Question

I have this in my view code:

<h2>What Others Are Saying...</h2>

<% @comments.each do |comment| %>
<ul>
    <li><%= comment.email %></li>
    <li><%= comment.body %></li>
</ul>
<% end %>

<hr>
<%= render "comments/comment_form" %>

controller code:

  before_filter :authenticate_user!, except: [:index, :show]

  def index
    @posts = Post.all
  end

  def show
    @post = Post.find(params[:id])
    @comment = @post.comments.build
    @comments = @post.comments
  end

When there are no comments, I still see the ul > li in my DOM, is there a way to not render this until soemone has actually posted a message?

Answer 1

Your @comments variable is not empty. When database return zero comments, you still have a new comment instance in @comments array. That is the reason your HTML code is being rendered while you see no comments. You can use the following code

<% @comments.each do |comment| %>
  <% if comment.id? %>
    <ul>
      <li><%= comment.email %></li>
      <li><%= comment.body %></li>
    </ul>
  <% end %>
<% end %>

UPDATE

@comment = @post.comments.build
# When you do @post.comments after building in the above line,
# your @comments will have the built comment as well.
@comments = @post.comments