I want to create a UI page which is divided in to any different sections, each of which interacts with a different model (presumably via separate controllers).
What's the best way to build a "view" which accesses many VC (view->controllers)? Is it possible to create widgets for the separate views and then access them all on a single page? Where should this page live since it's not related to any single MVC group? In view/sites?
Thanks and hopefully this question makes sense.
Best,
Aaron
You may consider using widgets to render these sections, each widget can have its own model.
Great, this makes sense and works quite well.
Next question:
If a widget is going to be interacting with ActiveRecord-driven data (a list of objects, for example, each one an AR), should the widget make calls to the appropriate controller or is it acceptable to go straight to the model?
I assume the latter is fine from a design standpoint (since our widget already is a controller of sorts), but wanted to make sure I'm not missing a best practice.
P.S. On second thought, it may be preferable to go through the Controller since that is where the rendering of the AR data lives. What's the best way to get the data nicely rendered in our widget?
Yes, it is fine a widget visits model directly without going through controller. In fact, a widget is considered as a micro-controller with widget views. It is also a good practice if a widget is self-contained and is not tied with a controller.