I'm implementing a design where on every page the body has a different
id, which sets some of the styling rules. There's only a couple of
distinct layouts which get re-used on every page. I can think of a few
different ways to set the body id but i'm not super-happy about any of
them and thought i'd see what you guys think.
approach 1) use an instance var from the controller
#controller - in each action
@body_id = "createQuiz"
#layout
<body id="<%= @body_id %>">
I'm not keen on this as it seems like bad seperation of concerns - to
have something that purely relates to styling defined in the controller.
Also, it pollutes my controller actions - i use the resource_this plugin
which dynamically generates the standard restful controller actions
which i tend to try to stick as closely to as possible. With
resource_this you don't even define the action unless you want it to
deviate from the norm. So, i'd need to start defining all my actions
just so i could stick this @body_id definition in there. urggh.
approach 2) set in the controller in a before_filter
While I completely agree with Marnen, I feel that still leaves you
with almost the same issue, when and how to call in the needed
stylesheet. Here is my input:
Define a function that will determine which file to include in the
helper file for the class in question (app/helpers/xxx_helper.rb). It
would look something like this:
def custom_css_include
css_file = case controller.action_name
when 'edit': 'createQuiz.css'
when 'show': 'viewQuiz.css'
end
"#{story_type}"
end
I agree - i don't like having an id on the body tag - but for the sake
of argument let's say that i'm unable to do anything about this and have
to work with the styling rules i've been given (which are all in a
single stylesheet btw). This isn't necessarily true but i don't want to
make an issue out of it right now.
As i said i have a single stylesheet, so deciding which stylesheet to
include isn't the issue. If you were forced to set the id of the body
(for the sake of argument), how would you do it?
I agree - i don't like having an id on the body tag - but for the sake
of argument let's say that i'm unable to do anything about this and have
to work with the styling rules i've been given (which are all in a
single stylesheet btw). This isn't necessarily true but i don't want to
make an issue out of it right now.
If it isn't necessarily true, then I'm not going to act as if it is.
As i said i have a single stylesheet, so deciding which stylesheet to
include isn't the issue. If you were forced to set the id of the body
(for the sake of argument), how would you do it?
I wouldn't. I'd take the stylesheet I was given and split it into
several stylesheets.
Is there are reason why the part you want to manipulate can't be in a
div of
it's own and that have an id?
That would work, but in this case it's really no better. The
body-with-id pattern is an all-too-commonly seen kludge that results
from not understanding how to organize CSS properly. The solution is to
organize the CSS properly!
Marnen - i totally get your point, i should stick my feet in the mud and
refuse to go along with this crazy scheme.
Good. Then stop trying to do otherwise.
However, let's exercise our fantasy muscles and stick with the
science-fiction scenario where i have to implement the design i've been
given, as is.
No. It's a bad idea, and you don't have an actual use case for it.
There is no reason for either of us to spend any more effort on it --
particularly since you already have several answers hidden in this
thread (not all of them by me).
