleftout, soyoucanliterallyfollowalongstepbystep.Ifyouneedtoseethecompletedcode,youcandownloaditfromGettingStartedCode. Tobegin,openaterminal,navigatetoafolderwhereyouhaverightstocreatefiles,andtype:
$ rails new blog
ThiswillcreateaRailsapplicationcalledBloginadirectorycalledblog. YoucanseealloftheswitchesthattheRailsapplicationbuilderacceptsbyrunningrails -h. Afteryoucreatetheblogapplication,switchtoitsfoldertocontinueworkdirectlyinthatapplication:
$ cd blog
Inanycase,Railswillcreateafolderinyourworkingdirectorycalledblog.Openupthatfolderandexploreitscontents.Mostoftheworkinthis tutorialwillhappenintheapp/folder,butheresabasicrundownonthefunctionofeachfolderthatRailscreatesinanewapplicationby default: File/Folder Gemfile README.rdoc Rakefile app/ config/ config.ru db/ doc/ lib/ log/ public/ script/ test/ tmp/ vendor/ Purpose ThisfileallowsyoutospecifywhatgemdependenciesareneededforyourRailsapplication. Thisisabriefinstructionmanualforyourapplication.Useittotellotherswhatyourapplicationdoes,howtosetitup,and soon. Thisfilecontainsbatchjobsthatcanberunfromtheterminal. Containsthecontrollers,models,andviewsforyourapplication.Youllfocusonthisfolderfortheremainderofthisguide. Configureyourapplicationsruntimerules,routes,database,andmore. RackconfigurationforRackbasedserversusedtostarttheapplication. Showsyourcurrentdatabaseschema,aswellasthedatabasemigrations.Youlllearnaboutmigrationsshortly. In-depthdocumentationforyourapplication. Extendedmodulesforyourapplication(notcoveredinthisguide). Applicationlogfiles. Theonlyfolderseentotheworldas-is.Thisiswhereyourimages,javascript,stylesheets(CSS),andotherstaticfilesgo. Containstherailsscriptthatstartsyourappandcancontainotherscriptsyouusetodeployorrunyourapplication. Unittests,fixtures,andothertestapparatus.ThesearecoveredinTestingRailsApplications Temporaryfiles Aplaceforallthird-partycode.InatypicalRailsapplication,thisincludesRubyGems,theRailssourcecode(ifyouinstall itintoyourproject)andpluginscontainingadditionalprepackagedfunctionality.
3.3 Installing the Required Gems

RailsapplicationsmanagegemdependencieswithBundlerbydefault.Aswedontneedanyothergemsbeyondtheonesinthegenerated Gemfilewecandirectlyrun
bundle install
tohavethemready.
3.4 Configuring a Database
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JustabouteveryRailsapplicationwillinteractwithadatabase.Thedatabasetouseisspecifiedinaconfigurationfile,config/database.yml. IfyouopenthisfileinanewRailsapplication,youllseeadefaultdatabaseconfigurationusingSQLite3.Thefilecontainssectionsforthree differentenvironmentsinwhichRailscanrunbydefault: Thedevelopmentenvironmentisusedonyourdevelopmentcomputerasyouinteractmanuallywiththeapplication Thetestenvironmentisusedtorunautomatedtests Theproductionenvironmentisusedwhenyoudeployyourapplicationfortheworldtouse. 3.4.1 Configuring an SQLite3 Database Railscomeswithbuilt-insupportforSQLite3,whichisalightweightserverlessdatabaseapplication.Whileabusyproductionenvironmentmay overloadSQLite,itworkswellfordevelopmentandtesting.RailsdefaultstousinganSQLitedatabasewhencreatinganewproject,butyoucan alwayschangeitlater. Heresthesectionofthedefaultconfigurationfile(config/database.yml)withconnectioninformationforthedevelopmentenvironment:
development: adapter: sqlite3 database: db/development.sqlite3 pool: 5 timeout: 5000
InthisguideweareusinganSQLite3databasefordatastorage,becauseitisazeroconfigurationdatabasethatjustworks.Railsalsosupports MySQLandPostgreSQLoutofthebox,andhaspluginsformanydatabasesystems.Ifyouareusingadatabaseinaproductionenvironment Railsmostlikelyhasanadapterforit. 3.4.2 Configuring a MySQL Database IfyouchoosetouseMySQLinsteadoftheshippedSqlite3database,yourconfig/database.ymlwilllookalittledifferent.Heresthe developmentsection:
development: adapter: mysql2 encoding: utf8 database: blog_development pool: 5 username: root password: socket: /tmp/mysql.sock
IfyourdevelopmentcomputersMySQLinstallationincludesarootuserwithanemptypassword,thisconfigurationshouldworkforyou. Otherwise,changetheusernameandpasswordinthedevelopmentsectionasappropriate. 3.4.3 Configuring a PostgreSQL Database FinallyifyouchoosetousePostgreSQL,yourconfig/database.ymlwillbecustomizedtousePostgreSQLdatabases:
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development: adapter: postgresql encoding: unicode database: blog_development pool: 5 username: blog password:
Changetheusernameandpasswordinthedevelopmentsectionasappropriate.
3.5 Creating the Database

Nowthatyouhaveyourdatabaseconfigured,itstimetohaveRailscreateanemptydatabaseforyou.Youcandothisbyrunningarake command:
$ rake db:create
ThiswillcreateyourdevelopmentandtestSQLite3databasesinsidethedb/folder. Rakeisageneral-purposecommand-runnerthatRailsusesformanythings.Youcanseethelistofavailablerakecommandsinyourapplication byrunningrake -T.
4 Hello, Rails!
Oneofthetraditionalplacestostartwithanewlanguageisbygettingsometextuponscreenquickly,todothis,youneedtogetyourRails applicationserverrunning.
4.1 Starting up the Web Server

YouactuallyhaveafunctionalRailsapplicationalready.Toseeit,youneedtostartawebserveronyourdevelopmentmachine.Youcando thisbyrunning:
$ rails server
ThiswillfireupaninstanceoftheMongrelwebserverbydefault(Railscanalsouseseveralotherwebservers).Toseeyourapplicationin action,openabrowserwindowandnavigatetohttp://localhost:3000.YoushouldseeRailsdefaultinformationpage: Tostoptheweb server,hitCtrl+C intheterminal windowwhereits running.In development mode,Railsdoes notgenerally requireyouto stoptheserver; changesyou makeinfileswill beautomatically pickedupbythe server. TheWelcome Aboardpageis
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thesmoketest foranewRails application:it makessurethat youhaveyour software configured correctlyenough toserveapage. Youcanalso clickonthe Aboutyour
applicationsenvironmentlinktoseeasummaryofyourApplicationsenvironment.
4.2 Say Hello, Rails

