Rails: access controller instance variable in CoffeeScript or JavaScript asset file

Question

In Rails 3.1 it is not possible to access controller instance variables in an asset js.erb or coffee.erb file using syntax such as <%= @foo %>, where @foo is set in the c

Answer 1

You can edit and add variables to the params array in the controller then access them in the response.js.erb. Here's an example with params[:value]:

def vote
  value = params[:type] == "up" ? 1 : -1
  params[:value] = value
  @public_comment = PublicComment.find(params[:id])

  have_voted = @public_comment.evaluators_for(:pub_votes_up) << @public_comment.evaluators_for(:pub_votes_down)

  unless have_voted.include?(@current_user) # vote
    @public_comment.add_or_update_evaluation(:"pub_votes_#{params[:type]}", value, @current_user)
  else                                      # unvote
    @public_comment.delete_evaluation(:"pub_votes_#{params[:type]}", @current_user)
    params[:value] = 0
  end

  respond_to do |format|
    format.js # vote.js.erb
  end
end

And here's an example accompanying response.js.erb

button = $('<%= ".pub#{params[:type]}_#{params[:id]}" %>')
label = button.find('strong')
<% comment = PublicComment.find(params[:id]) %>
label.html('<%= comment.reputation_for(:"pub_votes_#{params[:type]}").to_i %>')

<% if params[:value] == 1 %>
  button.addClass('btn-success')
<% elsif params[:value] == -1 %>
  button.addClass('btn-danger')
<% else %>
  if button.hasClass('btn-success') { button.removeClass('btn-success') }
  if button.hasClass('btn-danger') { button.removeClass('btn-danger') }
<% end %>