ruby on rails - Using a form and a button to call a method in view -

beginner rails question here. created web scraper populate model information , wanted call method button view. more importantly, wanted pass contents of form parameter method. i'm kinda lost on how using forms, far have:

i placed method directory app/helpers/admin_pages_helper.rb

module adminpageshelper   def populate(term)   .   .   end end 

i have view located @ app/views/admin_pages/index.html.erb

i'm unsure of how go using form_tag/text_field_tag/submit_tag parameter; of examples i've seen involve database queries using forms instead. thanks

the simplest form of usage - firstly need route form can submit to:

# in routes.rb match "/admin_pages/my_action" => "admin_pages#my_action", as: "my_admin_pages_action" 

this route request "/admin_pages/my_action" "my_action" action in adminpagescontroller. gives several helper methods can use build url string in views and/or controllers.

# in view <%= form_tag my_admin_pages_action_path |f| %>   <%= text_field_tag :term %>   <%= submit_tag "submit" %> <% end %> 

when form submitted route adminpagescontroller#my_action method:

class adminpagescontroller < applicationcontroller   def my_action     term = params[:term]          # contains contents of text_field     = populate(term)    # call helper method passing in term   end end