adopt-a-hydrant/app/controllers/things_controller.rb

class ThingsController < ApplicationController
  respond_to :json

  def show
    @things = Thing.find_closest(params[:lat], params[:lng], params[:limit] || 10)
    unless @things.blank?
      respond_with @things
    else
      render(:json => {:errors => {:address => [t("errors.not_found", :thing => t("defaults.thing"))]}}, :status => 404)
    end
  end

  def update
    @thing = Thing.find(params[:id])
    if @thing.update_attributes(thing_params)
      respond_with @thing
    else
      render(:json => {:errors => @thing.errors}, :status => 500)
    end
  end

  private

  def thing_params
    params.require(:thing).permit(:name, :user_id)
  end
end