f.checkbox?

rubyonrails-talk
1

Okay so I have a typical search page where a keyword is entered and results are retrieved that match the keyword. What I want to do now is have checkboxes to search for results in specific areas (my site is a big events calendar with "streams" and "audiences") I want to use the checkboxes to look for results in 'streams', 'audiences', or both. I want to be able to return either true or false from a method depending on whether or not a box is checked. I have no idea how to do this, I've only used checkboxes with a database before, and I don't want to use columns in a database for this.

This is my setup so far:

in search view:

[code=]<% form_for :event do |f| %>   <label for="stream_search">Search Streams</label> <%= f.check_box :search_streams, {:class=> "check"} %><br />   <label for="aud_search">Search Audiences</label> <%= f.check_box :search_auds, {:class=> "check"} %> <br /> <% end %>[/code]

and I want to be able to somehow get these methods in the event model to return either true or false depending on the checkboxes so I can use them in if-statements in my search method: [code=] def search_streams   true

  end

  def search_auds   true

  end[/code]

Thanks in advance for any help!

2

[code=]<% form_for :event do |f| %>   <label for="stream_search">Search Streams</label> <%= f.check_box :search_streams, {:class=> "check"} %><br />   <label for="aud_search">Search Audiences</label> <%= f.check_box :search_auds, {:class=> "check"} %> <br /> <% end %>[/code]

if you use them this way, Rails may complain about missing columns, since the form _for is bound to the events model. You could use simple check_box_tag here:

<%= check_box_tag("Search Streams", "search_streams") %>

or <%= check_box_tag("Search Streams", "event[search_streams]") %>

the second version would (if I got the syntax right) add the param to params[:event] instead creating it's own.

the return value would be in params[:search_streams] and be "0" for false or "1" for checked. (As a string, not number)

So you could do if params[:search_streams] == "1" then ... end

3

Thorsten Mueller wrote:

if you use them this way, Rails may complain about missing columns, since the form _for is bound to the events model. You could use simple check_box_tag here:

<%= check_box_tag("Search Streams", "search_streams") %>

or <%= check_box_tag("Search Streams", "event[search_streams]") %>

the second version would (if I got the syntax right) add the param to params[:event] instead creating it's own.

the return value would be in params[:search_streams] and be "0" for false or "1" for checked. (As a string, not number)

So you could do if params[:search_streams] == "1" then ... end

Should this still work if I want to be able to use the result of the checkboxes from the Search view in my Event model? I have this now:

<% form_tag({:controller => 'search', :action => 'keyword'}, {:method => 'post'}) do -%>   <%= text_field_tag 'text' -%><%= submit_tag 'Search' -%> <br /> <br />

  <%= check_box_tag("Search Streams", "event[search_streams]") %>Search Streams<br />   <%= check_box_tag("Search Audiences", "event[search_auds]") %>Search Audiences<br />

in my search index, and in my Event model I have:

def self.search_streams   return params[:search_streams] == "1"   end

  def self.search_auds      return params[:search_auds] == "1"   end

def self.search(keywords, options = {}, *args) ... if search_streams    for cal in streams ...

if search_auds     for cal in audiences

It's telling me "undefined local variable or method `params' for Event:Class" with this, I probably just did something wrong with what you said.

Thanks so much for your help!

4

Should this still work if I want to be able to use the result of the checkboxes from the Search view in my Event model? I have this now:

no, you can't access the params hash from within the model (You could handle that by passing it to a method, but that's not the way to go)

In case you want to access in in te model just do that: Add an attr_accessor for those fields to your model like

attr_accessor :search_streams attr_accessor :search_aud

Then you can continue with yor original code:

<%= f.check_box :search_streams, {:class=> "check"} %>

That way the fields can be handled like db columns in the model, without having to actually have them in db

(Sorry, should have thought about that option)

5

Thorsten Mueller wrote:

attr_accessor :search_streams attr_accessor :search_aud

Then you can continue with yor original code:

<%= f.check_box :search_streams, {:class=> "check"} %>

That way the fields can be handled like db columns in the model, without having to actually have them in db

(Sorry, should have thought about that option)

okay so i put the attr_accessor statements in the Event model, and i changed my boxes back how I had them, but the methods don't seem to be getting a value because my searches give no results no matter what I check:

methods in the Event model:

  def self.search_streams   return :search_streams == 1   end

  def self.search_auds      return :search_auds == 1   end