Alternative approach to drag and drop sorting with acts_as_list

Curated over 1 year ago by @jeremysmithco

Description

Here’s an somewhat unconventional approach to drag and drop sorting using acts_as_list I came up with this week. In the old days, I would have implemented something similar to this RailsCasts episode. But I think I might like this better.

I made a YouTube video explaining my thinking.

As Chris Oliver notes, it’s probably best to use Signed Global IDs to avoid users tampering with model names and IDs.

app
- controllers
  - list_insertions_controller.rb
- javascript
  - controllers
    - sortable_controller.js
- models
  - concerns
    - list_insertable.rb
  - page.rb
- views
  - pages
    - _page.html.erb
    - index.html.erb
config
- routes.rb

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class ListInsertionsController < ApplicationController
  def create
    item = GlobalID::Locator.locate(params[:item])
    precursor = GlobalID::Locator.locate(params[:precursor])
    authorize item, :update?
    item.insert_after(precursor)

    head :ok
  end
end