Rails Basic Forms Lab

Your local pet adoption store has asked you to build their new website. First and foremost, the store needs a form for their staff to add puppies that are available for adoption. Good thing you love puppies and coding!

Objectives

1. Implement RESTful routing using Rails conventions
2. Implement both POST and GET requests following RESTful patterns
3. Connect a controller action with both a view and a model
4. Practice using Rails form helpers with proper nested naming conventions
5. Display a list of existing puppies on the homepage

Instructions

The focus of this lab is to build a way for a user to go to a homepage, follow a link to a form where they can enter a puppy's information, and, upon submission, view the puppy's information on a show page. The homepage should also display a list of all existing puppies.

1. Run bundle install

2. Run bin/rails server

3. Set up your routes in config/routes.rb:

   • Use RESTful routing conventions with resources :puppies
   • This will create all the standard RESTful routes including:
     • GET /puppies → puppies#index
     • GET /puppies/new → puppies#new
     • POST /puppies → puppies#create
     • GET /puppies/:id → puppies#show

4. Create controller actions in app/controllers/puppies_controller.rb:

   • Add an index action to display the homepage with a list of all puppies
   • Add a new action to display the form
   • Add a create action to process the form submission and redirect to show
   • Add a show action to display the puppy information

5. Build the homepage in app/views/puppies/index.html.erb. This page should welcome you to the Puppy Adoption Site and include a link to the new puppy form. Use Rails link_to helper with the new_puppy_path route helper to create a link with the text "Click Here To List A Puppy". The page should also display a list of all existing puppies with their name, breed, and age, along with links to view each puppy's details. If no puppies exist yet, display a message encouraging users to add the first one.

6. Create the form in app/views/puppies/new.html.erb. You can create this form using Rails form helpers. Use Rails form_with helper with a model parameter to create your form. The form should automatically submit to the correct route and have fields for name, breed, and age. Remember: the "submit" button should be an <input> element with a type of "submit" and text content of "submit".

7. Display the results in app/views/puppies/show.html.erb. This view should display the info for the puppy that was just created. Display the puppy information with labels like:

   • Puppy Name: [name]
   • Puppy Breed: [breed]
   • Puppy Age: [age]

Important Notes

• The database and model are already set up for you
• Use form_with with a model parameter, not a URL parameter
• After creating a puppy, redirect to the show page, don't render a create view
• Follow RESTful conventions throughout
• Form fields should use nested naming (e.g., puppy[name], puppy[breed], puppy[age])
• The index page should display all existing puppies with links to their show pages

Testing

Run bundle exec rspec to test your implementation. Make sure all tests pass!

The tests will check that:

• Your routes are set up correctly using RESTful conventions
• Your form has all the required fields with proper nested naming
• Your form submits to the correct endpoint
• Your show page displays all the submitted data correctly
• Your controller follows proper redirect patterns
• Your index page displays existing puppies with proper information and links

Resources

• Rails Forms Guide
• Rails Routing Guide
• Rails Controller Guide
• Rails RESTful Routing