TogetRailssayingHello,youneedtocreateatminimumacontrollerandaview.Fortunately,youcandothatinasinglecommand.Enterthis commandinyourterminal:
$ rails generate controller home index
IfyoureonWindows,oryourRubyissetupinsomenon-standardfashion,youmayneedtoexplicitlypassRailsrailscommandstoRuby: ruby \path\to\rails controller home index. Railswillcreateseveralfilesforyou,includingapp/views/home/index.html.erb.Thisisthetemplatethatwillbeusedtodisplaytheresults oftheindexaction(method)inthehomecontroller.Openthisfileinyourtexteditorandeditittocontainasinglelineofcode:

<h1>Hello, Rails!</h1>
4.3 Setting the Application Home Page

Nowthatwehavemadethecontrollerandview,weneedtotellRailswhenwewantHelloRailstoshowup.Inourcase,wewantittoshowup whenwenavigatetotherootURLofoursite,http://localhost:3000,insteadoftheWelcomeAboardsmoketest. Thefirststeptodoingthisistodeletethedefaultpagefromyourapplication:
$ rm public/index.html
WeneedtodothisasRailswilldeliveranystaticfileinthepublicdirectoryinpreferencetoanydynamiccontactwegeneratefromthe controllers. Now,youhavetotellRailswhereyouractualhomepageislocated.Openthefileconfig/routes.rbinyoureditor.Thisisyourapplications routingfilewhichholdsentriesinaspecialDSL(domain-specificlanguage)thattellsRailshowtoconnectincomingrequeststocontrollersand actions.Thisfilecontainsmanysampleroutesoncommentedlines,andoneofthemactuallyshowsyouhowtoconnecttherootofyoursiteto aspecificcontrollerandaction.Findthelinebeginningwith:root to,uncommentitandchangeitlikethefollowing:
Blog::Application.routes.draw do #... # You can have the root of your site routed with "root" # just remember to delete public/index.html. root :to => "home#index"
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Theroot :to => "home#index"tellsRailstomaptherootactiontothehomecontrollersindexaction. Nowifyounavigatetohttp://localhost:3000inyourbrowser,youllseeHello, Rails!. Formoreinformationaboutrouting,refertoRailsRoutingfromtheOutsideIn.
5 Getting Up and Running Quickly with Scaffolding

Railsscaffoldingisaquickwaytogeneratesomeofthemajorpiecesofanapplication.Ifyouwanttocreatethemodels,views,andcontrollers foranewresourceinasingleoperation,scaffoldingisthetoolforthejob.
6 Creating a Resource
Inthecaseoftheblogapplication,youcanstartbygeneratingascaffoldedPostresource:thiswillrepresentasingleblogposting.Todothis, enterthiscommandinyourterminal:
$ rails generate scaffold Post name:string title:string content:text
Whilescaffoldingwillgetyouupandrunningquickly,theonesizefitsallcodethatitgeneratesisunlikelytobeaperfectfitforyourapplication. Inmostcases,youllneedtocustomizethegeneratedcode.ManyexperiencedRailsdevelopersavoidscaffoldingentirely,preferringtowriteall ormostoftheirsourcecodefromscratch. Thescaffoldgeneratorwillbuild15filesinyourapplication,alongwithsomefolders,andeditonemore.Heresaquickoverviewofwhatit creates: File db/migrate /20100207214725_create_posts.rb.rb app/models/post.rb test/fixtures/posts.yml app/controllers/posts_controller.rb app/views/posts/index.html.erb app/views/posts/edit.html.erb app/views/posts/show.html.erb app/views/posts/new.html.erb app/views/posts/_form.html.erb app/helpers/posts_helper.rb test/unit/post_test.rb test/functional/posts_controller_test.rb test/unit/helpers/posts_helper_test.rb config/routes.rb public/stylesheets/scaffold.css Purpose Migrationtocreatethepoststableinyourdatabase(yournamewillincludeadifferent timestamp) ThePostmodel Dummypostsforuseintesting ThePostscontroller Aviewtodisplayanindexofallposts Aviewtoeditanexistingpost Aviewtodisplayasinglepost Aviewtocreateanewpost Apartialtocontroltheoveralllookandfeeloftheformusedineditandnewviews Helperfunctionstobeusedfromthepostviews Unittestingharnessforthepostsmodel Functionaltestingharnessforthepostscontroller Unittestingharnessforthepostshelper Editedtoincluderoutinginformationforposts Cascadingstylesheettomakethescaffoldedviewslookbetter
6.1 Running a Migration

Oneoftheproductsoftherails generate scaffoldcommandisadatabasemigration.MigrationsareRubyclassesthataredesignedto makeitsimpletocreateandmodifydatabasetables.Railsusesrakecommandstorunmigrations,anditspossibletoundoamigrationafterits beenappliedtoyourdatabase.Migrationfilenamesincludeatimestamptoensurethattheyreprocessedintheorderthattheywerecreated. Ifyoulookinthedb/migrate/20100207214725_create_posts.rbfile(remember,yourswillhaveaslightlydifferentname),hereswhat youllfind:
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class CreatePosts < ActiveRecord::Migration def self .up create_table :posts do |t| t.string :name t.string :title t.text :content t.timestamps end end def self .down drop_table :posts end end
Theabovemigrationcreatestwomethods,up,calledwhenyourunthismigrationintothedatabase,anddownincaseyouneedtoreversethe changesmadebythismigrationatalaterdate.Theupcommandinthiscasecreatesapoststablewithtwostringcolumnsandatextcolumn. Italsocreatestwotimestampfieldstotrackrecordcreationandupdating.MoreinformationaboutRailsmigrationscanbefoundintheRails DatabaseMigrationsguide. Atthispoint,youcanusearakecommandtorunthemigration:
$ rake db:migrate
RailswillexecutethismigrationcommandandtellyouitcreatedthePoststable.
== CreatePosts: migrating ==================================================== -- create_table(:posts) -> 0.0019s == CreatePosts: migrated (0.0020s) ===========================================
Becauseyoureworkinginthedevelopmentenvironmentbydefault,thiscommandwillapplytothedatabasedefinedinthedevelopment sectionofyourconfig/database.ymlfile.
6.2 Adding a Link

Tohookthepostsuptothehomepageyouvealreadycreated,youcanaddalinktothehomepage.Openapp/views /home/index.html.erbandmodifyitasfollows:
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<h1>Hello, Rails!</h1> <%= link_to "My Blog", posts_path %>
Thelink_tomethodisoneofRailsbuilt-inviewhelpers.Itcreatesahyperlinkbasedontexttodisplayandwheretogointhiscase,tothe pathforposts.
6.3 Working with Posts in the Browser

