jump_back

jump_back is a gem that improves redirecting back in rails.

As you have probably experienced, redirect_to :back can occassionally cause errors, so it is best to have a plan for what happens when there is no HTTP_REFERER. jump_back gives you the redirect_back method in your ApplicationController (and anything that inherits from the ApplicationController) that avoids errors and adds some useful functionality. See the Usage section below for details.

Also, sometimes you want to save what a person was doing before you redirected them. Maybe you need them to log in before seeing some content, or maybe there is more than one view that links to an edit page and you want to redirect them back to wherever they were after the update. jump_back adds save_referer and return_to_referer methods to your ApplicationController (and anything that inherits from the ApplicationController) to make this functionality easy. See the Usage section below for details.

jump_back is tested in ruby version 1.9.3, 2.0, 2.1, and 2.2 using rails versions 4.0, 4.1, and 4.2.

From what I can tell it doesn't work with ruby version 2.2 with rails version 4.0, but I assume you wouldn't use those together, right?

Add this line to your application's Gemfile:

gem 'jump_back', '~> 0.3.2'

And then execute:

$ bundle

Or install it yourself as:

$ gem install jump_back

redirect_back examples:

def an_action
  # will redirect_to :back if there is an HTTP_REFERER
  # and to root_path if there isn't a referer
  redirect_back
end

def an_action
  # will redirect_to :back if there is an HTTP_REFERER
  # and to a_different_path if there isn't a referer
  redirect_back(a_different_path)
end

By default, redirect_back will not redirect to referers that are from a different domain. You can overwrite this by flagging offsite: true. It will work normally with local referers.

def secret_content
  # if referer is anothersite.com, will redirect_to root_path
  redirect_back unless logged_in? # assuming you have a logged_in? method you want to check
end

def secret_content
  # if referer is anothersite.com, will redirect_to anothersite.com
  redirect_back(offsite: true) unless logged_in?
end

def secret_content
  # if referer not present, will redirect_to a_different_path
  redirect_back(a_different_path, offsite: true) unless logged_in?
end

You can also pass the normal options you would pass to redirect_to.

def eaten_by_bears
  redirect_back alert: "You've been eaten by bears!", status: 302
end

def many_options
  redirect_back a_different_path, offsite: true, notice: "A lot of options", status: :found
end

First you need to call save_referer. This will store the referer in session[:jump_back_stored_referer]. This session value will not be overwritten if it exists. This is to avoid undesired redirects after things like failed form posts.

def an_action
  save_referer
end

def another_action
  # this will not overwrite the previously saved referer
  save_referer
end

def a_third_action
  # this will clear the referer so it can be saved over
  clear_referer
  # the new referer will be saved
  save_referer
end

Once you have saved the referer, you can call return_to_referer.

def action_with_redirect
  # will redirect_to saved referer or root_path if a referer was not saved
  return_to_referer
end

def action_with_redirect
  # will redirect_to saved referer or a_different_path if a referer was not saved
  return_to_referer a_different_path
end

return_to_referer also accepts options to pass to redirect_to.

def action_with_notice
  return_to_referer notice: 'A notice'
end

def many_options
  return_to_referer a_different_path, alert: 'Many options!', status: 302
end

link_back is a helper you can use in your views.

<%# will link_to :back or root_path if there is no referer %>
<%= link_back %>

<%# will link_to :back or a_different_path if there is no referer %>
<%= link_back a_different_path %>

<%# you can specify the text for the link %>
<%= link_back 'Go back!' %>

<%# takes any link_to options %>
<%= link_back 'Go back!', a_different_path, remote: true, id: 'back', offsite: true %>

1. Fork it ( https://github.com/pdebelak/jump_back/fork )
2. Create your feature branch (git checkout -b my-new-feature)
3. Commit your changes (git commit -am 'Add some feature')
4. Push to the branch (git push origin my-new-feature)
5. Create a new Pull Request

I welcome contributions or feature requests. Open an issue if there is a feature you'd like to see.