Our review
Compares ERB and JavaScript template outputs to verify parity during ERB-to-JS conversion for an offline scoring SPA.
Strengths
- Automates comparison of ERB vs JS rendering
- Generates output files for detailed diff analysis
- Uses the same data pipeline to ensure fair comparison
Limitations
- Requires a specific SQLite database and running Rails server
- Some differences (HTML encoding, whitespace) are expected and must be ignored
- Only works for this specific scoring SPA project
When modifying ERB templates or their JS equivalents and needing to verify that the conversion produces identical rendering.
For general template comparisons outside the context of this scoring SPA project.
Security analysis
SafeThe skill describes a Ruby script for comparing template outputs; it makes local HTTP requests to a development server, no destructive or exfiltration actions.
No concerns found
Examples
Run the ERB vs JS comparison script for the heat list using database db/2025-barcelona-november.sqlite3 and judge 83.Compare individual heat 1 for judge 83 with radio style using bundle exec ruby scripts/render_erb_and_js.rb db/2025-barcelona-november.sqlite3 83 1 radio.Show me the differences between the ERB and JS rendered templates by running diff /tmp/erb_rendered.html /tmp/js_rendered.html after running the comparison script.name: compare-erb-js description: Compare ERB and JavaScript template outputs for the offline scoring SPA. Use when working on ERB-to-JS conversion, debugging template parity issues, or verifying that changes to scoring views work correctly in both ERB and SPA modes.
Compare ERB vs JavaScript Template Output
Use scripts/render_erb_and_js.rb to verify that ERB templates and their JavaScript-converted equivalents produce matching output. This is essential for the offline scoring SPA which uses auto-converted ERB templates.
Basic Usage
# Compare heat list
bundle exec ruby scripts/render_erb_and_js.rb db/2025-barcelona-november.sqlite3 83
# Compare individual heat
bundle exec ruby scripts/render_erb_and_js.rb db/2025-barcelona-november.sqlite3 83 1
# With style parameter
bundle exec ruby scripts/render_erb_and_js.rb db/2025-barcelona-november.sqlite3 83 1 radio
Or using environment variable:
RAILS_APP_DB=2025-barcelona-november bundle exec ruby scripts/render_erb_and_js.rb 83 1
What It Does
- Renders the ERB template via Rails routing (extracts
<main>content) - Fetches converted JavaScript templates from
/templates/scoring.js - Fetches normalized data from
/scores/:judge/heats/data - Hydrates the data using
heat_hydrator.js(for individual heats) - Renders using the JavaScript template
- Compares row counts and saves both outputs for diff analysis
Output Files
All files are saved to /tmp/ for analysis:
/tmp/erb_rendered.html- ERB template output (main content only)/tmp/js_rendered.html- JavaScript template output/tmp/scoring_templates.js- Converted templates from/templates/scoring.js/tmp/heats_data.json- Raw normalized data from server/tmp/js_template_data.json- Hydrated data passed to JS template
Analyzing Differences
# Quick diff
diff /tmp/erb_rendered.html /tmp/js_rendered.html
# Side-by-side comparison
diff -y /tmp/erb_rendered.html /tmp/js_rendered.html | less
# Compare specific attributes
diff <(grep -o 'href="[^"]*"' /tmp/erb_rendered.html | sort) \
<(grep -o 'href="[^"]*"' /tmp/js_rendered.html | sort)
Common Differences
Some differences are expected due to ERB-to-JS conversion limitations:
- HTML entity encoding: ERB uses
"while JS uses" - link_to blocks: Block form of
link_tomay render differently - Whitespace: Minor whitespace differences are normal
Architecture
This tool supports the "Server computes, hydration joins, templates filter" principle:
- Server: Computes derived values and paths (respects RAILS_APP_SCOPE)
- Hydration:
heat_hydrator.jsjoins normalized data by resolving IDs - Templates: ERB and JS templates filter/format data identically
Key Source Files
Server-side (Rails)
-
app/controllers/scores_controller.rbheats_dataaction: Returns normalized JSON data for SPAheataction: Sets instance variables for ERB templates- Computes
paths:hash with server-computed URLs
-
app/controllers/templates_controller.rbscoringaction: Converts ERB templates to JavaScript on-the-fly- Defines path helper stubs for JS templates
- Uses
ErbPrismConverterfor conversion
-
lib/erb_prism_converter.rb- Converts ERB templates to JavaScript functions using Ruby's Prism parser
- Handles Ruby-to-JS translation (loops, conditionals, method calls)
Client-side (JavaScript)
-
app/javascript/lib/heat_hydrator.jsbuildLookupTables(): Creates Maps for O(1) entity lookuphydrateHeat(): Resolves IDs to full objectsbuildHeatTemplateData(): Prepares complete data for templates
-
app/javascript/controllers/heat_app_controller.js- Main Stimulus controller for the offline scoring SPA
- Loads templates and data, handles navigation
- Manages offline/online state transitions
ERB Templates (source of truth)
app/views/scores/heat.html.erb- Main heat viewapp/views/scores/heatlist.html.erb- Heat list viewapp/views/scores/_heat_header.html.erb- Heat header partialapp/views/scores/_info_box.html.erb- Info box with feedback errorsapp/views/scores/_navigation_footer.html.erb- Prev/next navigationapp/views/scores/_table_heat.html.erb- Standard heat tableapp/views/scores/_rank_heat.html.erb- Finals ranking viewapp/views/scores/_solo_heat.html.erb- Solo heat viewapp/views/scores/_cards_heat.html.erb- Card-based scoring view
Scripts
scripts/render_erb_and_js.rb- This comparison toolscripts/hydrate_heats.mjs- Node.js script for hydrating data (used by comparison tool)
Next.js App Router Expert
Development
A skill that turns Claude into a Next.js App Router expert.
README Generator
Development
Creates professional and comprehensive README.md files for your projects.
API Documentation Writer
Development
Generates comprehensive API documentation in OpenAPI/Swagger format.