RESTful in-place edit in Rails and jRails/jQuery

I’ve been using jRails in my recent Rails projects, the original Rails in-place editing plugin uses script.aculo.us, there is a jRails version of it, but neither of them is RESTful – they both create extra actions to update the in-place edit fields.

I found janv’s rest_in_place plugin and it uses the default update action to update the field, so no routes modifications are necessary. I had some problems with the plugin at first but after a pull-request correspondence the plugin now works well. Here are the highlights on how to use it, keep in mind that I use HAML.

The plugin’s init.rb doesn’t load anything for you, so you have to go into your application layout and include the js file:

    = javascript_include_tag 'jquery.rest_in_place.js'

If you have CSRF protection on, this plugin also requires you to set a javascript var. If you have jRails it automatically append the token in ajax requests, but then you would have to modify the plugin a bit to get it to work.

:javascript
  rails_authenticity_token = '#{form_authenticity_token}'

In your controller’s show action, handle the javascript response:

  def show
    respond_to do |format|
      format.html # show.html.erb
      format.js   { render :json => @model }
    end
  end

then you can render the helper in the views:

- div_for @model do
  %p
    = label_tag "Name"
    %br
    %span.rest_in_place{ :attribute =>'name' }
      =h @model.name
  %p
    = label_tag "Location"
    %br
    %span.rest_in_place{ :attribute => 'location' }
      =h @model.location

3 thoughts on “RESTful in-place edit in Rails and jRails/jQuery

  1. Tiff

    Hi Andrew,

    Question…did you terminate your Verizon contract before you got your iphone? Did you have to pay the early termination fee?

    Thanks,
    Tiff

    Reply
  2. monde

    Awesome in place editing tips for jQuery + HAML, you saved me a ton of time.

    the raw HAML for the setting the authenticity token up is this

    %script{:type => "text/javascript"}
    = "rails_authenticity_token = '#{form_authenticity_token}';"

    corresponding to
    <script type="text/javascript">
    rails_authenticity_token = '<%= form_authenticity_token %>'
    </script>

    Reply

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