Nowyourereadytostartworkingwithposts.Todothat,navigatetohttp://localhost:3000andthenclicktheMyBloglink: ThisistheresultofRailsrenderingtheindexviewofyourposts.Therearentcurrentlyanyposts inthedatabase,butifyouclicktheNew Postlinkyoucancreateone.Afterthat,youllfindthat youcaneditposts,lookattheirdetails,ordestroythem.AllofthelogicandHTMLtohandlethis wasbuiltbythesinglerails generate scaffoldcommand. Indevelopmentmode(whichiswhatyoureworkinginbydefault),Railsreloadsyourapplication witheverybrowserrequest,sotheresnoneedtostopandrestartthewebserver. Congratulations,youreridingtherails!Nowitstimetoseehowitallworks.
6.4 The Model

Themodelfile,app/models/post.rbisaboutassimpleasitcanget:
class Post < ActiveRecord::Base end
ThereisntmuchtothisfilebutnotethatthePostclassinheritsfromActiveRecord::Base.ActiveRecordsuppliesagreatdealof functionalitytoyourRailsmodelsforfree,includingbasicdatabaseCRUD(Create,Read,Update,Destroy)operations,datavalidation,aswell assophisticatedsearchsupportandtheabilitytorelatemultiplemodelstooneanother.
6.5 Adding Some Validation

Railsincludesmethodstohelpyouvalidatethedatathatyousendtomodels.Opentheapp/models/post.rbfileandeditit:
class Post < ActiveRecord::Base validates :name , :presence => true validates :title , :presence => true , :length => { :minimum => 5 } end
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Thesechangeswillensurethatallpostshaveanameandatitle,andthatthetitleisatleastfivecharacterslong.Railscanvalidateavarietyof conditionsinamodel,includingthepresenceoruniquenessofcolumns,theirformat,andtheexistenceofassociatedobjects.
6.6 Using the Console

Toseeyourvalidationsinaction,youcanusetheconsole.Theconsoleisacommand-linetoolthatletsyouexecuteRubycodeinthecontext ofyourapplication:
$ rails console
Aftertheconsoleloads,youcanuseittoworkwithyourapplicationsmodels:
>> p = Post.new(:content => "A new post") => #<Post id: nil, name: nil, title: nil, content: "A new post", created_at: nil, updated_at: nil> >> p.save => false >> p.errors => #<OrderedHash { :title=>["can't be blank", "is too short (minimum is 5 characters)"], :name=>["can't be blank"] }>
ThiscodeshowscreatinganewPostinstance,attemptingtosaveitandgettingfalseforareturnvalue(indicatingthatthesavefailed),and inspectingtheerrorsofthepost. Whenyourefinished,typeexitandhitreturntoexittheconsole. Unlikethedevelopmentwebserver,theconsoledoesnotautomaticallyloadyourcodeafreshforeachline.Ifyoumakechangestoyourmodels whiletheconsoleisopen,typereload!attheconsoleprompttoloadthem.
6.7 Listing All Posts

Theeasiestplacetostartlookingatfunctionalityiswiththecodethatlistsallposts.Openthefileapp/controllers/posts_controller.rb andlookattheindexaction:
def index @posts = Post.all respond_to do |format| format.html # index.html.erb format.xml :xml => @posts } end end { render
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Post.allcallsthePostmodeltoreturnallofthepostscurrentlyinthedatabase.Theresultofthiscallisanarraycontainingthepostswhich hasbeensavedinaninstancevariablecalled@posts. FormoreinformationonfindingrecordswithActiveRecord,seeActiveRecordQueryInterface. Therespond_toblockhandlesbothHTMLandXMLcallstothisaction.Ifyoubrowsetohttp://localhost:3000/posts.xml,youllseeallofthe postsinXMLformat.TheHTMLformatlooksforaviewinapp/views/posts/withanamethatcorrespondstotheactionname.Railsmakesall oftheinstancevariablesfromtheactionavailabletotheview.Heresapp/views/posts/index.html.erb:
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< h1 >Listing posts</ h1 > < table > < tr > < th >Name</ th > < th >Title</ th > < th >Content</ th > < th ></ th > < th ></ th > < th ></ th > </ tr > <% @posts . each do |post| %> < tr > < td > <%= post.name %> </ td > < td > <%= post.title %> </ td > <
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Thisviewiteratesoverthecontentsofthe@postsarraytodisplaycontentandlinks.Afewthingstonoteintheview: link_tobuildsahyperlinktoaparticulardestination edit_post_pathandnew_post_patharehelpersthatRailsprovidesaspartofRESTfulrouting.Youllseeavarietyofthesehelpers forthedifferentactionsthatthecontrollerincludes. InpreviousversionsofRails,youhadtouse<%=h post.name %>sothatanyHTMLwouldbeescapedbeforebeinginsertedintothepage.In Rails3.0,thisisnowthedefault.TogetunescapedHTML,younowuse<%= raw post.name %>. Formoredetailsontherenderingprocess,seeLayoutsandRenderinginRails.
6.8 Customizing the Layout

TheviewisonlypartofthestoryofhowHTMLisdisplayedinyourwebbrowser.Railsalsohastheconceptoflayouts,whicharecontainersfor views.WhenRailsrendersaviewtothebrowser,itdoessobyputtingtheviewsHTMLintoalayoutsHTML.InpreviousversionsofRails,the rails generate scaffoldcommandwouldautomaticallycreateacontrollerspecificlayout,likeapp/views/layouts/posts.html.erb,for thepostscontroller.HoweverthishasbeenchangedinRails3.0.Aapplicationspecificlayoutisusedforallthecontrollersandcanbefound inapp/views/layouts/application.html.erb.Openthislayoutinyoureditorandmodifythebodytag:
<!DOCTYPE html> < html > < head > < title >Blog</ title > <%= stylesheet_link_tag :all %> <%= javascript_include_tag :defaults %> <%= csrf_meta_tag %> </ head > < body style = "background: #EEEEEE;" > <%= yield %> </ body > </ html >
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Nowwhenyourefreshthe/postspage,youllseeagraybackgroundtothepage.Thissamegraybackgroundwillbeusedthroughoutallthe viewsforposts.
6.9 Creating New Posts

