what is the right 'rails' way to add a link_to a new custom method

Question

We're adding a new method 'delete_stuff' to the WidgetsController of a scaffolded app.

in routes we added match 'widget/delete_stuff/:id' => 'widgets#delete_stuff'

I CAN manually create html (GET) links like

<a href="/widget/delete_stuff/<% widget.id %>">My Custom Delete Stuff</a>

But that's bad on so many levels (uses GET instead of DELETE, doesn't permit a CONFIRM dialog, isnt DRY, etc)

Problem is I can't figure out how to use the url helpers for a custom method... trying to do something like this:

<% link_to 'DeleteStuff', @widget, :confirm => 'Are you sure?', :method => :delete %>

But that just gets ignored when the html is rendered.

I'm clearly missing something fundamental on how to use link_to, any help will be appreciated!

Cheers, JP

Answer 1

First run rake routes to know what URL helpers are available to you. You may see a line beginning with:

delete_stuff_widget

You can then append path or url to get the name you should use in your views and controllers. I suspect your new link_to will look like:

link_to  "DeleteStuff", delete_stuff_widget_path(@widget), :confirm => "Sure?", :method => :delete

Answer 2

Looks like you're missing an equals sign at the beginning. It should read:

<%= link_to 'DeleteStuff', @widget, :confirm => 'Are you sure?', :method => :delete %>

Answer 3

to solve your routing and make your additional action a delete method try this;

in routes.rb

resources :widgets do
  member do
    delete 'delete_stuff'
  end
end