Every Rails developer knows about the flash feature and how it's often used to present alerts and notices after a user performs an action. These flashes can be set directly in a controller's action like so:
def create
@post = Post.new(post_params)
if @post.save
redirect_to post_urls, flash: { notice: 'Post created successfully' }
else
render :new, status: :unprocessable_entity
end
end
Having user-facing text in our controllers is a bit obtrusive though as it distracts from the action's business logic.
To minimize this while also maintaining robust user messaging, I often include the below concern in my controllers. This module will set up easy auto-assignment of flash messages from localizations!
# app/controllers/concerns/flashable.rb
module Flashable
extend ActiveSupport::Concern
included do
after_action :try_to_set_flash
end
def try_to_set_flash
return unless request.post? || request.patch? || request.delete?
catch :exception do
case response.status
when 200..399
flash[:notice] = I18n.t('success', scope: flash_i18n_namespace, throw: true)
when 400..499
flash[:alert] = I18n.t('error', scope: flash_i18n_namespace, throw: true)
end
end
end
def flash_i18n_namespace
"flash.#{controller_name}.#{action_name}"
end
end
Once you've created this module in your code base, you can include Flashable in your ApplicationController. Next, create a new locale file under config/locales/flashes.en.yml.
The module expects flashes localization entries to be named using the controller and action. When the action was successful a "success" entry set to flash[:notice]. When the action failed, the "error" messages is set to flash[:alert].
en:
flash:
posts:
create:
success: Post was successfully created
error: Post was failed to save
sessions:
create:
success: Login successful.
destroy:
success: Logout successful.
🎉 Happy coding!
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