How to implement redirect response with an AJAX request in Rails 3?

Question

I have a simple scenario where I want to request a page. The request format is AJAX. If there is some error in the controller/action logic for that request, I want to redirect to an error page. The issue is that a redirect is not a JavaScript response type, so I am not sure whether it will work.

If there are no errors, then I want the page to be updated via the appropriate JavaScript response type.

What is best practice to achieve redirect responses given that the request format is AJAX?

can you specific the ajax library that you use? jquery or prototype-js etc — Jirapong, Jan 10 '12 at 04:20
this will help you http://stackoverflow.com/questions/199099/how-to-manage-a-redirect-request-after-a-jquery-ajax-call — dbKooper, Jan 10 '12 at 06:44
I suspect that, based on Stack Overflow's current on-topic rules, this is rather broad, and it may be put on hold. — halfer, Aug 08 '18 at 13:12

score 3 · Accepted Answer · answered Jan 10 '12 at 04:05

This blog post enlightened me on what I think is the right way to do this, if your ajax response is ajax; at least, in the unobtrusive javascript paradigm. In essense, the ajax call always returns a standard json package, which can be parsed for information payload or a redirect url.

score 3 · Answer 2 · answered Jan 10 '12 at 04:23

3

You can also put this in your ApplicationController to redirect properly for AJAX requests:

class ApplicationController < ActionController::Base

  # Allows redirecting for AJAX calls as well as normal calls
  def redirect_to(options = {}, response_status = {})
    if request.xhr?
      render(:update) {|page| page.redirect_to(options)}
    else
      super(options, response_status)
    end
  end

end

answered Jan 10 '12 at 04:23

iwasrobbed

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@iWasRobbed- I like this answer, but the OP specifies Rails 3, and so `render(:update)` won't work unless I'm mistaken – Yarin Aug 25 '13 at 23:05
@Yarin Works just fine for Rails 3. It's when you get into Rails 3.1+ that you need to replace `render(:update)` – iwasrobbed Aug 26 '13 at 13:50

score 1 · Answer 3 · answered Jan 10 '12 at 04:25

If you use jQuery, you can use .ajaxError()

$(document).ajaxError(function(event, request, settings){
  location.href = '/error.html';
});

or assume you do a ajax post

var jqxhr = $.post("example.php", function() {
  // Do what it completed will do
})
.error(function() { 
  location.href = '/error.html';
})

How to implement redirect response with an AJAX request in Rails 3?

3 Answers3

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