# active_link_to [![Gem Version](https://img.shields.io/gem/v/active_link_to.svg?style=flat)](http://rubygems.org/gems/active_link_to) [![Gem Downloads](https://img.shields.io/gem/dt/active_link_to.svg?style=flat)](http://rubygems.org/gems/active_link_to) [![Build Status](https://img.shields.io/travis/comfy/active_link_to.svg?style=flat)](https://travis-ci.org/comfy/active_link_to) Creates a link tag of the given name using a URL created by the set of options. Please see documentation for [link_to](http://api.rubyonrails.org/classes/ActionView/Helpers/UrlHelper.html#method-i-link_to), as `active_link_to` is basically a wrapper for it. This method accepts an optional :active parameter that dictates if the given link will have an extra css class attached that marks it as 'active'. ## Install When installing for Rails 3/4/5 applications add this to the Gemfile: `gem 'active_link_to'` and run `bundle install`. For older Rails apps add `config.gem 'active_link_to'` in config/environment.rb and run `rake gems:install`. Or just checkout this repo into /vendor/plugins directory. ## Super Simple Example Here's a link that will have a class attached if it happens to be rendered on page with path `/users` or any child of that page, like `/users/123` ```ruby active_link_to 'Users', '/users' # => Users ``` This is exactly the same as: ```ruby active_link_to 'Users', '/users', active: :inclusive # => Users ``` ## Active Options Here's a list of available options that can be used as the `:active` value ``` <<<<<<< HEAD * Boolean -> true | false * Symbol -> :exclusive | :inclusive | :exact * Regex -> /regex/ * Controller/Action Pair -> [[:controller], [:action_a, :action_b]] * Controller/Specific Action Pair -> [controller: :action_a, controller_b: :action_b] * Hash -> { param_a: 1, param_b: 2 } ``` ## More Examples Most of the functionality of `active_link_to` depends on the current url. Specifically, `request.original_fullpath` value. We covered the basic example already, so let's try something more fun. We want to highlight a link that matches immediate url, but not the children nodes. Most commonly used for 'home' links. ```ruby # For URL: /users will be active active_link_to 'Users', users_path, active: :exclusive # => Users ``` ```ruby # But for URL: /users/123 it will not be active active_link_to 'Users', users_path, active: :exclusive # => Users ``` If we need to set link to be active based on some regular expression, we can do that as well. Let's try to activate links urls of which begin with 'use': ```ruby active_link_to 'Users', users_path, active: /^\/use/ ``` If we need to set link to be active based on an exact match, for example on filter made via a query string, we can do that as well: ```ruby active_link_to 'Users', users_path(role_eq: 'admin'), active: :exact ``` What if we need to mark link active for all URLs that match a particular controller, or action, or both? Or any number of those at the same time? Sure, why not: ```ruby # For matching multiple controllers and actions: active_link_to 'User Edit', edit_user_path(@user), active: [['people', 'news'], ['show', 'edit']] # For matching specific controllers and actions: active_link_to 'User Edit', edit_user_path(@user), :active => [people: :show, news: :edit] # for matching all actions under given controllers: active_link_to 'User Edit', edit_user_path(@user), active: [['people', 'news'], []] # for matching all controllers for a particular action active_link_to 'User Edit', edit_user_path(@user), active: [[], ['edit']] ``` Sometimes it should be as easy as giving link true or false value: ```ruby active_link_to 'Users', users_path, active: true ``` If we need to set link to be active based on `params`, we can do that as well: ```ruby active_link_to 'Admin users', users_path(role_eq: 'admin'), :active => { role_eq: 'admin' } ``` ## More Options You can specify active and inactive css classes for links: ```ruby active_link_to 'Users', users_path, class_active: 'enabled' # => Users active_link_to 'News', news_path, class_inactive: 'disabled' # => News ``` Sometimes you want to replace link tag with a span if it's active: ```ruby active_link_to 'Users', users_path, active_disable: true # => Users ``` If you are constructing navigation menu it might be helpful to wrap links in another tag, like `