Submit form using link_to in rails

Question

I'm trying to submit a form using link_to as follows:

 <%= form_for(@post,  :url=> '/post/action', :method=> 'post', :html => {:id=>'form_id'} ) do |f| %>
  ....

 <%= link_to 'submit', "/post/action", :onclick=>"document.getElementById('form_id').submit()" %>

  ....

but it is not posting the form, it is simply redirecting my form to the specified url. Does anyone know how to do this?

score 25 · Accepted Answer · edited Feb 03 '16 at 06:34

25

You can use:

<%= link_to 'submit', "#", :onclick => "$('#form_id').submit()" %>

if you are using JQuery and a later version of rails.

Above will work but if you have a really long page it will navigate to top of the page because of "#" so if you want to avoid that you can do:

<%= link_to 'submit', "", :onclick => "$('#form_id').submit()" %>

edited Feb 03 '16 at 06:34

Abdul Baig

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answered Feb 20 '13 at 19:29

Paulo Fidalgo

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Thanks for your answer! big help! but it doesn't pass the form data, is there another way to solve this problem? – pangpang May 08 '18 at 16:33
@pangpang make sure you have permitted the parameters in controller – Paulo Fidalgo May 08 '18 at 20:26

Stefan Kanev · Answer 2 · 2012-07-25T09:16:51.043

8

I think both things happen. The browser starts to submit the form, but it also follows the link's href. You can fix it by linking to # instead of /post/action...

...however, I don't recommend doing it. There are a few better approaches:

First, you can use a button instead of a link. You'll have to style it to make it look like a link, but that should not be a problem. It will be better, because it won't break the Principle of Least Surprise (people who read the code expect forms to be submitted with buttons) and you won't need the JavaScript.

If you insist on using a link, you should at least move the JavaScript code from the view to a JavaScript file. Then have this behavior added unobtrusively (although, you won't have a good fallback with the link). Assuming you're using jQuery, it should be as simple as:

$(document).on('click', '[data-submit-form]', function(e) {
  e.preventDefault();
  $(this).closest('form').submit()
}

edited Jul 25 '12 at 09:16

answered Jul 25 '12 at 08:20

Stefan Kanev

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button instead of link is great advice – jpw Mar 24 '18 at 18:36
`e.preventDefault();` is a great advice ;) – Mauro Jun 25 '18 at 14:45
@StefanKanev thank you for your contribution. I am wondering what the `[data-submit-form]` means and was hoping you could clarify? – BenKoshy Sep 25 '19 at 22:34
@BKSpurgeon this way you can define a link like `submit` and it will automatically find the link and submit your form. – bastianwegge Jul 08 '20 at 15:27

Submit form using link_to in rails

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