Creatinganewpostinvolvestwoactions.Thefirstisthenewaction,whichinstantiatesanemptyPostobject:
def new @post = Post. new respond_to do |format| format.html # new.html.erb format.xml :xml => @post } end end { render
Thenew.html.erbviewdisplaysthisemptyPosttotheuser:
< h1 >New post</ h1 > <%= render 'form' %> <%= link_to 'Back' , posts_path %>
The<%= render 'form' %>lineisourfirstintroductiontopartialsinRails.ApartialisasnippetofHTMLandRubycodethatcanbereusedin multiplelocations.Inthiscase,theformusedtomakeanewpost,isbasicallyidenticaltoaformusedtoeditapost,bothhavetextfieldsforthe nameandtitleandatextareaforthecontentwithabuttontomakeanewpostorupdatetheexistingpost. Ifyoutakealookatviews/posts/_form.html.erbfile,youwillseethefollowing:
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<%= form_for( @post ) do |f| %> <% if @post .errors.any? %> < div id = "errorExplanation" > < h2 > <%= pluralize( @post .errors.count, "error" ) %> prohibited this post from being saved:</ h2 > < ul > <% @post .errors.full_messages. each do |msg| %> < li > <%= msg %> </ li > <% end %> </ ul > </ div > <% end
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%> < div
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Thispartialreceivesalltheinstancevariablesdefinedinthecallingviewfile,sointhiscase,thecontrollerassignedthenewPostobjectto @postandso,thisisavailableinboththeviewandpartialas@post. Formoreinformationonpartials,refertotheLayoutsandRenderinginRailsguide. Theform_forblockisusedtocreateanHTMLform.Withinthisblock,youhaveaccesstomethodstobuildvariouscontrolsontheform.For example,f.text_field :nametellsRailstocreateatextinputontheform,andtohookituptothenameattributeoftheinstancebeing displayed.Youcanonlyusethesemethodswithattributesofthemodelthattheformisbasedon(inthiscasename,title,andcontent). Railsusesform_forinpreferencetohavingyouwriterawHTMLbecausethecodeismoresuccinct,andbecauseitexplicitlytiestheformtoa particularmodelinstance. Theform_forblockisalsosmartenoughtoworkoutifyouaredoingaNewPostoranEditPostaction,andwillsettheformactiontagsand submitbuttonnamesappropriatelyintheHTMLoutput. IfyouneedtocreateanHTMLformthatdisplaysarbitraryfields,nottiedtoamodel,youshouldusetheform_tagmethod,whichprovides shortcutsforbuildingformsthatarenotnecessarilytiedtoamodelinstance. WhentheuserclickstheCreate Postbuttononthisform,thebrowserwillsendinformationbacktothecreatemethodofthecontroller(Rails knowstocallthecreatemethodbecausetheformissentwithanHTTPPOSTrequest;thatsoneoftheconventionsthatImentionedearlier):
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def create @post = Post. new (params[ :post ]) respond_to do |format| if @post .save format.html { redirect_to( @post , :notice => 'Post was successfully created.' ) } format.xml :xml => @post , :status => :created , :location => @post } else format.html { render :action => "new" } format.xml :xml => @post .errors, :status => :unprocessable_entity } end end end { render { render
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ThecreateactioninstantiatesanewPostobjectfromthedatasuppliedbytheuserontheform,whichRailsmakesavailableintheparams hash.Aftersuccessfullysavingthenewpost,createreturnstheappropriateformatthattheuserhasrequested(HTMLinourcase).Itthen redirectstheusertotheresultingpostshowactionandsetsanoticetotheuserthatthePostwassuccessfullycreated. Ifthepostwasnotsuccessfullysaved,duetoavalidationerror,thenthecontrollerreturnstheuserbacktothenewactionwithanyerror messagessothattheuserhasthechancetofixtheerrorandtryagain. ThePostwassuccessfullycreatedmessageisstoredinsideoftheRailsflashhash,(usuallyjustcalledtheFlash)sothatmessagescanbe carriedovertoanotheraction,providingtheuserwithusefulinformationonthestatusoftheirrequest.Inthecaseofcreate,theusernever actuallyseesanypagerenderedduringthePostcreationprocess,becauseitimmediatelyredirectstothenewPostassoonRailssavesthe record.TheFlashcarriesoveramessagetothenextaction,sothatwhentheuserisredirectedbacktotheshowaction,theyarepresented withamessagesayingPostwassuccessfullycreated.
6.10 Showing an Individual Post

Whenyouclicktheshowlinkforapostontheindexpage,itwillbringyoutoaURLlikehttp://localhost:3000/posts/1.Railsinterprets thisasacalltotheshowactionfortheresource,andpassesin1asthe:idparameter.Herestheshowaction:
def show @post = Post.find(params[ :id ]) respond_to do |format| format.html # show.html.erb format.xml :xml => @post } end end { render
TheshowactionusesPost.findtosearchforasinglerecordinthedatabasebyitsidvalue.Afterfindingtherecord,Railsdisplaysitbyusing show.html.erb:
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< p class = "notice" > <%= notice %> </ p > < p > < b >Name:</ b > <%= @post .name %> </ p > < p > < b >Title:</ b > <%= @post .title %> </ p > < p > < b >Content:</ b > <%= @post .content %> </ p > <%= link_to 'Edit' , edit_post_path( @post ) %> | <%= link_to 'Back' , posts_path %>
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6.11 Editing Posts
Likecreatinganewpost,editingapostisatwo-partprocess.Thefirststepisarequesttoedit_post_path(@post)withaparticularpost.This callstheeditactioninthecontroller:
def edit @post = Post.find(params[ :id ]) end
Afterfindingtherequestedpost,Railsusestheedit.html.erbviewtodisplayit:
< h1 >Editing post</ h1 > <%= render 'form' %> <%= link_to 'Show' , @post %> | <%= link_to 'Back' , posts_path %>
Again,aswiththenewaction,theeditactionisusingtheformpartial,thistimehowever,theformwilldoaPUTactiontothePostsController andthesubmitbuttonwilldisplayUpdatePost Submittingtheformcreatedbythisviewwillinvoketheupdateactionwithinthecontroller:
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def update @post = Post.find(params[ :id ]) respond_to do |format| if @post .update_attributes(params[ :post ]) format.html { redirect_to( @post , :notice => 'Post was successfully updated.' ) } format.xml :ok } else format.html { render :action => "edit" } format.xml :xml => @post .errors, :status => :unprocessable_entity } end end end { render { head
Intheupdateaction,Railsfirstusesthe:idparameterpassedbackfromtheeditviewtolocatethedatabaserecordthatsbeingedited.The update_attributescallthentakestherestoftheparametersfromtherequestandappliesthemtothisrecord.Ifallgoeswell,theuseris redirectedtothepostsshowview.Ifthereareanyproblems,itsbacktotheeditviewtocorrectthem.
6.12 Destroying a Post

