instance variable vs. symbol in ruby on rails (form_for)
ruby-on-rails
Solution
if you use symbol :post it creates
<form action="/posts" method="post">
if you use the instance @post
for @post = Post.new you will get
<form action="/posts/create" class="new_account" id="new_account" method="post">
for @post = Post.find(1) you will get
<form action="/posts/update" class="edit_account" id="edit_account_1" method="post">
<input name="_method" type="hidden" value="put">
if you have different forms for your new and your edit no big deal but more likey than not your new and your edit forms are going to be identical or close to it
so if you use the instance variable @post you can put all the form code into _form and just call the partial and it will handle the rest based on if you pass in a new record or an existing record
Problem
i'm new to ruby on rails and am working with version 2.3 on mac osx. i am trying to create the same functionality a scaffold creates, but on my own. i created a "post" controller, view, and model. in post controller, i have the following: ``` class PostController < ApplicationController def index end def new @post = Post.new end end ``` in new.html.erb, i have the following: ``` <h1>New Post</h1> <% form_for :post do |f| %> <%= f.text_field :title %> <% end %> ``` i noticed that in the scaffold generated code, the use the instance variable @post for the form_for helper. why do they use the instance variable in the scaffold generated form if passing the symbol :post in form_for does the exact same thing, while a symbol requires changing the config of the routes? thank you very much, yuval