http://stackoverflow.com/questions/13638179/searching-from-the-main-page-in-rails

00-README.md

This is an example full of compromises.

You probably want another page displaying the form.

A partial would be better for tracking events.

search is not really the correct terminology here, maybe lookup_tracking_number or something, but redirecting to a show page with an id parameter would be better.

To clarify the paths where these files belong:

• config/routes.rb
• app/models/shipping.rb
• app/models/tracking_event.rb
• app/controllers/shippings_controller.rb
• app/views/shippings/index.html.erb
• app/views/shippings/search.html.erb

index.html.erb

<h1>Shipments</h1>

<%= form_tag search_shipments_path, method: :get do %>

<p>Enter a <strong>tracking number</strong> to see tracking history:</p>

<p><%= text_field_tag :tracking_number %></p>

<p><%= submit_tag "Search" %></p>

<% end %>

routes.rb

My::Application.routes.draw do
  # ...

  resources :shipments, only: [:index] do
    get :search
  end

  # ...
end

search.html.erb

<h1>Shipment <%= @shipment.tracking_number %></h1>

<p>Some shipping details here?</p>

<h2>Tracking Events</h2>

<ol>
<% @shipment.tracking_events.each do |tracking_event| -%>
<li><%= tracking_event.description %><%= time_ago_in_words tracking_event.created_at %></li>
<% end -%>
</ol>

shipment.rb

class Shipment < ActiveRecord::Base
  has_many :tracking_events
end

shipments_controller.rb

class ShipmentsController
  def index
  end

  def search
    @shipment = Shipment.includes(:tracking_events).find_by_tracking_number(params[:tracking_number])
  end
end

tracking_event.rb

class TrackingEvent < ActiveRecord::Base
  belongs_to :shipment
end