Finally,clickingoneofthedestroylinkssendstheassociatedidtothedestroyaction:
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def destroy @post = Post.find(params[ :id ]) @post .destroy respond_to do |format| format.html { redirect_to(posts_url) } format.xml :ok } end end { head
ThedestroymethodofanActiveRecordmodelinstanceremovesthecorrespondingrecordfromthedatabase.Afterthatsdone,thereisnt anyrecordtodisplay,soRailsredirectstheusersbrowsertotheindexviewforthemodel.
7 Adding a Second Model

Nowthatyouveseenhowamodelbuiltwithscaffoldinglookslike,itstimetoaddasecondmodeltotheapplication.Thesecondmodelwill handlecommentsonblogposts.
7.1 Generating a Model

ModelsinRailsuseasingularname,andtheircorrespondingdatabasetablesuseapluralname.Forthemodeltoholdcomments,the conventionistousethenameComment.Evenifyoudontwanttousetheentireapparatussetupbyscaffolding,mostRailsdevelopersstill usegeneratorstomakethingslikemodelsandcontrollers.Tocreatethenewmodel,runthiscommandinyourterminal:
$ rails generate model Comment commenter:string body:text post:references
Thiscommandwillgeneratefourfiles: app/models/comment.rbThemodel db/migrate/20100207235629_create_comments.rbThemigration test/unit/comment_test.rbandtest/fixtures/comments.ymlThetestharness. First,takealookatcomment.rb:
class Comment < ActiveRecord::Base belongs_to :post end
Thisisverysimilartothepost.rbmodelthatyousawearlier.Thedifferenceisthelinebelongs_to :post,whichsetsupanActiveRecord association.Youlllearnalittleaboutassociationsinthenextsectionofthisguide. Inadditiontothemodel,Railshasalsomadeamigrationtocreatethecorrespondingdatabasetable:
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class CreateComments < ActiveRecord::Migration def self .up create_table :comments do |t| t.string :commenter t.text :body t.references :post t.timestamps end end def self .down drop_table :comments end end
Thet.referenceslinesetsupaforeignkeycolumnfortheassociationbetweenthetwomodels.Goaheadandrunthemigration:
$ rake db:migrate
Railsissmartenoughtoonlyexecutethemigrationsthathavenotalreadybeenrunagainstthecurrentdatabase,sointhiscaseyouwilljust see:
== CreateComments: migrating ================================================= -- create_table(:comments) -> 0.0017s == CreateComments: migrated (0.0018s) ========================================
7.2 Associating Models

ActiveRecordassociationsletyoueasilydeclaretherelationshipbetweentwomodels.Inthecaseofcommentsandposts,youcouldwriteout therelationshipsthisway: Eachcommentbelongstoonepost Onepostcanhavemanycomments Infact,thisisveryclosetothesyntaxthatRailsusestodeclarethisassociation.YouvealreadyseenthelineofcodeinsidetheComment modelthatmakeseachcommentbelongtoaPost:
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class Comment < ActiveRecord::Base belongs_to :post end
Youllneedtoeditthepost.rbfiletoaddtheothersideoftheassociation:
class Post < ActiveRecord::Base validates :name , :presence => true validates :title , :presence => true , :length => { :minimum => 5 } has_many :comments end
Thesetwodeclarationsenableagoodbitofautomaticbehavior.Forexample,ifyouhaveaninstancevariable@postcontainingapost,you canretrieveallthecommentsbelongingtothatpostasthearray@post.comments. FormoreinformationonActiveRecordassociations,seetheActiveRecordAssociationsguide.
7.3 Adding a Route for Comments

Aswiththehomecontroller,wewillneedtoaddaroutesothatRailsknowswherewewouldliketonavigatetoseecomments.Openupthe config/routes.rbfileagain,youwillseeanentrythatwasaddedautomaticallyforpostsnearthetopbythescaffoldgenerator,resources :posts,edititasfollows:
resources :posts do resources :comments end
Thiscreatescommentsasanestedresourcewithinposts.Thisisanotherpartofcapturingthehierarchicalrelationshipthatexistsbetween postsandcomments.
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Formoreinformationonrouting,seetheRailsRoutingfromtheOutsideInguide.
7.4 Generating a Controller

Withthemodelinhand,youcanturnyourattentiontocreatingamatchingcontroller.Again,theresageneratorforthis:
$ rails generate controller Comments
Thiscreatesfourfilesandoneemptydirectory: app/controllers/comments_controller.rbThecontroller app/helpers/comments_helper.rbAviewhelperfile test/functional/comments_controller_test.rbThefunctionaltestsforthecontroller test/unit/helpers/comments_helper_test.rbTheunittestsforthehelper app/views/comments/Viewsofthecontrollerarestoredhere Likewithanyblog,ourreaderswillcreatetheircommentsdirectlyafterreadingthepost,andoncetheyhaveaddedtheircomment,willbesent backtothepostshowpagetoseetheircommentnowlisted.Duetothis,ourCommentsControlleristheretoprovideamethodtocreate commentsanddeleteSPAMcommentswhentheyarrive. Sofirst,wellwireupthePostshowtemplate(/app/views/posts/show.html.erb)toletusmakeanewcomment:
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< p class = "notice" > <%= notice %> </ p > < p > < b >Name:</ b > <%= @post .name %> </ p > < p > < b >Title:</ b > <%= @post .title %> </ p > < p > < b >Content:</ b > <%= @post .content %> </ p > < h2 >Add a comment:</ h2 > <%= form_for([ @post , @post .comments.build]) do
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|f| %> < div
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ThisaddsaformonthePostshowpagethatcreatesanewcomment,whichwillcalltheCommentsControllercreateaction,soletswirethat up:
class CommentsController < ApplicationController def create @post = Post.find(params[ :post_id ]) @comment = @post .comments.create(params[ :comment ]) redirect_to post_path( @post ) end end
Youllseeabitmorecomplexityherethanyoudidinthecontrollerforposts.Thatsaside-effectofthenestingthatyouvesetup;eachrequest foracommenthastokeeptrackoftheposttowhichthecommentisattached,thustheinitialfindactiontothePostmodeltogetthepostin question. Inaddition,thecodetakesadvantageofsomeofthemethodsavailableforanassociation.Weusethecreatemethodon@post.comments tocreateandsavethecomment.Thiswillautomaticallylinkthecommentsothatitbelongstothatparticularpost. Oncewehavemadethenewcomment,wesendtheuserbacktotheoriginalpostusingthepost_path(@post)helper.Aswehavealready seen,thiscallstheshowactionofthePostsControllerwhichinturnrenderstheshow.html.erbtemplate.Thisiswherewewantthe commenttoshow,soletsaddthattotheapp/views/posts/show.html.erb.
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< p class = "notice" > <%= notice %> </ p > < p > < b >Name:</ b > <%= @post .name %> </ p > < p > < b >Title:</ b > <%= @post .title %> </ p > < p > < b >Content:</ b > <%= @post .content %> </ p > < h2 >Comments</ h2 > <% @post .comments. each do |comment| %> < p >
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Nowyoucanaddpostsandcommentstoyourblogandhavethemshowupintherightplaces.
8 Refactoring
NowthatwehavePostsandCommentsworking,ifwetakealookattheapp/views/posts/show.html.erbtemplate,itsgettinglongand awkward.Wecanusepartialstocleanthisup.
8.1 Rendering Partial Collections

