redirect_to != return

Question

I\'m looking for some clarification regarding the behaviour of redirect_to.

I have this code:

if some_condition
   redirect_to(path_one)         


        

Answer 1

Yes, you need to return from method when doing redirect. It actually only adds appropriate headers for the response object.

You can write more rubyish way:

if some_condition
    return redirect_to(path_one)
end

redirect_to(path_two)

or other way:

return redirect_to(some_condition ? path_one : path_two)

or another way:

redirect_path = path_one

if some_condition
    redirect_path = path_two
end

redirect_to redirect_path

Answer 2

From http://api.rubyonrails.org/classes/ActionController/Base.html:

If you need to redirect on the condition of something, then be sure to add “and return” to halt execution.

def do_something
  redirect_to(:action => "elsewhere") and return if monkeys.nil?
  render :action => "overthere" # won't be called if monkeys is nil
end

Answer 3

To consolidate the "rubyish way" example in Eimantas' answer to two lines of code:

return redirect_to(path_one) if some_condition

redirect_to(path_two)

Answer 4

If you'd like to define the redirect within a method or helper function and early return in your controller:

ActionController::Metal#performed? - Tests if render or redirect has already happened:

def some_condition_checker
  redirect_to(path_one) if some_condition
end

Call it like this:

some_condition_checker; return if performed?

redirect_to(path_two)

Answer 5

You can also do

redirect_to path_one and return

which reads nice.

Answer 6

It's worth noting there is no need to return unless you have any code after redirect_to, as in this example:

def show
  if can?(:show, :poll)
    redirect_to registrar_poll_url and return
  elsif can?(:show, Invoice)
    redirect_to registrar_invoices_url and return
  end
end