Question

I have a SpecificController as below,

class SpecificController < ApplicationController    

  def specific_search # ===== Main =======

    self.set_instance_variables

    self.set_product_id_sub_category_id

    unique_ids = self.get_unique_ids(@product_id,@sub_category_id,["out of stock","permanently discontinued"])

    self.set_grid("online",unique_ids)

    self.set_grid("local",unique_ids)

  end

  def include_exclude # ===== Main =======

     @type = params[:type].to_s

     self.set_product_id_sub_category_id

     self.set_sub_category_name(@sub_category_id)

     unique_ids = self.get_unique_ids(@product_id,@sub_category_id,["permanently discontinued"])

     self.set_grid(@type,unique_ids)

  end

  def set_instance_variables #===== Sub ====

     @cities = Cities.find(:all)
     @areas = []
     @feature_array = Array.new
     @online_grids = Array.new
     @local_grids = Array.new

  end

  def set_product_id_sub_category_id #===== Sub ====

    if params[:specific_product_id].present? && params[:sub_category_id].present?

        @product_id = params[:specific_product_id].to_i
        @sub_category_id = params[:sub_category_id].to_i

    end

  end

  def get_unique_ids(product_id,sub_category_id,exclude_availabilities_array) #===== Sub ====
  - 
  -
  -
  unique_ids

  end

  def set_grid(grid_type,unique_ids) #===== Sub ====

    if grid_type == "online"

       @online_grids = OnlineGridDetails.get_grid(unique_ids)

    elsif grid_type == "local"

       @local_grids = LocalGridDetails.get_grid(unique_ids)

    end

  end

end

In the above class, the methods that are marked as “Main” are the ones that Im using.
Other methods marked as “Sub” are all called by the main methods using “self.”.
Is this a good practice?
If not, where do those “Sub” methods belong?

Answer 1

If it helps you navigate and read your code, then whatevs, man.

I personally put all auxilliary methods to private section of the class at the bottom of file.