Firstwewillmakeacommentpartialtoextractshowingallthecommentsforthepost.Createthefileapp/views/comments /_comment.html.erbandputthefollowingintoit:
< p > < b >Commenter:</ b > <%= comment.commenter %> </ p > < p > < b >Comment:</ b > <%= comment.body %> </ p >
Thenintheapp/views/posts/show.html.erbyoucanchangeittolooklikethefollowing:
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< p class = "notice" > <%= notice %> </ p > < p > < b >Name:</ b > <%= @post .name %> </ p > < p > < b >Title:</ b > <%= @post .title %> </ p > < p > < b >Content:</ b > <%= @post .content %> </ p > < h2 >Comments</ h2 > <%= render :partial => "comments/comment" ,
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:collection => @post .comments %>
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Thiswillnowrenderthepartialinapp/views/comments/_comment.html.erbonceforeachcommentthatisinthe@post.comments collection.Astherendermethoditeratesoverthe@post.commentscollection,itassignseachcommenttoalocalvariablenamedthesameas thepartial,inthiscasecommentwhichisthenavailableinthepartialforustoshow.
8.2 Rendering a Partial Form

Letsalsomovethatnewcommentsectionouttoitsownpartial,again,youcreateafileapp/views/comments/_form.html.erbandinityou put:
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<%= form_for([ @post , @post .comments.build]) do |f| %> < div class = "field" > <%= f.label :commenter %> < br /> <%= f.text_field :commenter %> </ div > < div class = "field" > <%= f.label :body %> < br /> <%= f.text_area :body %> </ div > < div class = "actions" > <%= f.submit %> </ div > <% end
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Thenyoumaketheapp/views/posts/show.html.erblooklikethefollowing:
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< p class = "notice" > <%= notice %> </ p > < p > < b >Name:</ b > <%= @post .name %> </ p > < p > < b >Title:</ b > <%= @post .title %> </ p > < p > < b >Content:</ b > <%= @post .content %> </ p > < h2 >Comments</ h2 > <%= render :partial => "comments/comment" ,
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:collection => @post .comments %>
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Thesecondrenderjustdefinesthepartialtemplatewewanttorender,comments/form,Railsissmartenoughtospottheforwardslashinthat stringandrealizethatyouwanttorenderthe_form.html.erbfileintheapp/views/commentsdirectory. The@postobjectisavailabletoanypartialsrenderedintheviewbecausewedefineditasaninstancevariable.
9 Deleting Comments
AnotherimportantfeatureonablogisbeingabletodeleteSPAMcomments.Todothis,weneedtoimplementalinkofsomesortintheview andaDELETEactionintheCommentsController. Sofirst,letsaddthedeletelinkintheapp/views/comments/_comment.html.erbpartial:
< p > < b >Commenter:</ b > <%= comment.commenter %> </ p > < p > < b >Comment:</ b > <%= comment.body %> </ p > < p > <%= link_to 'Destroy Comment' , [comment.post, comment], :confirm => 'Are you sure?' , :method => :delete %> </ p >
ClickingthisnewDestroyCommentlinkwillfireoffaDELETE /posts/:id/comments/:idtoourCommentsController,whichcanthenuse thistofindthecommentwewanttodelete,soletsaddadestroyactiontoourcontroller:
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class CommentsController < ApplicationController def create @post = Post.find(params[ :post_id ]) @comment = @post .comments.create(params[ :comment ]) redirect_to post_path( @post ) end def destroy @post = Post.find(params[ :post_id ]) @comment = @post .comments.find(params[ :id ]) @comment .destroy redirect_to post_path( @post ) end end
Thedestroyactionwillfindthepostwearelookingat,locatethecommentwithinthe@post.commentscollection,andthenremoveitfromthe databaseandsendusbacktotheshowactionforthepost.
9.1 Deleting Associated Objects

Ifyoudeleteapostthenitsassociatedcommentswillalsoneedtobedeleted.Otherwisetheywouldsimplyoccupyspaceinthedatabase.Rails allowsyoutousethedependentoptionofanassociationtoachievethis.ModifythePostmodel,app/models/post.rb,asfollows:
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class Post < ActiveRecord::Base validates :name , :presence => true validates :title , :presence => true , :length => { :minimum => 5 } has_many :comments , :dependent => :destroy end
10 Security
Ifyouweretopublishyourblogonline,anybodywouldbeabletoadd,editanddeletepostsordeletecomments. RailsprovidesaverysimpleHTTPauthenticationsystemthatwillworknicelyinthissituation.First,weenablesimpleHTTPbasedauthentication inourapp/controllers/application_controller.rb:
class ApplicationController < ActionController::Base protect_from_forgery private def authenticate authenticate_or_request_with_http_basic do |user_name, password| user_name == 'admin' && password == 'password' end end end
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Youcanobviouslychangetheusernameandpasswordtowhateveryouwant.WeputthismethodinsideofApplicationControllersothat itisavailabletoallofourcontrollers. TheninthePostsControllerweneedtohaveawaytoblockaccesstothevariousactionsifthepersonisnotauthenticated,herewecan usetheRailsbefore_filtermethod,whichallowsustospecifythatRailsmustrunamethodandonlythenallowaccesstotherequested actionifthatmethodallowsit. Tousethebeforefilter,wespecifyitatthetopofourPostsController,inthiscase,wewanttheusertobeauthenticatedoneveryaction, exceptforindexandshow,sowewritethat:
class PostsController < ApplicationController before_filter :authenticate , :except => [ :index , :show ] # GET /posts # GET /posts.xml def index @posts = Post.all respond_to do |format| # snipped for brevity
Wealsoonlywanttoallowauthenticateduserstodeletecomments,sointheCommentsControllerwewrite:
class CommentsController < ApplicationController before_filter :authenticate , :only => :destroy def create @post = Post.find(params[ :post_id ]) # snipped for brevity
Nowifyoutrytocreateanewpost,youwillbegreetedwithabasicHTTPAuthenticationchallenge
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11 Building a Multi-Model Form

