Decimals and commas when entering a number into a Ruby on Rails form

Question

What\'s the best Ruby/Rails way to allow users to use decimals or commas when entering a number into a form? In other words, I would like the user be able to enter 2,000.99

Answer 1

Here's something simple that makes sure that number input is read correctly. The output will still be with a point instead of a comma. That's not beautiful, but at least not critical in some cases.

It requires one method call in the controller where you want to enable the comma delimiter. Maybe not perfect in terms of MVC but pretty simple, e.g.:

class ProductsController < ApplicationController

  def create
    # correct the comma separation:
    allow_comma(params[:product][:gross_price])

    @product = Product.new(params[:product])

    if @product.save
      redirect_to @product, :notice => 'Product was successfully created.'
    else
      render :action => "new"
    end
  end

end

The idea is to modify the parameter string, e.g.:

class ApplicationController < ActionController::Base

  def allow_comma(number_string)
    number_string.sub!(".", "").sub!(",", ".")
  end

end