Why am I getting weird parameters in my search url?

Question

I am implementing search where I am passing two hidden parameters:

:sort and :direction

When I do the search I get:

http://localhost:3000/resource?utf8=%E2%9C%93&direction=%7B%3Avalue%3D%3E%22asc%22%7D&sort=%7B%3Avalue%3D%3E%22rentalminimum%22%7D&startdate=&near=tempe&radius=&min=&max=&commit=Search

Checking the params, I see I get unpermitted parameters utf8 and most importantly I am getting

{:value => "\rentalminimum"\}  and not {:value => "rentalminimum"}

How should I remove these parameters as %7B%3Avalue%3D%3E%22 from my search url. In other words how can I santize my params to include only the search params and direction and sort column name?

Resource.search(params)

I tried strip! but it won't work directly on params.

My searchform:

<%= bootstrap_form_for listings_path, :method => 'get' do %>

        <%= hidden_field_tag :direction, :value => params[:direction] %>
        <%= hidden_field_tag :sort,:value => params[:sort] %>



        <div class= "col-sm-12 col-lg-12 col-md-12" style = "margin: auto;">
            <h6 style = "color:#7C064D;"><strong> PICK A DATE  <span class="glyphicon glyphicon-calendar"></span></strong>
            <%= date_field_tag :startdate, params[:startdate], placeholder: 'DATE' %>           
            </h6>
        </div>  

        <div class= "col-sm-12 col-lg-12 col-md-12" style = "margin: auto;">    
        <p>     
            <%= text_field_tag :near, params[:near], placeholder: ' Destination' %>
            <%= text_field_tag :radius, params[:radius], placeholder: ' Search Radius' %>
        </p>
        </div>      
        <div class= "col-sm-12 col-lg-12 col-md-12" style = "margin: auto;">    
        <p>     
            <%= text_field_tag :min, params[:min], placeholder: ' Minimum Rate Per Hour' %>
            <%= text_field_tag :max, params[:max], placeholder: ' Maximum Rate Per Hour' %>
        </p>
        </div>

        <div class= "col-sm-12 col-lg-12 col-md-12" style = "margin-top: 10px;">        
            <%= submit_tag "Search", class: "btn btn-info", style: "width: 40%; background-color: #E20049; border: #e20049;" %>
            <%= link_to 'View All', root_path, class: "btn btn-info", style: "width: 40%; background-color: #E20049; border: #e20049;" %>
        </div>

        <!-- <div class= "col-sm-6 col-lg-6 col-md-6" style = "margin-top: 10px;">      

        </div> -->


    <% end %>

Controller action:

def index
        if params.present?      
          flash[:notice] = "Please see Listings below"
          @listingssearch =  Listing.search(params)        
        else
          @listingssearch =  Listing.all      
        end

        @listingsboats = @listingssearch.where(:vehicletype => 'Boat').order(sort_column + " " + sort_direction).paginate(:page => params[:page], :per_page => 30)

        # @listingsrvs = Listing.search(params)
        @listingsrvs = @listingssearch.where(:vehicletype => 'RV').order(sort_column + " " + sort_direction).paginate(:page => params[:page], :per_page => 30)

        # .page(params[:page]).per_page(4)    
      end

Sortable helper:

 def sortable(column, title = nil)
      title ||= column.titleize
      css_class = column == sort_column ? "current #{sort_direction}" : nil
      direction = column == sort_column && sort_direction == "asc" ? "desc" : "asc"      
      # link_to title, request.params.merge({:sort => column, :direction => direction, :page => nil}), {:class => "css_class" }
      link_to title, params.permit(:min, :max, :radius, :startdate, :near).merge({:sort => column, :direction => direction, :page => nil}), {:class => "css_class" }
    end

Sorting links:

<div class= "col-sm-12 col-lg-12 col-md-12" style = "text-align: center; padding: 10px;">

    <div class= "col-sm-3 col-lg-3 col-md-3" style = " padding: 5px;">
        <%= sortable "rentalminimum", "SORT BY RENTAL MINIMUM" %>
    </div>

    <div class= "col-sm-3 col-lg-3 col-md-3" style = " padding: 5px;">
        <%= sortable "rateperhour", "SORT BY RATE PER HOUR" %>
    </div>  

    <div class= "col-sm-3 col-lg-3 col-md-3" style = " padding: 5px;">
        <%= sortable "length", "SORT BY LENGTH" %>
    </div>
    <div class= "col-sm-3 col-lg-3 col-md-3" style = " padding: 5px;">
        <%= sortable "sleeps", "SORT BY SLEEPS" %>  
    </div>
</div>

Answer 1

There's a few things I think may have been missed here...

• hidden_field_tag introduces an <input> element on the page that the user can't see. It doesn't affect how its value gets sent back to the server. I don't think yours are actually doing anything at all.
• The links (in the sortable method) bypass the form and its inputs anyway and just link you to a page. The params it refers to will be those that were sent with the request that loaded the page (which may be what you want, of course).
• GET requests send their parameters back in the URL. If you want that not to happen at all, you'll need to send the request via a different HTTP method - POST is probably most appropriate. I'm not sure if links can do this - they might accept method: :post as an option - or if you need to use a form's submit button.

However, you say all you want is to remove the value rubbish from the URL? I think that comes down to the hidden_field_tag arguments. If I remember rightly, the second one is expected to be the value of the field, not an options hash. Try:

<%= hidden_field_tag :direction, params[:direction] %>

As for the utf8 parameter, there is a reason it's there.