Question

This code doesnt feel right. I’m trying to make my controllers skinny and I feel like there is way too much logic in the controller action.

What would be a much better way of organising this code?

def search
    where_obj = {:status => 1}

    if params[:city].present?
        where_obj.merge! :city => params[:city]
    end

    if params[:county].present?
        where_obj.merge! :county => params[:county]
    end

    ## THERE WILL BE MANY MORE IF STATEMENTS HERE DUE TO GROWING SEARCH FORM

    @person = Person.where(where_obj)
end

As the search form grows this controller action will grow also. How can I keep my controller skinny?

Answer 1

How about:

def search
  query = { :status => 1 }.merge(params.select { |k,_| [:city, :country].include?(k) })
  @person = Person.where(query)
end

Or a somewhat simpler version using the slice method provided by ActiveSupport (in Rails):

def search
  query = { :status => 1 }.merge(params.slice(:city, :country))
  @person = Person.where(query)
end

If you’re going to have a bunch of different params to selectively include, then you could group them like this:

def search
  search_params = [:city, :country, :continent, ...]
  query = { :status => 1 }.merge(params.slice(*search_params))
  @person = Person.where(query)
end

(Thanks @ajcodez for pointing out the need for a splat on search_params when passed to slice.)