Form to sort an index in rails

Question

I'm a newcomer to Rails. I want to build a simple form that determines the sort order of a list. I've implemented a form in the likes of -

<%= radio_button_tag :sort, "rating" %>
  <%= label_tag :sort_rating, "order by rating" %>
<%= radio_button_tag :sort, "name" %>
  <%= label_tag :sort_name, "order by name" %>

And now I am unsure how to implement the sort at the controller/model level. The aspects I am puzzled about are:

• Where should the sort be performed
• How could the sort parameter be persisted
• How could the code be reused

Right now, I can't even get the selected sort method to remain selected after a submit.

I would most appreciate any guidance or reference to an example.

Answer 1

Where should the sort be performed

In controller:

order_by = "rating ASC" if params[:sort] == 'rating'
...
@people = Person.all(:order => order_by)

Or something like this. I'm not sure how are forms with radio buttons passed.

How could the sort parameter be persisted

In views:

<%= radio_button_tag :sort, "rating", params[:sort] == 'rating' ? true : false %>
...