Say you want to call the update_reasons action in the reports controller in response to an onclick on a checkbox.
First, of course, you need the route in config/routes.rb
match "/reports/update_reasons" => "reports#update_reasons"
And, of course, the action...I just echo relevant arguments in this version.
Note, I render "nothing" because operation does not result in any view change beyond status change of checkbox which is managed by browser.
def update_reasons
checked = params[:checked]
params.each do |key, value|
if /reasons_(\d+)/.match(value) != nil
logger.debug("update reason #{$1} to #{checked}")
end
end
respond_to do |format|
format.js { render :nothing => true }
end
end
Using the check_box_tag, you will include on :onclick parameter. The value of :onclick is javascript. The "best" way to generate that javascript is using remote_function helper. I use the :with parameter to send request parameters
with the Ajax call. Notice in ruby code above reference to parameter names appearing in value of :with string in view code.
Here is my view code:
<% reasons.each do |infraction| %>
<% rf = remote_function(
:url => { :controller => 'reports',
:action => :update_reasons },
:with => '\'reason=\'+ this.id + \'&checked=\' + this.checked') %>
<%= check_box_tag "reasons[#{infraction.id}]",
infraction.description,
false ,
:onclick => "#{rf}",
:class=>:"iToggle", :title=>"YES|NO" %>
<%= infraction.description %>
<% end %>
If I expect some server-side generated change to view, I could include an :update argument to remote_function. This parameter names a div into rendered output is placed.
I admit I took a lazy approach by placing value of remote_function to a local variable. After much hair-pulling,I gave on trying to get quotes right with remote_function as direct value of :onclick parameter.
