Check if Ransack params are empty

Question

I have the following code in my controller

class BooksController < ApplicationController
   expose(:search) { search_books }
   expose(:search_results) { load_results }

   def search_books
      search = Book.ransack(params[:q])
      search.sorts = 'updated_at desc' if search.sorts.empty?
      search
   end

   def load_results
      search.result(distinct: true)
   end
end

In my view I have lots of ransack search fields setup for the various book attributes i.e. title_eq, body_cont etc.

When I click the search button an the fields are empty Ransack still sends the params through the q: param, even when they're empty. i.e. Parameters: {"utf8"=>"✓", "q"=>{"title_eq"=>"", "book_eq"=>""} etc.

I've searched inside Ransack to see whether they have a method to tell whether the params are empty but I can't find one. What's the best way to handle this?

Answer 1

When you are fine with removing all blank search parameters, then you can call compact_blank to only return key/values from the params that have a value present.

params = ActionController::Parameters.new({q: { title: '', body: 'foobar'}})

params[:q].compact_blank
#=> #<ActionController::Parameters {"body"=>"foobar"} permitted: false>