match

Matches a url pattern to one or more routes. Any symbols in a pattern are interpreted as url query parameters and thus available as params in an action:

# sets :controller, :action and :id in params
match ':controller/:action/:id'

Two of these symbols are special, :controller maps to the controller and :action to the controller’s action. A pattern can also map wildcard segments (globs) to params:

match 'songs/*category/:title', to: 'songs#show'

# 'songs/rock/classic/stairway-to-heaven' sets
#  params[:category] = 'rock/classic'
#  params[:title] = 'stairway-to-heaven'

When a pattern points to an internal route, the route’s :action and :controller should be set in options or hash shorthand. Examples:

match 'photos/:id' => 'photos#show'
match 'photos/:id', to: 'photos#show'
match 'photos/:id', controller: 'photos', action: 'show'

A pattern can also point to a Rack endpoint i.e. anything that responds to call:

match 'photos/:id', to: lambda {|hash| [200, {}, ["Coming soon"]] }
match 'photos/:id', to: PhotoRackApp
# Yes, controller actions are just rack endpoints
match 'photos/:id', to: PhotosController.action(:show)

Because request various HTTP verbs with a single action has security implications, is recommendable use HttpHelpers[rdoc-ref:HttpHelpers] instead match

Options

Any options not seen here are passed on as params with the url.

:controller

The route’s controller.

:action

The route’s action.

:path

The path prefix for the routes.

:module

The namespace for :controller.

match 'path', to: 'c#a', module: 'sekret', controller: 'posts'
#=> Sekret::PostsController

See Scoping#namespace for its scope equivalent.

:as

The name used to generate routing helpers.

:via

Allowed HTTP verb(s) for route.

match 'path', to: 'c#a', via: :get
match 'path', to: 'c#a', via: [:get, :post]
match 'path', to: 'c#a', via: :all

:to

Points to a Rack endpoint. Can be an object that responds to call or a string representing a controller’s action.

match 'path', to: 'controller#action'
match 'path', to: lambda { |env| [200, {}, ["Success!"]] }
match 'path', to: RackApp

:on

Shorthand for wrapping routes in a specific RESTful context. Valid values are :member, :collection, and :new. Only use within resource(s) block. For example:

resource :bar do
  match 'foo', to: 'c#a', on: :member, via: [:get, :post]
end

Is equivalent to:

resource :bar do
  member do
    match 'foo', to: 'c#a', via: [:get, :post]
  end
end

:constraints

Constrains parameters with a hash of regular expressions or an object that responds to matches?. In addition, constraints other than path can also be specified with any object that responds to === (eg. String, Array, Range, etc.).

match 'path/:id', constraints: { id: /[A-Z]\d{5}/ }

match 'json_only', constraints: { format: 'json' }

class Blacklist
  def matches?(request) request.remote_ip == '1.2.3.4' end
end
match 'path', to: 'c#a', constraints: Blacklist.new

See Scoping#constraints for more examples with its scope equivalent.

:defaults

Sets defaults for parameters

# Sets params[:format] to 'jpg' by default
match 'path', to: 'c#a', defaults: { format: 'jpg' }

See Scoping#defaults for its scope equivalent.

:anchor

Boolean to anchor a match pattern. Default is true. When set to false, the pattern matches any request prefixed with the given path.

# Matches any request starting with 'path'
match 'path', to: 'c#a', anchor: false

:format

Allows you to specify the default value for optional format segment or disable it by supplying false.