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In my project I have a link that when clicked runs a report. The report receives a date_min and date_max from 2 jQuery datepickers. Currently javascript is used to get the values of date_min and date_max which is then used in a URL so in the controller I can access the values in params.

view:

<li><a href="javascript:" onclick="get_report_values()">Report</a></li>

Coffeescript:

@get_report_values = ->
window.open("/reports/test_report?date_min=" + $('#datepicker_min').val() + "&date_max=" +     $('#datepicker_max').val(), "_blank")

Using javascript to set the values for the controller to get seems like an extra step. Is there a Rails best practice that would allow me to skip this step? I do not have the datepickers in a form so I can not use POST. I don't feel the data needs to persist between requests so I don't feel sessions are suitable.

Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks

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well, don't wanna use sessions, then use cookies :P –  Muhammad Talha Akbar Jan 1 at 10:26

1 Answer

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The cleanest solution would probably be to put the datepickers in a form (GET rather than POST), and either use a submit button instead of a link, or make a text link do theForm.submit() in JS.

I don't see that you can avoid JS entirely without using a plain form with a button (or image submit), but you could minimize the JS this way.

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Thank you for your help. I have been looking into why we would use GET rather than POST. Do we use GET because its resourceful route is for index and show, and we don't use POST because its resourceful route is for create and destroy? –  Marklar Jan 1 at 21:54
 
Conventionally (and see the HTTP spec), GET is for retrieval (showing stuff) and should not have side-effects (like creating/updating/destroying records). POST (or other methods/verbs) is used for updates etc. Search engines tend to only index GETs, browsers tend to only prefetch GETs etc. Since GETs have parameters in the URL, they're bookmarkable and sharable – good for URLs that show stuff. As I'm sure you know, you can use GET with a form. Rails RESTful routing follows these conventions, but they predate Rails and REST. –  Henrik N Jan 2 at 17:06
 
Fantastic answers. I really appreciate your efforts. –  Marklar Jan 4 at 10:40
 
Thank you! That's very kind. –  Henrik N Jan 4 at 13:38

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