Question

This is the etherPad workflow:

load http://ietherpad.com
click 'new pad' which takes you here: http://ietherpad.com/ep/pad/newpad

That then redirects to something like this:

http://ietherpad.com/1vcs1YUf1Z

How can I do this in rails?

1. Have my rails controller new method generate a UID, and then redirect
2. Have my rails routes somehow use that uID after the first / to find the right record and route to the right Pad Show method in the controller?

Thanks

Answer 1

The absolute easiest way is to do this:

In the model, have a callback

class Thing < AR::Base
   # assuming you have a slug field
   before_create :generate_slug

   private 
   def generate_slug
     self.slug = some_uid_algorithm
   end       

end

Then in the controller, use the edit action. Use the dynamic finder find_by_slug and take in the id parameter. This returns the record if found, and returns nil if not found. If it’s not found, call create to get a new one, which invokes your slug callback.

def edit
  @thing = Thing.find_by_slug(params[:id]) || Thing.create!
end

Direct your routes for this to the edit action of your controller. You may want a more robust way of determining what a valid slug is before you start creating records, but this is essentially how a “wiki” might work.

This might end up creating a bunch of junk records, so you’ll want a way to sweep those. Some sort of state like “pending” or “unsaved” would take care of that – when the user updates the record, change the state from “unsaved” to “saved” and then sweep any “unsaved” docs that are 30 days old or something.

How does that sound?