render partial :object vs :locals
If you're using Rails 3+, there's an even easier syntax to use:
# Instead of <%= render partial: "account", locals: { account: @buyer } %>
<%= render 'account', account: @buyer %>
Source: Action View Partials
The second form
render :partial => 'account', :object => @some_account
will make sure the account
variable in the partial will be set to @some_account
.
You can rename the variable using the :as
option.
The biggest advantage of the :locals
is that
- you have very clear control over the objects and names
- you can assign more than 1 variable
So you could do something like
render partial => 'some_view', :locals => { :user => account.user, :details => some_details_we_retrieved }
making a clear seperation possible when needed.
The disadvantage of the :locals
approach is that it is more verbose, and sometimes a simple
render :partial => 'account'
is identical to
render :partial => 'account', :locals => {:account => @account }
So use the one which suits you the best (or where it suits the best).
In the second case using :object will define a variable with the same name as the partial by default. If my partial template is named _user.html.erb then there will be a local variable named "user" defined in the template.
You can specify a different variable name with :as => "another_name".
This is documented here: http://api.rubyonrails.org/classes/ActionView/PartialRenderer.html , here: http://apidock.com/rails/ActionView/PartialRenderer
...and for older Rails (version <= v3.09): http://apidock.com/rails/ActionView/Partials