# Add new action in rails controller
**URL:** https://meta.discourse.org/t/add-new-action-in-rails-controller/298157
**Category:** Development
**Tags:** plugin-api
**Created:** [March 6, 2024, 10:21am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/add-new-action-in-rails-controller/298157 "2024-03-06T10:21:55Z")
**Posts on this page:** 8
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@maaatt](https://meta.discourse.org/u/maaatt)
#### Post date: [March 6, 2024, 10:21am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/add-new-action-in-rails-controller/298157/1 "2024-03-06T10:21:56Z")
I’m building a plugin to add new exports in the users section.
Instead to add new controller for every export I would like to extend the ExportCsvController and add new actions to it.
How can I achieve this?
Thanks
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### Author:  [@pfaffman](https://meta.discourse.org/u/pfaffman)
#### Post date: [March 6, 2024, 1:13pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/add-new-action-in-rails-controller/298157/2 "2024-03-06T13:13:27Z")
What problem my are you solving? Could the [data explorer](https://meta.discourse.org/t/32566?silent=true) plugin solve it?
If not, you can have a look at it, as it adds a route and exports csv.
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### Author:  [@maaatt](https://meta.discourse.org/u/maaatt)
#### Post date: [March 6, 2024, 1:40pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/add-new-action-in-rails-controller/298157/3 "2024-03-06T13:40:28Z")
Thanks for your reply.
I need to create two new exports:
1. users with membership groups
2. categories with related groups
I would like to add these two exports inside the ExportCsvController without creating new controller for every export.
Yes, the [data explorer](https://meta.discourse.org/t/32566?silent=true) could solve the problem but the client for whom I am building the forum is not technical so exporting to CSV is the only way to show him the data.
The plugin is not adding a new method for an existing rails controller but it is creating a new controller for the [data explorer](https://meta.discourse.org/t/32566?silent=true) logic.
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### Author:  [@pfaffman](https://meta.discourse.org/u/pfaffman)
#### Post date: [March 6, 2024, 2:38pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/add-new-action-in-rails-controller/298157/4 "2024-03-06T14:38:19Z")
The [data explorer](https://meta.discourse.org/t/32566?silent=true) plugin will let them download a csv.
And if you want you can automate it by downloading the file directly with the API.
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### Author:  [@Arkshine](https://meta.discourse.org/u/Arkshine)
#### Post date: [March 6, 2024, 2:39pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/add-new-action-in-rails-controller/298157/5 "2024-03-06T14:39:08Z")
> [@maaatt](#):
>
> so exporting to CSV is the only way to show him the data
With the [Data Explorer](https://meta.discourse.org/t/32566?silent=true) plugin, you have a button to export in CVS or JSON (and, recently, even one to show a graph).
* * *
You can also allow specific groups to access the query (if we are not talking about admin users here)
Then, the user can see a Reports on the group page. He can run the query, and then he can export the results to CSV.
Would that work?
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### Author:  [@maaatt](https://meta.discourse.org/u/maaatt)
#### Post date: [March 6, 2024, 2:55pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/add-new-action-in-rails-controller/298157/6 "2024-03-06T14:55:55Z")
Yes it can work but the user need to know how to write down a SQL query right?
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### Author:  [@Arkshine](https://meta.discourse.org/u/Arkshine)
#### Post date: [March 6, 2024, 3:02pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/add-new-action-in-rails-controller/298157/7 "2024-03-06T15:02:47Z")
You (the admin) create the SQL, and the user can run the query – the users can’t create or edit.
What the user sees is a list of queries they can run:
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### Author:  [@maaatt](https://meta.discourse.org/u/maaatt)
#### Post date: [March 6, 2024, 3:05pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/add-new-action-in-rails-controller/298157/8 "2024-03-06T15:05:54Z")
Ok thanks, I will try to investigate if this solution can work for our customers. 🙏