Our review
This skill compares the rendered output of ERB templates with their JavaScript-converted equivalents to verify template parity in an offline scoring SPA.
Strengths
- Automates comparison between ERB and JavaScript template output
- Saves outputs for detailed diff analysis
- Handles data hydration for realistic JS rendering
- Identifies expected differences (HTML encoding, whitespace)
Limitations
- Requires the Rails application to be running
- Limited to this specific offline scoring SPA
- Some differences are considered normal and not fixable
When converting ERB templates to JavaScript for an offline SPA and needing to verify that both render identical output.
When the templates involve complex Ruby-specific logic that cannot be accurately converted to JavaScript.
Security analysis
SafeThe skill only provides instructions for running a local Ruby comparison script and standard diff/grep commands. There are no network downloads, arbitrary code execution, or destructive operations. It is a development utility confined to the project's own scripts and data.
No concerns found
Examples
Run the ERB vs JS comparison script for heat 83 using the Barcelona November 2025 database and show me the diff.Compare the rendered output for heat 83, individual heat 1 with radio style parameter. Save the outputs and show differences.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)
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