Web - Software

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Beta
Book
Agile publishing for agile developers

The book you’re reading is still under development. As an experiment,
we’re releasing this copy well before we normally would. That way
you’ll be able to get this content a couple of months before it’s available in finished form, and we’ll get feedback to make the book even
better. The idea isthat everyone wins!
Be warned. The book has not had a full technical edit, so it will contain errors. It has not been copyedited, so it will be full of typos.
And there’s been no effort spent doing layout, so you’ll find bad page
breaks, over-long lines, incorrect hyphenations, and all the other ugly
things that you wouldn’t expect to see in a finished book. We can’t
be held liable if you usethis book to try to create a spiffy application
and you somehow end up with a strangely shaped farm implement
instead. Despite all this, we think you’ll enjoy it!
Throughout this process you’ll be able to download updated
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http://books.pragprog.com/titles/fr_rr/errata.
Thank you for taking part in this experiment.
Dave Thomas

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Rails Recipes
Chad Fowler

The Pragmatic Bookshelf
Raleigh, North Carolina Dallas, Texas

Prepared exclusively for Hilairo Vega Coronel

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Many of the designations used by manufacturers and sellers to distinguish their products
are claimed as trademarks. Where those designations appear in this book, and The
Pragmatic Programmers, LLC was aware of a trademark claim, the designations have
been printed in initial capital letters or in all capitals. The Pragmatic Starter Kit, ThePragmatic Programmer, Pragmatic Programming, Pragmatic Bookshelf and the linking g
device are trademarks of The Pragmatic Programmers, LLC.
Every precaution was taken in the preparation of this book. However, the publisher
assumes no responsibility for errors or omissions, or for damages that may result from
the use of information (including program listings) contained herein.
Our Pragmaticcourses, workshops, and other products can help you and your team
create better software and have more fun. For more information, as well as the latest
Pragmatic titles, please visit us at
http://www.pragmaticprogrammer.com

Copyright © 2006 The Pragmatic Programmers LLC.
All rights reserved.
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, inany form, or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or
otherwise, without the prior consent of the publisher.
Printed in the United States of America.
ISBN 0-9776166-0-6
Printed on acid-free paper with 85% recycled, 30% post-consumer content.
B1.3 printing, March 16, 2006
Version: 2006-4-11

Prepared exclusively for Hilairo Vega Coronel

Contents
1

Introduction1.1 What Makes a Good Recipe
1.2 Who’s It For? . . . . . . . .
1.3 Rails Version . . . . . . . .
1.4 Resources . . . . . . . . . .
1.5 Acknowledgments . . . . .
1.6 Tags and Thumbtabs . . .

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Part I—User Interface Recipes
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6

In-Place Form Editing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Making Your Own JavaScript Helper . . . . . . . . . . .
Live Preview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Live Search . . . ....