Rails: Appending and Interpolating Code in Javascript

Question

I have a lightbox in which I want to render a Rails partial, like so:

var data = "render :conversations => new";
$('#lightbox').append('#{escape_javascript(data)');

Unfortunately, this results in the text "render :conversations => new" appearing in the lightbox, rather than the actual rendering. I assume this is because I'm appending the partial rather than rendering it at runtime. I've followed the advice on this thread, but to little success. It recommends I add a "!=" in front of the append line like so:

!= "$('#lightbox').append('#{escape_javascript(data)');"

This throws a syntax error because of the "!=". Perhaps I'm using this symbol incorrectly, but I can't find any information about it on Google. How might I get this to work?

Mattias Wadman · Accepted Answer · 2012-07-19 19:47:29Z

2

I think you want to do:

$('#lightbox').append('#{escape_javascript(render :conversations => new)');

But I don't really understand how your code could result in appending the text "render :conversations => new". var data = "render :conversations => new"; looks like JavaScript and escape_javascript(data) is server side ruby so it could not know about data. I notice also that the the #{ has no ending }. Is this really the exact code you tested?

answered Jul 19, 2012 at 19:47

Mattias Wadman

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10 Comments

nullnullnull Over a year ago

All excellent points. Unfortunately, even with corrected syntax the code doesn't interpolate, instead rendering: "#{escape_javascript(render :conversations => new)}"

Mattias Wadman Over a year ago

Ah ok but was it "#{escape_javascript(data)}" before then? is this in a static js file or a rails erb template etc? if a template i think you should use the erb syntax <%= ... %> instead of ruby string interpolation #{ ... }

nullnullnull Over a year ago

Unfortunately, it's in a static js file--and a fairly hefty one at that. (It handles all aspects of the lightbox.) I do have it in the assets pipeline, but I'm assuming that won't help with patching in the erb syntax.

nullnullnull Over a year ago

Ah, I think this was the tip I needed! I changed the js file to js.erb, and it seems to be working. I'm getting some other errors, but at least it seems to be interpolating now.

Mattias Wadman Over a year ago

What is the error? not really sure how template rendering will work together with the assets pipeline. Update: looks like bad news: github.com/rails/rails/issues/1370

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