Anotherfeatureofyouraverageblogistheabilityto tagposts.Toimplementthisfeatureyourapplication needstointeractwithmorethanonemodelona singleform.Railsofferssupportfornestedforms. Todemonstratethis,wewilladdsupportforgiving eachpostmultipletags,rightintheformwhereyou createthepost.First,createanewmodeltoholdthe tags:
$ rails generate model tag name:string post:references
Again,runthemigrationtocreatethedatabase table:
$ rake db:migrate
Next,editthepost.rbfiletocreatetheotherside oftheassociation,andtotellRails(viatheaccepts_nested_attributes_formacro)thatyouintendtoedittagsviaposts:
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class Post < ActiveRecord::Base validates :name , :presence => true validates :title , :presence => true , :length => { :minimum => 5 } has_many :comments , :dependent => :destroy has_many :tags accepts_nested_attributes_for :tags , :allow_destroy => :true , :reject_if => proc { |attrs| attrs.all? { |k, v| v.blank? } } end
The:allow_destroyoptiononthenestedattributedeclarationtellsRailstodisplayaremovecheckboxontheviewthatyoullbuildshortly. The:reject_ifoptionpreventssavingnewtagsthatdonothaveanyattributesfilledin. Wewillmodifyviews/posts/_form.html.erbtorenderapartialtomakeatag:
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<% @post .tags.build %> <%= form_for( @post ) do |post_form| %> <% if @post .errors.any? %> < div id = "errorExplanation" > < h2 > <%= pluralize( @post .errors.count, "error" ) %> prohibited this post from being saved:</ h2 > < ul > <% @post .errors.full_messages. each do |msg| %> < li > <%= msg %> </ li > <% end %> </ ul > </ div >
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<% end %>
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Notethatwehavechangedthefinform_for(@post) do |f|topost_formtomakeiteasiertounderstandwhatisgoingon. Thisexampleshowsanotheroptionoftherenderhelper,beingabletopassinlocalvariables,inthiscase,wewantthelocalvariableformin thepartialtorefertothepost_formobject. Wealsoadda@post.tags.buildatthetopofthisform,thisistomakesurethereisanewtagreadytohaveitsnamefilledinbytheuser.If youdonotbuildthenewtag,thentheformwillnotappearasthereisnonewTagobjectreadytocreate. Nowcreatethefolderapp/views/tagsandmakeafileintherecalled_form.html.erbwhichcontainstheformforthetag:
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<%= form.fields_for :tags do |tag_form| %> < div class = "field" > <%= tag_form.label :name , 'Tag:' %> <%= tag_form.text_field :name %> </ div > <% unless tag_form.object. nil ? || tag_form.object.new_record? %> < div class = "field" > <%= tag_form.label :_destroy, 'Remove:' %> <%= tag_form.check_box :_destroy %> </ div > <% end %> <% end %>
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Finally,wewilledittheapp/views/posts/show.html.erbtemplatetoshowourtags.
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< p class = "notice" > <%= notice %> </ p > < p > < b >Name:</ b > <%= @post .name %> </ p > < p > < b >Title:</ b > <%= @post .title %> </ p > < p > < b >Content:</ b > <%= @post .content %> </ p > < p > < b >Tags:</ b > <%= @post .tags.map { |t| t.name }.join( ", " ) %> </ p >
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Withthesechangesinplace,youllfindthatyoucaneditapostanditstagsdirectlyonthesameview. However,thatmethodcall@post.tags.map { |t| t.name }.join(", ")isawkward,wecouldhandlethisbymakingahelpermethod.
12 View Helpers
ViewHelpersliveinapp/helpersandprovidesmallsnippetsofreusablecodeforviews.Inourcase,wewantamethodthatstringsabunchof objectstogetherusingtheirnameattributeandjoiningthemwithacomma.AsthisisforthePostshowtemplate,weputitinthePostsHelper. Openupapp/helpers/posts_helper.rbandaddthefollowing:
module PostsHelper def join_tags(post) post.tags.map { |t| t.name }.join(", ") end end
Nowyoucanedittheviewinapp/views/posts/show.html.erbtolooklikethis:
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< p class = "notice" > <%= notice %> </ p > < p > < b >Name:</ b > <%= @post .name %> </ p > < p > < b >Title:</ b > <%= @post .title %> </ p > < p > < b >Content:</ b > <%= @post .content %> </ p > < p > < b >Tags:</ b > <%= join_tags( @post ) %> </ p >
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13 Whats Next?
NowthatyouveseenyourfirstRailsapplication,youshouldfeelfreetoupdateitandexperimentonyourown.Butyoudonthavetodo everythingwithouthelp.AsyouneedassistancegettingupandrunningwithRails,feelfreetoconsultthesesupportresources: TheRubyonRailsguides TheRubyonRailsTutorial TheRubyonRailsmailinglist The#rubyonrailschannelonirc.freenode.net TheRailsWiki Railsalsocomeswithbuilt-inhelpthatyoucangenerateusingtherakecommand-lineutility: Runningrake doc:guideswillputafullcopyoftheRailsGuidesinthedoc/guidesfolderofyourapplication.Opendoc/guides /index.htmlinyourwebbrowsertoexploretheGuides. Runningrake doc:railswillputafullcopyoftheAPIdocumentationforRailsinthedoc/apifolderofyourapplication.Open doc/api/index.htmlinyourwebbrowsertoexploretheAPIdocumentation.
14 Configuration Gotchas
TheeasiestwaytoworkwithRailsistostoreallexternaldataasUTF-8.Ifyoudont,RubylibrariesandRailswilloftenbeabletoconvertyour nativedataintoUTF-8,butthisdoesntalwaysworkreliably,soyourebetteroffensuringthatallexternaldataisUTF-8. Ifyouhavemadeamistakeinthisarea,themostcommonsymptomisablackdiamondwithaquestionmarkinsideappearinginthebrowser. Anothercommonsymptomischaracterslikeappearinginsteadof.Railstakesanumberofinternalstepstomitigatecommoncausesof theseproblemsthatcanbeautomaticallydetectedandcorrected.However,ifyouhaveexternaldatathatisnotstoredasUTF-8,itcan occasionallyresultinthesekindsofissuesthatcannotbeautomaticallydetectedbyRailsandcorrected. TwoverycommonsourcesofdatathatarenotUTF-8: Yourtexteditor:Mosttexteditors(suchasTextmate),defaulttosavingfilesasUTF-8.Ifyourtexteditordoesnot,thiscanresultin specialcharactersthatyouenterinyourtemplates(suchas)toappearasadiamondwithaquestionmarkinsideinthebrowser.This alsoappliestoyourI18Ntranslationfiles.MosteditorsthatdonotalreadydefaulttoUTF-8(suchassomeversionsofDreamweaver) offerawaytochangethedefaulttoUTF-8.Doso. Yourdatabase.RailsdefaultstoconvertingdatafromyourdatabaseintoUTF-8attheboundary.However,ifyourdatabaseisnot usingUTF-8internally,itmaynotbeabletostoreallcharactersthatyourusersenter.Forinstance,ifyourdatabaseisusingLatin-1 internally,andyouruserentersaRussian,Hebrew,orJapanesecharacter,thedatawillbelostforeveronceitentersthedatabase.If possible,useUTF-8astheinternalstorageofyourdatabase.
15 Changelog
August30,2010:MinoreditingafterRails3releasebyJoostBaaij July12,2010:Fixes,editingandupdatingofcodesamplesbyJaimeIniesta May16,2010:AddedasectiononconfigurationgotchastoaddresscommonencodingproblemsthatpeoplemighthavebyYehuda Katz April30,2010:Fixes,editingandupdatingofcodesamplesbyRohitArondekar April25,2010:CoupleofmoreminorfixupsMikelLindsaar April1,2010:FixeddocumenttovalidateXHTML1.0Strict.JaimeIniesta February8,2010:Fullre-writeforRails3.0-beta,addedhelpersandbefore_filters,refactoredcodebyMikelLindsaar January24,2010:Re-writeforRails3.0byMikelLindsaar July18,2009:MinorcleanupinanticipationofRails2.3.3byMikeGunderloy February1,2009:UpdatedforRails2.3byMikeGunderloy November3,2008:FormattingpatchfromDaveRothlisberger November1,2008:FirstapprovedversionbyMikeGunderloy October16,2008:RevisedbasedonfeedbackfromPratikNaikbyMikeGunderloy(notyetapprovedforpublication) October13,2008:FirstcompletedraftbyMikeGunderloy(notyetapprovedforpublication) October12,2008:Moredetail,rearrangement,editingbyMikeGunderloy(notyetapprovedforpublication) September8,2008:initialversionbyJamesMiller(notyetapprovedforpublication)
Feedback
You'reencouragedtohelpinkeepingthequalityofthisguide.
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Ifyouseeanytyposorfactualerrorsyouareconfidenttopatchpleaseclonedocrailsandpushthechangeyourself.ThatbranchofRailshas publicwriteaccess.Commitsarestillreviewed,butthathappensafteryou'vesubmittedyourcontribution.docrailsiscross-mergedwithmaster periodically. Youmayalsofindincompletecontent,orstuffthatisnotuptodate.Pleasedoaddanymissingdocumentationformaster.ChecktheRubyon RailsGuidesGuidelinesguideforstyleandconventions. IssuesmayalsobereportedinGithub. Andlastbutnotleast,anykindofdiscussionregardingRubyonRailsdocumentationisverywelcomeintherubyonrails-docsmailinglist. ThisworkislicensedunderaCreativeCommonsAttribution-ShareAlike3.0License "Rails","RubyonRails",andtheRailslogoaretrademarksofDavidHeinemeierHansson.Allrightsreserved.
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Ruby on Rails Guides: Getting Started with Rails

