Building a Polling Application with Rails and ActionCable
Polling applications are a common feature found in many web applications. They allow users to create polls, vote on options, and see the real-time results. In this article, we will explore how to build a polling application using Ruby on Rails and ActionCable.
What is ActionCable?
ActionCable is a library in Ruby on Rails that provides real-time communication over WebSockets. It allows developers to build web applications that can push updates to connected clients instantly, without the need for constant HTTP requests.
Setting Up the Rails Application
To start building our polling application, we need to set up a new Rails application. Open your terminal and run the following command:
$ rails new polling_app
This command will create a new Rails application with the name “polling_app”.
Adding ActionCable to the Application
Inside the Rails application directory, open the Gemfile and add the following line:
gem 'actioncable'
Then, run the following command in your terminal to install the ActionCable gem:
$ bundle install
Creating the Polling Model
Next, let’s create a Polling model that will represent our polls. Run the following command to generate a new model file:
$ rails generate model Polling question:string
This command will generate a migration file and a model file for the Polling model. Open the migration file and add the necessary columns for your poll, such as options and votes.
Creating the Polling Controller
Now, let’s create a controller that will handle the creation, voting, and result display of the polls. Run the following command to generate a new controller file:
$ rails generate controller Polling
Implementing ActionCable
To use ActionCable in our application, we need to create a channel. Run the following command to generate a new channel file:
$ rails generate channel PollChannel
This command will generate a new file named “poll_channel.rb” inside the ”app/channels” directory. Inside this file, we can define methods that will handle the incoming and outgoing messages for the poll.
Updating the View with Real-Time Updates
Now that we have our backend set up, we can update our view to display real-time updates. We can use JavaScript and ActionCable to listen for updates and modify the view accordingly. For example, we can use JavaScript to update the vote count in real-time when a user casts their vote.
Conclusion
Building a polling application with Rails and ActionCable allows you to create a real-time interactive experience for your users. It allows users to vote, see the results instantly, and provides a smooth and engaging user experience. By following the steps outlined in this article, you can start building your own polling application with ease.
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