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-rw-r--r--actionpack/lib/action_view/helpers/form_helper.rb89
1 files changed, 53 insertions, 36 deletions
diff --git a/actionpack/lib/action_view/helpers/form_helper.rb b/actionpack/lib/action_view/helpers/form_helper.rb
index 71838c9d0b..f583414622 100644
--- a/actionpack/lib/action_view/helpers/form_helper.rb
+++ b/actionpack/lib/action_view/helpers/form_helper.rb
@@ -4,47 +4,63 @@ require 'action_view/helpers/tag_helper'
module ActionView
module Helpers
- # Provides a set of methods for working with forms and especially forms related to objects assigned to the template.
- # The following is an example of a complete form for a person object that works for both creates and updates built
- # with all the form helpers. The <tt>@person</tt> object was assigned by an action on the controller:
- # <form action="save_person" method="post">
- # Name:
- # <%= text_field "person", "name", "size" => 20 %>
+ # Form helpers are designed to make working with models much easier than just standard html elements. These helpers
+ # provide a set of methods for creating forms based on your models. Each helper deals with a different type of data.
+ # Instead of creating the html elements manually, you ask the helpers to create the form element. When the form is
+ # submitted i.e. when the user hits the submit button, the form elements will be bundled into the params object and
+ # passed back to the controller.
#
- # Password:
- # <%= password_field "person", "password", "maxsize" => 20 %>
+ # There are two types of form helper, those that specifically work with the attributes on models, and those that don't.
+ # First, an example of a form generated for a login page that doesn't deal with model attributes:
#
- # Single?:
- # <%= check_box "person", "single" %>
+ # <% form_tag :controller => 'sessions', :action => 'new' do -%>
+ # <%= text_field_tag 'login' %>
+ # <%= password_field_tag 'password' %>
+ #
+ # <%= submit_tag 'Log in' %>
+ # <% end -%>
+ #
+ # This would generate the following html:
+ #
+ # <form action="/sessions/new" method="post">
+ # <input id="login" name="login" type="text" />
+ # <input id="password" name="password" type="password" />
+ #
+ # <input name="commit" type="submit" value="Log in" />
+ # </form>
#
- # Description:
- # <%= text_area "person", "description", "cols" => 20 %>
+ # The params object created for this would look like:
#
- # <input type="submit" value="Save">
- # </form>
+ # {"commit"=>"Log in", "action"=>"create", "controller"=>"sessions", "login"=>"some_user", "password"=>"some_pass"}
#
- # ...is compiled to:
+ # Note how the params are not nested when creating a form this way.
#
- # <form action="save_person" method="post">
- # Name:
- # <input type="text" id="person_name" name="person[name]"
- # size="20" value="<%= @person.name %>" />
+ # An example that specifically deals with a person object:
#
- # Password:
- # <input type="password" id="person_password" name="person[password]"
- # size="20" maxsize="20" value="<%= @person.password %>" />
+ # # Note: a @person variable will have been created in the controller and populated with data
+ # # e.g. @person = Person.find(1)
+ # <% form_for :person, @person, :url => { :action => "update" } do |f| %>
+ # <%= f.text_field :first_name %>
+ # <%= f.text_field :last_name %>
+ # <%= submit_tag 'Update' %>
+ # <% end %>
#
- # Single?:
- # <input type="checkbox" id="person_single" name="person[single]" value="1" />
+ # The html generated for this would be:
#
- # Description:
- # <textarea cols="20" rows="40" id="person_description" name="person[description]">
- # <%= @person.description %>
- # </textarea>
+ # <form action="/persons/update" method="post">
+ # <input id="person_first_name" name="person[first_name]" size="30" type="text" />
+ # <input id="person_last_name" name="person[last_name]" size="30" type="text" />
+ # <input name="commit" type="submit" value="Update" />
+ # </form>
#
- # <input type="submit" value="Save">
- # </form>
+ # The params object created when this form is submitted would look like:
#
+ # {"action"=>"create", "controller"=>"sessions", "person"=>{"first_name"=>"William", "last_name"=>"Smith"}}
+ #
+ # The form_for method generates a form based on a method, in our example if the @person object had contained any
+ # values they would have been set in the form (this is how edit forms are created). Notice how the params hash
+ # has a nested 'person' value, which can therefore be accessed with params[:person] in the controller.
+ #
# If the object name contains square brackets the id for the object will be inserted. Example:
#
# <%= text_field "person[]", "name" %>
@@ -62,7 +78,7 @@ module ActionView
#
# <input type="text" id="person_1_name" name="person[1][name]" value="<%= @person.name %>" />
#
- # There's also methods for helping to build form tags in link:classes/ActionView/Helpers/FormOptionsHelper.html,
+ # There are also methods for helping to build form tags in link:classes/ActionView/Helpers/FormOptionsHelper.html,
# link:classes/ActionView/Helpers/DateHelper.html, and link:classes/ActionView/Helpers/ActiveRecordHelper.html
module FormHelper
# Creates a form and a scope around a specific model object, which is then used as a base for questioning about
@@ -75,8 +91,8 @@ module ActionView
# Admin? : <%= f.check_box :admin %>
# <% end %>
#
- # Worth noting is that the form_for tag is called in a ERb evaluation block, not a ERb output block. So that's <tt><% %></tt>,
- # not <tt><%= %></tt>. Also worth noting is that the form_for yields a form_builder object, in this example as f, which emulates
+ # Worth noting is that the form_for tag is called in a ERb evaluation block, not an ERb output block. So that's <tt><% %></tt>,
+ # not <tt><%= %></tt>. Also worth noting is that form_for yields a form_builder object, in this example as f, which emulates
# the API for the stand-alone FormHelper methods, but without the object name. So instead of <tt>text_field :person, :name</tt>,
# you get away with <tt>f.text_field :name</tt>.
#
@@ -153,10 +169,11 @@ module ActionView
# Returns an input tag of the "text" type tailored for accessing a specified attribute (identified by +method+) on an object
# assigned to the template (identified by +object+). Additional options on the input tag can be passed as a
- # hash with +options+.
+ # hash with +options+. These options will be tagged onto the html as an html element attribute as in the example
+ # shown.
#
# Examples (call, result):
- # text_field("post", "title", "size" => 20)
+ # text_field(:post, :title, :size => 20)
# <input type="text" id="post_title" name="post[title]" size="20" value="#{@post.title}" />
def text_field(object_name, method, options = {})
InstanceTag.new(object_name, method, self, nil, options.delete(:object)).to_input_field_tag("text", options)
@@ -202,7 +219,7 @@ module ActionView
# <input type="checkbox" id="post_validate" name="post[validated]" value="1" checked="checked" />
# <input name="post[validated]" type="hidden" value="0" />
#
- # Example (call, result). Imagine that @puppy.gooddog returns no:
+ # Example (call, result). Imagine that @puppy.gooddog returns "no":
# check_box("puppy", "gooddog", {}, "yes", "no")
# <input type="checkbox" id="puppy_gooddog" name="puppy[gooddog]" value="yes" />
# <input name="puppy[gooddog]" type="hidden" value="no" />