Rails link_to method parameter passing not mapping to controller method

Question

I'm new to rails and I'm trying to link to a specific method within a controller. My controller is called OrganismsController and the method is upload_reference_file. Through looking at other similar questions I now have a link_to working as

<%= link_to "Upload Reference Sequence", :controller => :organisms, :action => :upload_reference_file %>

However, I need to pass in the current organism to the method upload_reference_file. I've tried doing

<%= link_to "Upload Reference Sequence", :controller => :organisms, :action => :upload_reference_file(organism) %>

but rails complains that the above code is not correct syntax. Inside of my routes file I have the method matched to the controller action as

match '/organisms/upload_reference_file' => 'organisms#upload_reference_file'

Any help is very much appreciated. Thanks!

Defining "doesn't work" is almost always a good idea. Is the route defined as a restful action on a member? — Dave Newton
– Dave Newton, Commented Oct 26, 2011 at 15:38
I edited the question a bit for clarification. I tried doing something along the lines of <%= link_to "Upload Reference Sequence", upload_reference_file_organism_path(organism) %>, but it to did not work. — Phillip Whisenhunt
– Phillip Whisenhunt, Commented Oct 26, 2011 at 15:43

Dave Newton · Accepted Answer · 2011-10-26 15:53:55Z

2

You should define a RESTful action as described in the "Adding More RESTful Actions" section of the Rails Routing docs. This will create a helper method accepting a path and allow more natural usage.

For example, if you have no additional member actions:

resources :organisms do
  get 'upload_reference_file', :on => :member
end

You'll then have a upload_reference_file_organism_path, turning your link_to into:

<%= link_to "Upload Reference Sequence", upload_reference_file_organism_path(organism) %>

(In case this needs tweaking, you can get the created path name by running rake routes; my memory isn't so good.)

edited Oct 26, 2011 at 15:53

answered Oct 26, 2011 at 15:48

Dave Newton

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2 Comments

Phillip Whisenhunt Over a year ago

I just got match '/organisms(/upload_reference_file(/:id))' => 'organisms#upload_reference_file' to work by hard coding in the id being passed in the url, but, I like this approach a lot better. It seems to follow the rails construct more. Thanks!

Dave Newton Over a year ago

@PhillipWhisenhunt Yep, this way is definitely cleaner and more Rails-y :)

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