On Thu, Jan 21, 2010 at 9:33 AM, Andrew Edwards <[email protected]> wrote: > I'm struggling to see the natural solution to this with a nod to > resources and keeping things restful. > > The problem is based around a Customer model with a fairly standard > resource based controller (new, create, edit...) > > The registration is really a two step process: > > 1. First enter a postcode/zip and then search national database of > addresses to offer selection of possible addresses for this postcode/ > zip in a select box. > > 2. User then selects an address and proceeds to what is essentially > the /customers/new action with the address fields already populated, > just requiring customer name and contact details to be filled in. > > I don't really want the new Customer object created until the final > stage of name and contact details entry. > > My solution: > > I was thinking maybe a NewCustomerAddress resource with the 'index' > action presenting the postcode/zip search box which submits to the > 'new' action which looks up the submited postcode and renders > available addresses in a select box. > > The user then selects the suitable address and submits the form, which > requests the Customer 'new' action. Before rendering customer/new it > adds the address detail to the new Customer object to be displayed in > the form (user may then also tweak address if neccessary). > > Am I using resources correctly regarding the NewCustomerAddress? Could > it be bundled in to the Customer resource? > > Thanks, Andrew. >
That's pretty close to what I have done in similar situations. Speaking from a rails point of view, I have found that whenever I need to add more than the 7 basic actions or need to create an object with a multi-step process, that it is time to break the functionality out into more than one controller (i.e. resource). This has really helped to keep my code clean. The only difference I would have to what you did is instead of making the capturing of the zip code the "index" action of the NewCustomerAddress controller, I would make it a "new" and a "action". The "new" action would show the form to capture the zipcode and the "create" action would redirect and pass the value to the customer controller's "new" action. Also, I would probably rename the NewCustomerAddress resource to something like CustomerAddressZip or ZipCodeSearch. Other than that I think you are on the right track. The main point is to not try to shoe-horn in all your actions into one controller. Keep each controller to the basic seven. When you find yourself needing more actions, it is time to create a new controller. Jamey
-- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Ruby on Rails: Talk" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rubyonrails-talk?hl=en.
