This project demonstrates how to break up a model-backed form into multiple steps without any gems in Rails. This kind of thing can get pretty complex, but this implementation is fairly straightforward, flexible, and reusable. This is a Rails 4 project, but this method works just as well in Rails 3.
This railscast is a solid approach that I used as a starting point. But there are a few problems with it that my project attempts to solve:
- Browser back/forward buttons shouldn't break it
- Clicking "back" through the steps shouldn't validate the current step (maybe a personal preference?)
- Support for edit/update existing record
- Keep the code out of the controller
- Abstract the approach to handle any object
git clone git://github.com/nerdcave/rails-multistep-form.git
cd rails-multistep-form
bundle install
rake db:migrate
rake db:test:prepare
rails s
- To validate an attribute, all that's needed is a conditional with the step to enforce validation:
validates :name, presence: true, if: :step1?
validates :quantity, numericality: true, if: :step2?- If you create/update an object without the multistep form (i.e. in the rails console), the step logic will be ignored and all fields will validate as expected
- This can probably be wrapped up in a gem, but you can just copy these files into your project: app/models/concerns/multi_step_model.rb and app/services/model_wizard.rb
- Then just follow the conventions used in this project
- Multistep or single step create/update
- Not much code and well abstracted
- Validate attributes per step very easily
- Some RSpec tests included
- Shouldn't break if you use the browser back/forward buttons
- Easy to integrate into your own project
- Rails 4 project, but works just as well in Rails 3
Have questions or needs some help? Feel free to email me: jay@nerdcave.com or twitter me: @nerdcave.