Rails `link_to_with_notification` Helper Method

January 16, 2012

In with my last post on creating a notification badge I showed the HTML and CSS markup. But I forgot that even when the notification count was at zero it still showed the badge.

The Problem

Because was using a Rails app I wanted to continue using the link_to helper method.

The Solution

I created a new helper method called link_to_with_notifications that allowed me to use all the features of link_to and only add the badge if the value was not zero.

The Code

def link_to_with_notifications(*args, &block)

  # get notification count from hash
  notifications = args[2][:notifications] || 0

  # create the data- attribute unless notifications.zero?
  args[2]['data-notifications'] = notifications unless notifications.zero?

  # delete original notifications hash
  args[2].delete(:notifications)

  # run original link_to helper
  link_to(*args, &block)
end

Usage

<%= link_to_with_notifications 'Completed Orders',
  user_carts_path(user, view: 'completed'),
  class: 'button',
  notifications: user.shopping_carts.where('completed = ?', true).count %>