Rails 4, Simple Form - language selection

Question

I'm trying to make an app with Rails 4. I use simple form.

I have a form asking users to pick their working language.

 <%= f.input :working_languages, as: :select, collection: AVAILABLE_LANGUAGES.sort.map {|k,v| [v,k]}, label: "Select your working language" %>

I also have an available_languages.rb in my config/initializer folder

AVAILABLE_LANGUAGES = {
    en: "English", 
    de: "Deutsche", 
    fr: "Français", 
    es: "Español"
}

When I try that, I get this error. Does anyone know what it means?

NameError in Profiles#edit
profiles/_form.html.erb where line #39 raised:

uninitialized constant ActionView::CompiledTemplates::AVAILABLE_LANGUAGES

can you please paste complete code for your available_languages.rb — Vrushali Pawar, Jan 15 '16 at 10:44

score 3 · Accepted Answer · answered Jan 15 '16 at 10:49

3

config/initializers/language_array.rb

module LanguageArray
  AVAILABLE_LANGUAGES = {
    en: "English", 
    de: "Deutsche", 
    fr: "Français", 
    es: "Español"
}
end

and access in your form as below:

<%= f.input :working_languages, as: :select, collection: LanguageArray::AVAILABLE_LANGUAGES.sort.map {|k,v| [v,k]}, label: "Select your working language" %>

answered Jan 15 '16 at 10:49

Vrushali Pawar

3,753
1
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uninitialized constant ActionView::CompiledTemplates::LanguageArray – Mel Jan 15 '16 at 10:51
Have you restarted the server? – Vrushali Pawar Jan 15 '16 at 10:54
renaming the initialiser fixed it, except <%= @profile.working_languages.titlecase %> outputs the 'en' instead of the 'english' – Mel Jan 15 '16 at 10:57
`<%= LanguageArray::AVAILABLE_LANGUAGES[@profile.working_languages].to_sym %>` try this – Vrushali Pawar Jan 15 '16 at 11:01
try this `<%= LanguageArray::AVAILABLE_LANGUAGES[@profile.working_languages.to_sym] %>` – Amit Sharma Jan 15 '16 at 11:02

score 0 · Answer 2 · edited May 23 '17 at 10:27

0

A better way will be to put that in a helper & use this for your constant (which is available in your views):

#config/initializers/global_constants.rb
module GlobalConstants
    # also notice the call to 'freeze'
    LANGUAGES = {
       en: "English", 
       de: "Deutsche", 
       fr: "Français", 
       es: "Español"
    }.freeze
end

#app/helpers/application_helper.rb
module ApplicationHelper
   def available_languages
       GlobalConstants::LANGUAGES
   end
end

You'd then be able to use:

<%= f.collection_select :working_languages, available_languages, :first, :last, label: "Select your working language" %>

edited May 23 '17 at 10:27

Community

1
1

answered Jan 15 '16 at 13:08

Richard Peck

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Hi Rich, I'm afraid I'm out of guesses as to why this is better. I think you might be much further advanced in your skills than I'm able to keep pace with. Having read this: https://rubymonk.com/learning/books/4-ruby-primer-ascent/chapters/39-ruby-s-object-model/lessons/132-cloning-and-freezing-objects, I'm not sure why I'd want to freeze the user's language option. I'm afraid, I can't think what the advantage of this approach might be. Thanks anyway - I'll go with what I've got. – Mel Jan 15 '16 at 22:47
You're freezing the constant. I only took that idea from the referenced answer; I thought it was nice. A constant can't be changed, variables can. Thus if you're going to declare a constant, you can't change it anyway. – Richard Peck Jan 16 '16 at 08:54
Really not sure what that means. I think you're too advanced for me to try to understand this. I don't mind if users change their selected languages, if that's what you're referring to. Thanks anyway. – Mel Jan 16 '16 at 08:57
[Constants and variables](https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/wew5ytx4(v=vs.90).aspx) are base components of programming. You declared `AVAILABLE_LANGUAGES` as a constant. Constants don't change, variables can. With your select form, you're changing the variable `working_languages` by picking from the constant – Richard Peck Jan 16 '16 at 08:59

Rails 4, Simple Form - language selection

2 Answers2