Multiple Contact Forms - Rails 3 - ruby

Question

I am relative newbie to all this, so sorry if this sounds mad!
I have used this tutorial: http://www.railsmine.net/2010/03/rails-3-action-mailer-example.html
And I have a new contact form working great.
The controller is at app/controllers/support_controller.rb
class SupportsController < ApplicationController
def new
# id is required to deal with form
#support = Support.new(:id => 1)
end
def create
#support = Support.new(params[:support])
if #support.save
redirect_to('/', :notice => "Support was successfully sent.")
else
flash[:alert] = "You must fill all fields."
render 'new'
end
end
end
And the model at /app/models/support.rb
class Support
include ActiveModel::Validations
validates_presence_of :email, :sender_name, :support_type, :content
# to deal with form, you must have an id attribute
attr_accessor :id, :email, :sender_name, :support_type, :content
def initialize(attributes = {})
attributes.each do |key, value|
self.send("#{key}=", value)
end
#attributes = attributes
end
def read_attribute_for_validation(key)
#attributes[key]
end
def to_key
end
def save
if self.valid?
Notifier.support_notification(self).deliver!
return true
end
return false
end
end
The views however only work in views/supports/new.html.rb (rendered - views/supports/_form.html.erb)
So I can call the Model / Controller from localhost:3000/support/new but if I try and render the same form in another view from the root directory e.g. app/view/contact.html.erb I get:
undefined method `model_name' for NilClass:Class
I think this is because it is calling the support model away from the supports directory.
Do I have to create an instance on #support so it can be called? If so what is the best way of doing that? I think I am nearly there. I just want the contact form on multiple pages not just in suppport/new
Thanks
Charlie

Answer 1

Yes, you would need to create a #support variable in each action you wish to render your form.
Another option would be to refactor the form to take a parameter, that way you're a bit more flexible. For example, from your view:
<%= render :partial => "supports/form", :locals => {:support => #support} %>
Now, instead of referring to #support in your _form.html.erb, you'd refer to simply support as it's a local_assign.
Yet another option would be to refactor the form a little further, and worry about creating the actual form tag outside of the partial.
Such as:
app/views/supports/new.html.erb
<%= form_for #support do |form| %>
<%= render :partial => "suppports/form", :object => form %>
<% end %>
app/views/supports/_form.html.erb
<%= form.text_field :foo %>
<%= form.text_field :bar %>
...
In this case, when you render a partial with the object option, you will get a local variable in your partial with the same name as the partial. You maintain a little bit more flexibility in the path of your form, but can still render the meat of what a Support object is inside of the form while remaining consistent across your app.
To clarify, you could use this somewhere else by doing something like:
app/views/foos/_create_foo_support.html.erb
<%= form_for #foo.support do |form| %>
<%= render :partial => "supports/form", :object => form %>
<% end %>

Answer 2

You have to pass #support object wherever you use your contact form. It's working in SupportsController#new because you initialize the variable there. In all other places where you want to use the form, you'll have to do the same.