RowsController

DRYs Rails controllers. Imagine replacing that @order by 'resource' in the controllers/views and, imho, an area for DRYing appears. Instead of:

class OrdersController < ApplicationController
 .....
 private
  def order_params
   params.require(:order).permit(:name)
  end
end

use:

class OrdersController < RowsController  # < ApplicationController
 private
  def resource_whitelist
   %i{ name }
  end
end

I.e. RowsController defines all the usual methods (index, show, edit,...).

The methods may be redefined in OrdersController (overwrites methods from RowsController).

Low level methods like 'resources' may be redefined as well. An example:

def resources
  @_resources ||= model_class.paginate(page: params[:page])
end

RowsController inherites from ApplicationController, i.e. all the helpers defined there will be available.

Customizing of views

RowsController initializes some instance variables used in the views (e.g. @order, @orders; legacy @row & @rows are still supported). Furthermore, the helpers resource, resources, set_resource and set_resources are available. You guess their usage.

Providing e.g. an "#Rails.root/app/views/order/index.html.erb" overwrites the default RowsController view as Rails will first look into the directory "#Rails.root/app/views" before looking into the RowsController.

Similarly, partials '_row_buttons' and '_list_footer' may be overwritten as well.

model_class

RowsController guesses the model from params[:controller]. This can be changed by:

class OrdersController < RowsController
  model_class Booking
  ...

The model class can be retrieved with the helper model_class.

Rails 7

RowsController 3.1.* is intended for Rails 7. In particular Hotwire caused some quirks which are handled by this version. Compatibility with older Rails versions are not intended and has not been checked.

Older Rails versions may use "gem 'rows_controller', '= 3.0.5'".

Rails 6

This gem is intended for Rails 6. Older Rails versions may use "gem 'rows_controller', '= 2.2.2'".

Rails 5

This gem is intended for Rails 5. Older Rails versions may use "gem 'rows_controller', '= 2.0.8'".

Rails 4

This gem is intended for Rails 4. Older Rails versions may use "gem 'rows_controller', '= 1.1.9'".

Rails 4 introduced strong parameters. To support them a private method 'resource_whitelist' is required in the controllers. Alternatively you may define the private method 'resource_params' in the controller to filter params.

Enhancements

columns

Add a class method 'column_headers' to the model returning the columns to be displayed by '#index'. Default is to display the columns returned by 'content_columns', a class method which returns the columns defined by the ActiveRecord model.

Installation and Testing

As usual:

gem 'rows_controller' # in Gemfile
bundle
( cd spec/dummy; rake db:create db:migrate ) # not required for Rails 6
rake

Credits

Inspiration from the web. Look for:

Radiant
inherited_resources
decent_exposure