Rails Select Drop Down for States?

user_796068 0
Viewed 40861

I was wondering if maybe there was some already built in function for rails so that it would create a select drop down list with all the U.S. states so I wouldn't have to enter it manually. I searched online but I was unable to find any. Any suggestions on what to do so I don't have to manually enter all the states?

drop-down-menu ruby-on-rails ruby
13 Answers

Use a hash. I put mine in config/initializers/us_states.rb, but it works in a helper or just about anywhere else you prefer:

US_STATES = {
  'AL': 'Alabama',
  'AK': 'Alaska',
  'AZ': 'Arizona',
  'AR': 'Arkansas',
  'CA': 'California',
  'CO': 'Colorado',
  'CT': 'Connecticut',
  'DE': 'Delaware',
  'DC': 'District of Columbia',
  'FL': 'Florida',
  'GA': 'Georgia',
  'HI': 'Hawaii',
  'ID': 'Idaho',
  'IL': 'Illinois',
  'IN': 'Indiana',
  'IA': 'Iowa',
  'KS': 'Kansas',
  'KY': 'Kentucky',
  'LA': 'Louisiana',
  'ME': 'Maine',
  'MD': 'Maryland',
  'MA': 'Massachusetts',
  'MI': 'Michigan',
  'MN': 'Minnesota',
  'MS': 'Mississippi',
  'MO': 'Missouri',
  'MT': 'Montana',
  'NE': 'Nebraska',
  'NV': 'Nevada',
  'NH': 'New Hampshire',
  'NJ': 'New Jersey',
  'NM': 'New Mexico',
  'NY': 'New York',
  'NC': 'North Carolina',
  'ND': 'North Dakota',
  'OH': 'Ohio',
  'OK': 'Oklahoma',
  'OR': 'Oregon',
  'PA': 'Pennsylvania',
  'PR': 'Puerto Rico',
  'RI': 'Rhode Island',
  'SC': 'South Carolina',
  'SD': 'South Dakota',
  'TN': 'Tennessee',
  'TX': 'Texas',
  'UT': 'Utah',
  'VT': 'Vermont',
  'VA': 'Virginia',
  'WA': 'Washington',
  'WV': 'West Virginia',
  'WI': 'Wisconsin',
  'WY': 'Wyoming'
}

Then, in my form:

<%= form.select :state, US_STATES.invert.sort %>

Since the two-letter code is what's stored, if I want to display the name of the state, I just reference the two-letter key in the hash:

<%= US_STATES[state] %>

If you want to get really slick, initialize them in a locale file (e.g., config/locales/en.yml):

---
en:
  us_states:
    AL: Alabama
    AK: Alaska
    AZ: Arizona
    # etc.

And access them in your views with:

<%= t "us_states.#{state}" %>

ℹ️ This actually works better with country and language codes when you support multiple languages in your app.

user_9513510

if you want to save state on full name 

# frozen_string_literal: true

module StateHelper

  def us_states
    [
      ['Alabama'],
      ['Alaska'],
      ['Arizona'],
      ['Arkansas'],
      ['California'],
      ['Colorado'],
      ['Connecticut'],
      ['Delaware'],
      ['District of Columbia'],
      ['Florida'],
      ['Georgia'],
      ['Hawaii'],
      ['Idaho'],
      ['Illinois'],
      ['Indiana'],
      ['Iowa'],
      ['Kansas'],
      ['Kentucky'],
      ['Louisiana'],
      ['Maine'],
      ['Maryland'],
      ['Massachusetts'],
      ['Michigan'],
      ['Minnesota'],
      ['Mississippi'],
      ['Missouri'],
      ['Montana'],
      ['Nebraska'],
      ['Nevada'],
      ['New Hampshire'],
      ['New Jersey'],
      ['New Mexico'],
      ['New York'],
      ['North Carolina'],
      ['North Dakota'],
      ['Ohio'],
      ['Oklahoma'],
      ['Oregon'],
      ['Pennsylvania'],
      ['Puerto Rico'],
      ['Rhode Island'],
      ['South Carolina'],
      ['South Dakota'],
      ['Tennessee'],
      ['Texas'],
      ['Utah'],
      ['Vermont'],
      ['Virginia'],
      ['Washington'],
      ['West Virginia'],
      ['Wisconsin'],
      ['Wyoming']
    ]
  end
end

And then in form

<%= f.select :state, options_for_select(us_states), class:"form-control", required: true %>
user_81223270
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