CODEWITHSUNDEEP
ruby-on-rails
tobogranyte
tobogranyte

Reputation: 939

How to make a data structure available across an entire rails application

Right now, I have the following application_helper.rb method:

module ApplicationHelper

  def grades_k_5
    [
      ['',],
      ['Preschool', -1],
      ['Kindergarten', 0],
      ['First grade', 1],
      ['Second grade', 2],
      ['Third grade', 3],
      ['Fourth grade', 4],
      ['Fifth grade', 5],
    ]
  end

Up until now, I've only used it in views (to populate a dropdown selector), but now I'd also like to use it in one of my models. How can I take that array and put it somewhere so that I can reference it from this helper method, and also another method that I'd include in my model? Ultimately, what I'm looking for is one place (DRY) to change this if I ever need to modify the structure rather than having to go to multiple methods.

Upvotes: 0

Views: 108

Answers (1)

Sergio Tulentsev
Sergio Tulentsev

Reputation: 230356

Many options exist for static data like this. The simplest way is a class method.

class StaticData
  def self.grades_k_5
    [
      ['',],
      ['Preschool', -1],
      ['Kindergarten', 0],
      ['First grade', 1],
      ['Second grade', 2],
      ['Third grade', 3],
      ['Fourth grade', 4],
      ['Fifth grade', 5],
    ]
  end
end

# then 
StaticData.grades_k_5

You can also put it into a YAML file and have a piece of logic that parses that file and gives you the data. But it's a bit more complicated and probably not needed in your case.

Upvotes: 2

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