How to make :render = nothing work

Question

I have an jquery AJAX call that loads a window. In the window, there is a form with a submit to allow the users to download an item. I have to make this second form use a regular submit so that I can prompt a download. My problem is when there is no file to download, it redirects to the page in which this file is located. I am trying many different styles of getting it to render nothing, but none of them seem to work. ``` unless params[:controller] == "reports" unless @jobs.present? flash.now[:error] = "No work orders for this selection." render :nothing => true end end ``` Also ``` respond_to do |format| format.html { render :nothing => true } end ``` Nothing seems to work. Any ideas?

Accepted Answer

Don't use `render: nothing.` This will "fail" ajax request. Instead, use:

```
render json: nil, status: :ok
```

How to make :render => nothing work

Solution

Problem