handy select functions

Courtenay : April 9th, 2006

Sick of making select boxes from models in rails? Vomit no further! Throw this into a lib someplace. 

module ActiveRecord
  class Base  
    def self.to_select(conditions = nil)
      find(:all).collect { |x| [x.name,x.id] }
    end
  end
end

class Array
  def to_select
    self.collect { |x| [x.name,x.id] }
  end
end
Now you can do something like 

<%= form_for 'monkey', @monkey do |f| %>

  <%= f.select 'user_id', User.to_select %>

<% end %>
Bliss!
Posted by Courtenay Filed in rails, ruby

3 Responses to “handy select functions”

  1. Tim Lucas Says:
    April 9th, 2006 at 11:30 PM and a sprinkling of DRY: 
    
module ActiveRecord
  class Base  
    def self.to_select(conditions=nil)
      find(:all, :conditions => conditions).to_select
    end
  end
end
  2. codeninja at gmail.com Says:
    April 10th, 2006 at 01:43 AM Dry and good for fields other than name. 
    
module ActiveRecord
  class Base  
    def self.to_select(index={}, conditions=nil)
      find(:all, :conditions => conditions).to_select(index)
    end
  end
end

class Array
  def to_select(index)
    self.collect { |x| [x.const_get(index),x.id] }
  end
end
  3. DeLynn Berry Says:
    April 12th, 2006 at 06:19 AM Great suggestion, courtney! I had been creating class methods in my models to do exactly this, but your solution is **much** easier. After using it though, I felt it could be even easier to put everything into a plugin. Feel free to read about my attempt over at my weblog. I'm interested in your feedback.
  4. Jesper Rønn-Jensen (justaddwater.dk) Says:
    April 16th, 2006 at 12:08 AM Forgive me my stupidity, but which file do I put it in? Where does it fit in? And if I want to put it in a separate file, where would it be the natural place to put that file? And how do I reference that file? Please point me to that information, if you can help. Thanks!

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