Rails 3: Why "link_to" gives wrong output?

Question

In my view file I type the following:

<table>
  <tr>
    <td><%= link_to(tag(:div, {:class => "my_class"}), "my_address") %></td>
  </tr>
</table>

The result is: (observed in Firebug)

<table>
  <tbody>
    <tr>
      <td>
        <a href="my_address"></a>
        <div class="my_class"></div>
      </td>
    </tr>
  </tbody>
</table>

Why the div is not inside a ?

score 2 · Answer 1 · edited May 23 '17 at 11:48

According to Is putting a div inside a anchor ever correct?, you can only place inline elements inside of an anchor. <div> is a block element, so your code will not work. You'll need to use something like <span> to wrap whatever data you intend to put in the anchor.

The first post does go on to say that HTML5 allows <a> to contain blocks though, so if you are defining HTML5 as your doctype then we need to dig deeper.

score 2 · Accepted Answer · answered Mar 22 '11 at 12:50

You should use content_tag, not tag.

<table>
  <tr>
    <td><%= link_to(content_tag(:div, { :class => "my_class" }), "my_address") %></td>
  </tr>
</table>

Honestly, in this case I prefer to use a block.

<table>
  <tr>
    <td>
    <%= link_to "my_address" do %>
      <div class="my_class"></div>
    <% end %>
    </td>
  </tr>
</table>

Rails doesn't perform any kind of HTML validation thus I didn't take into consideration the implication about valid/invalid HTML resulting from your code.

score 0 · Answer 3 · answered Mar 22 '11 at 12:29

0

You can't have div inside a <a> tag. Use <span> or <p> instead

answered Mar 22 '11 at 12:29

Pravin

6,592
4
42
51

1

`
` is a block level element as well, which won't work for the same reasons `
` won't.
– McStretch Mar 22 '11 at 12:34
`<%= link_to(content_tag(:div, "New Page"), new_page_path) %>` I tried this and `div` was in side ``. Using rails 3.0.5 – Pravin Mar 22 '11 at 12:42

score 0 · Answer 4 · answered Mar 22 '11 at 12:31

0

You cannot put block elements inside inline elements. If you are trying to link the div, you should use this:

 tag(:div, {:class => "my_class", :onclick => "my_address"})

Otherwise, use span instead of div

answered Mar 22 '11 at 12:31

Fareesh Vijayarangam

5,037
4
23
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Rails 3: Why "link_to" gives wrong output?

4 Answers4