Creation of a Select in a View

Question

I have the following code in a VIEW:

<select name="selected_budget_mode" class="" onchange="OnBudgetModeChanged(this)">
<option value="0"
        <% if params[:current_budget_mode].to_i == 0 %>selected
        <% end %>><%= show_budget_mode(0) %></option>
<option value="1"
        <% if params[:current_budget_mode].to_i == 1 %>selected
        <% end %>><%= show_budget_mode(1) %></option>
<option value="2"
        <% if params[:current_budget_mode].to_i == 2 %>selected
        <% end %>><%= show_budget_mode(2) %></option>
</select>

I am aware of the select_tag and the options_for_select form helpers, but that implies that I need to create a list with the options and then pass it to the options_for_select.

The budgets_mode are not dynamic. They don't come from calling a service or other function, there are only 3 modes.

What would be the best approach to simplify this code and make it as readable as possible?

Answer 1

You could still use options_for_select without much hassle:

<%= options_for_select (0..2).map { |i| [show_budget_mode(i), i] }, params[:current_budget_mode].to_i %>

Of course, I'd recommend creating the array in the controller or a helper, rather than the view. The view should ideally do as little logic as possible.

Alternatively, you could use content_tag just the keep the code cleaner:

<% (0..2).each do |i| %>
  <%= content_tag :option, show_budget_mode(i), selected: params[:current_budget_mode].to_i == i %>
<% end %>

Again, I'd recommend moving stuff to the controller. Even a current_budget_mode helper method would help clean things up:

class SomeController < ActionController
  helper_method :current_budget_mode, :budget_modes

  def current_budget_mode
    params[:current_budget_mode].to_i
  end

  def budget_modes
    (0..2).to_a
  end
end

which would clean up the view:

<% budget_modes.each do |i| %>
  <%= content_tag :option, show_budget_mode(i), selected: current_budget_mode == i %>
<% end %>

or

<%= options_for_select budget_modes.map { |i| [show_budget_mode(i), i] }, current_budget_mode %>