Getting Started with Rails

Ruby on Rails Guides: Getting Started with Rails

Ruby on Rails Guides: Getting Started with Rails

2.1 The MVC Architecture

2.2 The Components of Rails

Ruby on Rails Guides: Getting Started with Rails

3 Creating a New Rails Project

3.1 Installing Rails

Usually run this as the root user: # gem install rails

Ruby on Rails Guides: Getting Started with Rails

$ rails new blog

ThiswillcreateaRailsapplicationcalledBloginadirectorycalledblog. YoucanseealloftheswitchesthattheRailsapplicationbuilderacceptsbyrunningrails -h. Afteryoucreatetheblogapplication,switchtoitsfoldertocontinueworkdirectlyinthatapplication:

3.3 Installing the Required Gems

3.4 Configuring a Database

Ruby on Rails Guides: Getting Started with Rails

development: adapter: sqlite3 database: db/development.sqlite3 pool: 5 timeout: 5000

Ruby on Rails Guides: Getting Started with Rails

3.5 Creating the Database

ThiswillcreateyourdevelopmentandtestSQLite3databasesinsidethedb/folder. Rakeisageneral-purposecommand-runnerthatRailsusesformanythings.Youcanseethelistofavailablerakecommandsinyourapplication byrunningrake -T.

4.1 Starting up the Web Server

Ruby on Rails Guides: Getting Started with Rails

4.2 Say Hello, Rails

$ rails generate controller home index

4.3 Setting the Application Home Page

Ruby on Rails Guides: Getting Started with Rails

Theroot :to => "home#index"tellsRailstomaptherootactiontothehomecontrollersindexaction. Nowifyounavigatetohttp://localhost:3000inyourbrowser,youllseeHello, Rails!. Formoreinformationaboutrouting,refertoRailsRoutingfromtheOutsideIn.

5 Getting Up and Running Quickly with Scaffolding

$ rails generate scaffold Post name:string title:string content:text

6.1 Running a Migration

Ruby on Rails Guides: Getting Started with Rails

6.2 Adding a Link

Ruby on Rails Guides: Getting Started with Rails

6.3 Working with Posts in the Browser

6.4 The Model

class Post < ActiveRecord::Base end

6.5 Adding Some Validation

Ruby on Rails Guides: Getting Started with Rails

6.6 Using the Console

6.7 Listing All Posts

Ruby on Rails Guides: Getting Started with Rails

Ruby on Rails Guides: Getting Started with Rails

Ruby on Rails Guides: Getting Started with Rails

6.8 Customizing the Layout

Ruby on Rails Guides: Getting Started with Rails

6.9 Creating New Posts

Ruby on Rails Guides: Getting Started with Rails

%> < div

Ruby on Rails Guides: Getting Started with Rails

Ruby on Rails Guides: Getting Started with Rails

Ruby on Rails Guides: Getting Started with Rails

6.10 Showing an Individual Post

Ruby on Rails Guides: Getting Started with Rails

Ruby on Rails Guides: Getting Started with Rails

def edit @post = Post.find(params[ :id ]) end

Again,aswiththenewaction,theeditactionisusingtheformpartial,thistimehowever,theformwilldoaPUTactiontothePostsController andthesubmitbuttonwilldisplayUpdatePost Submittingtheformcreatedbythisviewwillinvoketheupdateactionwithinthecontroller:

Ruby on Rails Guides: Getting Started with Rails

6.12 Destroying a Post

Ruby on Rails Guides: Getting Started with Rails

7 Adding a Second Model

7.1 Generating a Model

$ rails generate model Comment commenter:string body:text post:references

Thiscommandwillgeneratefourfiles: app/models/comment.rbThemodel db/migrate/20100207235629_create_comments.rbThemigration test/unit/comment_test.rbandtest/fixtures/comments.ymlThetestharness. First,takealookatcomment.rb: