JsRoutes

Generates javascript file that defines all Rails named routes as javascript helpers

Intallation

Your Rails Gemfile:

gem "js-routes"

Basic Setup

Require js routes file in application.js or other bundle

/*
= require js-routes
*/

Also in order to flush asset pipeline cache sometimes you might need to run:

rake tmp:cache:clear

This cache is not flushed on server restart in development environment.

Important: If routes.js file is not updated after some configuration change you need to run this rake task again.

Advanced Setup

If you need to customize routes file create initializer, like config/initializers/jsroutes.rb:

JsRoutes.setup do |config|
  config.option = value
end

Available options:

• default_url_options - default parameters used when generating URLs
  • Note that only specific options are supported at this time.
  • Example: {:format => "json", :trailing_slash => true, :protocol => "https", :host => "example.com", :port => 3000}
  • Default: {}
• exclude - Array of regexps to exclude from js routes.
  • Default: []
  • The regexp applies only to the name before the _path suffix, eg: you want to match exactly settings_path, the regexp should be /^settings$/
• include - Array of regexps to include in js routes.
  • Default: []
  • The regexp applies only to the name before the _path suffix, eg: you want to match exactly settings_path, the regexp should be /^settings$/
• namespace - global object used to access routes.
  • Supports nested namespace like MyProject.routes
  • Default: Routes
• prefix - String representing a url path to prepend to all paths.
  • Example: http://yourdomain.com. This will cause route helpers to generate full path only.
  • Default: blank
• camel_case (version >= 0.8.8) - Generate camel case route names.
  • Default: false
• url_links (version >= 0.8.9) - Generate *_url helpers (in addition to the default *_path helpers).
  • Example: true
  • Default: false
  • Note: generated URLs will first use the protocol, host, and port options specified in the route definition. Otherwise, the URL will be based on the option specified in the default_url_options config. If no default option has been set, then the URL will fallback to the current URL based on window.location.
• compact (version > 0.9.9) - Remove _path suffix in path routes(*_url routes stay untouched if they were enabled)
  • Default: false
  • Sample route call when option is set to true: Routes.users() => /users
• serializer (version >= 1.1.0) - Puts a JS function here that serializes a Javascript Hash object into URL paramters: {a: 1, b: 2} => "a=1&b=2".
  • Default: nil. Uses built-in serializer
  • Example: jQuery.param - use jQuery's serializer algorithm. You can attach serialize function from your favorite AJAX framework.
  • Example: MyApp.custom_serialize - use completely custom serializer of your application.

Very Advanced Setup

In case you need multiple route files for different parts of your application, you have to create the files manually. If your application has an admin and an application namespace for example:

# app/assets/javascripts/admin/routes.js.erb
<%= JsRoutes.generate(namespace: "AdminRoutes", include: /admin/) %>

# app/assets/javascripts/admin.js.coffee
#= require admin/routes

# app/assets/javascripts/application/routes.js.erb
<%= JsRoutes.generate(namespace: "AppRoutes", exclude: /admin/) %>

# app/assets/javascripts/application.js.coffee
#= require application/routes

In order to generate the routes JS code to a string:

routes_js = JsRoutes.generate(options)

If you want to generate the routes files outside of the asset pipeline, you can use JsRoutes.generate!:

path = "app/assets/javascripts"
JsRoutes.generate!("#{path}/app_routes.js", :namespace => "AppRoutes", :exclude => [/^admin_/, /^api_/])
JsRoutes.generate!("#{path}/adm_routes.js", :namespace => "AdmRoutes", :include => /^admin_/)
JsRoutes.generate!("#{path}/api_routes.js", :namespace => "ApiRoutes", :include => /^api_/, :default_url_options => {:format => "json"})

Usage

Configuration above will create a nice javascript file with Routes object that has all the rails routes available:

Routes.users_path() // => "/users"
Routes.user_path(1) // => "/users/1"
Routes.user_path(1, {format: 'json'}) // => "/users/1.json"
Routes.user_path(1, {anchor: 'profile'}) // => "/users/1#profile"
Routes.new_user_project_path(1, {format: 'json'}) // => "/users/1/projects/new.json"
Routes.user_project_path(1,2, {q: 'hello', custom: true}) // => "/users/1/projects/2?q=hello&custom=true"
Routes.user_project_path(1,2, {hello: ['world', 'mars']}) // => "/users/1/projects/2?hello%5B%5D=world&hello%5B%5D=mars"

Using serialized object as route function arguments:

var google = {id: 1, name: "Google"};
Routes.company_path(google) // => "/companies/1"
var google = {id: 1, name: "Google", to_param: "google"};
Routes.company_path(google) // => "/companies/google"

In order to make routes helpers available globally:

jQuery.extend(window, Routes)

Get spec of routes and required params

Possible to get spec of route by function toString:

Routes.users_path.toString() // => "/users(.:format)"
Routes.user_path.toString() // => "/users/:id(.:format)"

This function allow to get the same spec for route, if you will get string representation of the route function:

'' + Routes.users_path // => "/users(.:format)", a string representation of the object
'' + Routes.user_path // => "/users/:id(.:format)"

Route function also contain inside attribute required_params required param names as array:

Routes.users_path.required_params // => []
Routes.user_path.required_params // => ['id']

What about security?

js-routes itself do not have security holes. It makes URLs without access protection more reachable by potential attacker. In order to prevent this use :exclude option for sensitive urls like /admin_/

Spork

When using Spork and Spork.trap_method(Rails::Application::RoutesReloader, :reload!) you should also do:

Spork.trap_method(JsRoutes, :generate!)

JS-Routes and heroku

Heroku environment has a specific problems with setup. It is impossible to use asset pipeline in this environment. You should use "Very Advanced Setup" schema in this case.

For example create routes.js.erb in assets folder with needed content:

<%= JsRoutes.generate(options) %>

This should just work.

Advantages over alternatives

There are some alternatives available. Most of them has only basic feature and don't reach the level of quality I accept. Advantages of this one are:

• Rails 3-5 support
• Rich options set
• Full rails compatibility
• Support Rails #to_param convention for seo optimized paths
• Well tested

Thanks to Contributors

Have fun