Is there a way to pass params when clicking submit button in simple_form view in rails 3.2.12?

Question

In simple_form view, the submit button is like this:

<%= f.button :submit, \'Save\' %>

We are trying to pass a params subaction

Answer 1

Use name and value option.

   <%= f.button  :submit , name: "subaction",value: "update"%>

In your controller you will get params[:subaction] with the value "update"

Answer 2

By specifying f.button :button, type: 'submit', we can use the name and value attributes as follows to submit using a single param. Notably, the value submitted (e.g., 'cake') may be different from the button text (e.g., 'The Best Cake').

_form.html.erb

<%= f.button :button, 'The Best Cake', type: 'submit', name: 'dessert_choice', value: 'cake' %>
<%= f.button :button, 'The Best Pie', type: 'submit', name: 'dessert_choice', value: 'pie' %>

Controller

def controller_action
  dessert_choice = params[:dessert_choice] # 'cake' or 'pie'
end

This approach avoids the need for hidden inputs as @dax mentioned in the comment above.

Tested on Simple Form 3.3.1 with Rails 4.2.

Answer 3

as dax points out,

<%= hidden_field_tag(:subaction, 'update') %>
<%= f.button :submit, 'Save' %>

This will provide the string value 'update' to the routed controller action via the hidden field. It can then be retrieved by the controller with

params[:subaction]