Rails js.erb file not being executed

Question

I am simply trying to get my index.js.erb file to execute an alert("hi") command, however it is not working. I am pretty new to rails, and I was wondering if you guys could help me out! It looks like the servers_controller.rb index method is not executing format.js correctly. Any suggestions/ideas?

servers_controller.rb

def index
    @servers = Server.all

    update_all_servers #calls the method update_all_servers in application_controller.rb

    respond_to do |format|
      format.html # index.html.erb
      format.json { render json: @servers }
      format.js #index.js.erb
    end
end

index.js.erb

alert("hi");
$("#comments").fadeOut();

index.html

<%- model_class = Server.new.class -%>
<div class="page-header">
  <h1><%=t '.title', :default => model_class.model_name.human.pluralize %></h1>
</div>
<table class="table table-striped">
  <thead>
    <tr>
 <!--     <th><%= model_class.human_attribute_name(:id) %></th> -->
      <th><%= model_class.human_attribute_name(:hostname) %></th>
      <th><%= model_class.human_attribute_name(:port) %></th>
  <!--    <th><%= model_class.human_attribute_name(:username) %></th>
      <th><%= model_class.human_attribute_name(:password) %></th>
      <th><%= model_class.human_attribute_name(:ssh_username) %></th>
      <th><%= model_class.human_attribute_name(:ssh_password) %></th> 
      <th><%= model_class.human_attribute_name(:source_branch) %></th> -->
      <th><%= model_class.human_attribute_name(:source_revision) %></th>
      <th><%= model_class.human_attribute_name(:release) %></th>
      <th><%= model_class.human_attribute_name(:rhel_version) %></th>
      <th><%= model_class.human_attribute_name(:gpu_type) %></th>
      <th><%= model_class.human_attribute_name(:total_users) %></th>
      <th><%= model_class.human_attribute_name(:current_users) %></th>
      <th><%= model_class.human_attribute_name(:created_at) %></th>
      <th><%=t '.actions', :default => t("helpers.actions") %></th>
    </tr>
  </thead>
  <tbody>
    <% @servers.each do |server| %>
      <tr>
  <!--      <td><%= link_to server.id, server_path(server) %></td> -->
        <td><%= server.hostname %></td>
        <td><%= server.port %></td>
   <!--     <td><%= server.username %></td>
        <td><%= server.password %></td>
        <td><%= server.ssh_username %></td>
        <td><%= server.ssh_password %></td>
        <td><%= server.source_branch %></td> -->
        <td><%= server.source_revision %></td>
        <td><%= server.release %></td>
        <td id="comments"><%= server.rhel_version %></td>
        <td><%= server.gpu_type %></td>
        <td><%= server.total_users %></td>
        <td><%= server.current_users %></td>
        <td><%=l server.created_at %></td>
        <td>
          <%= link_to t('.edit', :default => t("helpers.links.edit")),
                      edit_server_path(server), :class => 'btn btn-mini' %>
          <%= link_to t('.destroy', :default => t("helpers.links.destroy")),
                      server_path(server),
                      :method => :delete,
                      :confirm => t('.confirm', :default => t("helpers.links.confirm", :default => 'Are you sure?')),
                      :class => 'btn btn-mini btn-danger' %>
        </td>
      </tr>
    <% end %>
  </tbody>
</table>

<%= link_to t('.new', :default => t("helpers.links.new")),
            new_server_path,
            :class => 'btn btn-primary' %>

application.js

// This is a manifest file that'll be compiled into application.js, which will include all the files
// listed below.
//
// Any JavaScript/Coffee file within this directory, lib/assets/javascripts, vendor/assets/javascripts,
// or vendor/assets/javascripts of plugins, if any, can be referenced here using a relative path.
//
// It's not advisable to add code directly here, but if you do, it'll appear at the bottom of the
// the compiled file.
//
// WARNING: THE FIRST BLANK LINE MARKS THE END OF WHAT'S TO BE PROCESSED, ANY BLANK LINE SHOULD
// GO AFTER THE REQUIRES BELOW.
//
//= require jquery
//= require jquery_ujs
//= require twitter/bootstrap
//= require_tree .

Answer 1

Point your browser to /servers.js and it will show the js, but won't run as it's not in a script tag.

The respond_to section chooses one and only one media type to respond to, so when you are looking at a html page, if you want some javascript included, it needs to be in the html page in a script tag somehow. The index.js.erb format is for requests that are made solely for javascript output, such as ajax requests.

Answer 2

I know this question is old, though here is the solution, because I stumbled over this problem twice this day, without even remembering ;)

According to this blog post, you should check your request type. It has to be JS. If you're requesting that controller action via AJAX, just leave out the dataType-attribute. This will set the request type as */*, but it will still work.

Example:

$.ajax({
    url: '/users/auth/facebook/callback',
    type: 'GET'
});

EDIT

The request to the controller should look like this:

Processing by Users::OmniauthCallbacksController#facebook as JS

With my solution it will look like this:

Processing by Users::OmniauthCallbacksController#facebook as */*

Setting the dataType to 'JS' didn't work for me, but it will still work as if it were a JS.