Rails 5: Namespace vs. Scope

Alexander Rühle, March 07, 2015 14:54

I've often asked myself what exactly the difference between namespace and scope is.

Namespace

This is the simple option. It will prefix the generated path and the path name. And it also assumes that the controller is to be found under a module named in the same manner as the namespace itself.

namespace :management do
  resources :users
end

Generated routes:

Prefix Verb      URI Pattern                            Controller#Action
management_users GET    /management/users(.:format)     management/users#index
                 POST   /management/users(.:format)     management/users#create
management_user  GET    /management/users/:id(.:format) management/users#show
                 PATCH  /management/users/:id(.:format) management/users#update
                 PUT    /management/users/:id(.:format) management/users#update
                 DELETE /management/users/:id(.:format) management/users#destroy

Scope

Scope can give you a more accurate result but is a bit more complex at the same time.

Without options

When using scope without any options and only a scope name, it will just add a prefix for the generated path.

scope :management do
  resources :users
end

Prefix Verb   URI Pattern                Controller#Action
 users GET    /management/users(.:format)     users#index
       POST   /management/users(.:format)     users#create
  user GET    /management/users/:id(.:format) users#show
       PATCH  /management/users/:id(.:format) users#update
       PUT    /management/users/:id(.:format) users#update
       DELETE /management/users/:id(.:format) users#destroy

With option: module

"module" lets you define another module and only the module.

scope module: 'management' do
  resources :users
end

Prefix Verb   URI Pattern          Controller#Action
 users GET    /users(.:format)     management/users#index
       POST   /users(.:format)     management/users#create
  user GET    /users/:id(.:format) management/users#show
       PATCH  /users/:id(.:format) management/users#update
       PUT    /users/:id(.:format) management/users#update
       DELETE /users/:id(.:format) management/users#destroy

With option: path

"path" will prefix the generated path

scope module: 'management', path: 'fu' do
  resources :users
end

Prefix Verb   URI Pattern             Controller#Action
 users GET    /fu/users(.:format)     management/users#index
       POST   /fu/users(.:format)     management/users#create
  user GET    /fu/users/:id(.:format) management/users#show
       PATCH  /fu/users/:id(.:format) management/users#update
       PUT    /fu/users/:id(.:format) management/users#update
       DELETE /fu/users/:id(.:format) management/users#destroy

With option: as

"as" can be used to change the name of the path method used to identify the resources.

scope module: 'management', path: 'fu', as: 'awesome' do
  resources :users
end

Prefix Verb   URI Pattern                    Controller#Action
awesome_users GET    /fu/users(.:format)     management/users#index
              POST   /fu/users(.:format)     management/users#create
awesome_user  GET    /fu/users/:id(.:format) management/users#show
              PATCH  /fu/users/:id(.:format) management/users#update
              PUT    /fu/users/:id(.:format) management/users#update
              DELETE /fu/users/:id(.:format) management/users#destroy

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