rails 4 with nested attributes and nested form - ruby-on-rails-4

Question

I am trying to model my first rails 4 project to make the leap from tutorial to the real world.
The app is a horse show signup.
The user (devise) adds an 'entry'.
The entry can consists one or more 'rides'
Each ride can have a single 'horse' and a single 'rider' (nested forms would allow user to select existing horse and rider or create new one via form during new entry create.
I started to do some nested web forms with Cocoon and Formtastic:
https://github.com/nathanvda/cocoon
buy I have problems with saving related data to tables.
When I save my entry the rides table contains correct values for:
test, entry_id, but not horse_id
The entry table has no ride_id value. It only has user_id (I set in controller manually)
My questions are:
I am sure I am missing a few conceptual concepts but do I have my models associations set up correctly?
How do I edit my current forms to save data correctly?
When I debug in the controller I get what looks to be an odd param value:
{"utf8"=>"√", "authenticity_token"=>"xxxxxxxxxxxxxx=", "entry"=>{"show_date"=>"10/26/2014", "rides_attributes"=>{"1407930343404"=>{"test"=>"Intro B", "horses"=>{"name"=>"Plain Horse", "_destroy"=>""}}}}, "commit"=>"Create Entry", "action"=>"create", "controller"=>"entries"}
I thought I would see 'horses_attributes' within the 'rides_attributes' hash but instead I see just 'horses'.
Any clarification including link to examples would be very appeciated.
class User < ActiveRecord::Base
devise :database_authenticatable, :registerable,
:recoverable, :rememberable, :trackable, :validatable
has_many :entries
has_many :rides, :through => :entries
has_many :horses, :through => :entries
has_many :riders, :through => :entries
end
class Entry < ActiveRecord::Base
belongs_to :user
has_many :rides, :dependent => :destroy
has_many :horses, :through => :rides
has_many :riders, :through => :rides
accepts_nested_attributes_for :rides, :allow_destroy => true
accepts_nested_attributes_for :horses
accepts_nested_attributes_for :riders
end
class Ride < ActiveRecord::Base
belongs_to :entry
belongs_to :user
has_one :horse #, :dependent => :destroy
has_one :rider
accepts_nested_attributes_for :horse
accepts_nested_attributes_for :rider
end
class Horse < ActiveRecord::Base
belongs_to :ride # :dependent => :destroy
belongs_to :user, :dependent => :destroy
end
class Rider < ActiveRecord::Base
#belongs_to :ride #, :dependent => :destroy
belongs_to :user, :dependent => :destroy
has_many :rides
end
Here is my partial schema:
create_table "entries", force: true do |t|
t.date "show_date"
t.integer "user_id"
t.integer "ride_id"
t.datetime "created_at"
t.datetime "updated_at"
end
add_index "entries", ["ride_id"], name: "index_entries_on_ride_id", using: :btree
add_index "entries", ["user_id"], name: "index_entries_on_user_id", using: :btree
create_table "horses", force: true do |t|
t.string "name"
t.string "horse_ncdcta"
t.string "owner_fname"
t.string "owner_lname"
t.date "coggins_date"
t.integer "ride_id"
t.datetime "created_at"
t.datetime "updated_at"
t.integer "user_id"
end
add_index "horses", ["ride_id"], name: "index_horses_on_ride_id", using: :btree
create_table "riders", force: true do |t|
t.string "first_name"
t.string "last_name"
t.string "rider_ncdcta"
t.boolean "senior"
t.boolean "liability_signed"
t.integer "ride_id"
t.datetime "created_at"
t.datetime "updated_at"
end
add_index "riders", ["ride_id"], name: "index_riders_on_ride_id", using: :btree
create_table "rides", force: true do |t|
t.string "test"
t.integer "entry_id"
t.integer "rider_id"
t.datetime "created_at"
t.datetime "updated_at"
t.integer "horse_id"
end
add_index "rides", ["entry_id"], name: "index_rides_on_entry_id", using: :btree
add_index "rides", ["rider_id"], name: "index_rides_on_rider_id", using: :btree
create_table "users", force: true do |t|
t.string "email", default: "", null: false
t.string "encrypted_password", default: "", null: false
t.string "reset_password_token"
t.datetime "reset_password_sent_at"
t.datetime "remember_created_at"
t.integer "sign_in_count", default: 0, null: false
t.datetime "current_sign_in_at"
t.datetime "last_sign_in_at"
t.string "current_sign_in_ip"
t.string "last_sign_in_ip"
t.datetime "created_at"
t.datetime "updated_at"
t.string "first_name"
t.string "last_name"
t.string "phone"
end
partial entry controller:
def new
#user=current_user
#entry=Entry.new
end
def create
#entry = Entry.new(entry_params)
#entry.user_id=current_user[:id]
respond_to do |format|
if #entry.save
# example of params value
# {"utf8"=>"√", "authenticity_token"=>"xxxxxxxxxxxxxx=", "entry"=>{"show_date"=>"10/26/2014", "rides_attributes"=>{"1407930343404"=>{"test"=>"Intro B", "horses"=>{"name"=>"Plain Horse", "_destroy"=>""}}}}, "commit"=>"Create Entry", "action"=>"create", "controller"=>"entries"}
debugger
format.html { redirect_to #entry, notice: 'Entry was successfully created.' }
format.json { render :show, status: :created, location: #entry }
else
format.html { render :new }
format.json { render json: #entry.errors, status: :unprocessable_entity }
end
end
end
def entry_params
# added ids based on comments below
params.require(:entry).permit(:show_date, rides_attributes: [:id, :test, :_destroy, horses_attributes: [:name, :id]] )
end
views:
_form.html.haml
= semantic_form_for #entry do |f|
= f.inputs do
= f.label :show_date, "Show Date"
= f.input :show_date, :as => :select, :collection => [['08/03/2014', '08/03/2014'], ['09/14/2014', '09/14/2014'], ['10/26/2014', '10/26/2014'], ['11/15/2014', '11/15/2014']]
%h3 Rides
#rides
= f.semantic_fields_for :rides do |ride|
= render 'ride_fields', :f => ride
.links
= link_to_add_association 'add ride', f, :rides
= f.actions do
= f.action :submit
_ride_fields.html.haml
.nested-fields
= f.inputs do
= f.label :test, "Test"
= f.input :test, :as => :select, :collection => [['Intro A', 'Intro A'], ['Intro B', 'Intro B'], ['Intro C', 'Intro C']]
= f.semantic_fields_for :horses do |horse|
= render 'horse_fields', :f => horse
= link_to_add_association 'add horse', f, :horse
_horse_fields.html.haml
.nested-fields
=f.inputs do
= f.input :name
.links
= link_to_add_association 'add horse', f, :horse

Answer 1

Here's what I think is happening, you're nesting horse within Rides instead of Entry. Ride accepts nested attributes for a has_one horse relationship so you're seeing 'horses'. If you submitted horses against the Entry (which has a has_many relationship) you'd see horses_attributes.
In this section of _form.html.haml you assigned ride to f
= render 'ride_fields', :f => ride
And then in your _ride_fields.html.haml you use that f to create a nested form which is being created off the ride variable (Ride has_one horse).
= f.semantic_fields_for :horses do |horse|
= render 'horse_fields', :f => horse
Because your Ride model has accepts_nested_attributes_for :horse you're seeing horses within the Ride. To see horses_attributes you'll want to create horses against the Entry (which accepts the nested attributes for "horses").
I believe you can fix it by changing the render like this (pass in the Entry model form):
= render 'ride_fields', :f => ride, :e => f
And then the horse nested form like this (from f to e):
= e.semantic_fields_for :horses do |horse|
= render 'horse_fields', :f => horse

Answer 2

When using nested attributes the symbol you pass to form_for has to match the association name. You are doing
f.semantic_fields_for :horses
But rides doesn't have a horses assocation, only a horse association. Because of this rails doesn't realise that you're trying to use nested attributes at all, which is why the data is nested under the key "horses" rather than "horses_attributes". You will of course need to change the permitted params to match.
In addition you don't need all the stuff to manage adding extra horse fields for a ride if a ride can in fact only have one horse. If this was a mistake, then leave your forms alone but change the model so that a ride has_many :horses and accepts_nested_attributes_for :horses

Answer 3

I am now saving relationships correctly with below code (with a one caveat). Thanks to previous posters for getting me headed in the right direction!
Also Formtastic doc link: http://rdoc.info/github/justinfrench/formtastic/Formtastic/Inputs/SelectInput
The caveat: I cannot figure out how to select an existing horse with form select if I do not want to add a new horse (_ride_fields.html.haml). Adding new horse works fine.
When I attempt with current commented code I get error:
undefined method ride_id for Ride
I am not sure if this a formtastic problem, model related, or controller. I will post this as a separate question if I do not figure it out.
I realized in my original posting that I should not have foreign keys (eg ride_id) saved to 'entries' table because they are saved to the related tables (rides) in entry_id field.
entries controller (partial):
class EntriesController < ApplicationController
before_filter :set_horses, :except => [:destroy, :index]
def new
#c_user=current_user[:id]
#user=current_user
#entry = current_user.entries.new
#horses = current_user.horses
end
def create
#entry = current_user.entries.new(entry_params)
respond_to do |format|
if #entry.save
format.html { redirect_to #entry, notice: 'Entry was successfully created.' }
format.json { render :show, status: :created, location: #entry }
else
format.html { render :new }
format.json { render json: #entry.errors, status: :unprocessable_entity }
end
end
end
private
# Use callbacks to share common setup or constraints between actions.
def set_horses
if current_user.admin?
#horses=Horse.all
else
#horses = current_user.horses
end
end
# Never trust parameters from the scary internet, only allow the white list through.
def entry_params
params.require(:entry).permit(:show_date, rides_attributes: [:id, :test, :_destroy, horse_attributes: [:name, :id]] )
end
end
entry.rb:
class Entry < ActiveRecord::Base
belongs_to :user
has_many :rides, :dependent => :destroy
has_many :horses, :through => :rides, :dependent => :destroy
has_many :riders, :through => :rides, :dependent => :destroy
accepts_nested_attributes_for :rides, :reject_if => lambda { |a| a[:test].blank? }, :allow_destroy => true
accepts_nested_attributes_for :horses, :reject_if => lambda { |a| a[:name].blank? }, :allow_destroy => true
accepts_nested_attributes_for :riders, :allow_destroy => true
validates_presence_of :show_date
end
ride.rb:
class Ride < ActiveRecord::Base
belongs_to :entry, inverse_of: :entry
belongs_to :user, inverse_of: :user
has_one :horse
has_one :rider
accepts_nested_attributes_for :horse
end
horse.rb:
class Horse < ActiveRecord::Base
belongs_to :ride, :dependent => :destroy
belongs_to :user, :dependent => :destroy
end
_form.html.haml
= semantic_form_for #entry do |f|
= f.inputs do
= f.input :show_date, :as => :select, :collection => ['2014/08/03', '2014/09/14', '2014/10/26', '2014/11/15']
%h3 Rides
#rides
= f.semantic_fields_for :rides do |ride|
= render 'ride_fields', :f => ride
.links
= link_to_add_association 'add ride', f, :rides
= f.actions do
= f.action :submit
_ride_fields.html.haml
.nested-fields
= f.inputs do
= f.label :test, "Test"
= f.input :test, :as => :select, :collection => [['Intro A', 'Intro A'], ['Intro B', 'Intro B'], ['Intro C', 'Intro C']]
= if !#horses.empty?
-# both of next 2 lines give error: undefined method ride_id for <Ride:0x00000008cc3370>
-#= f.input :horse, :as => :select, :collection => #horses
-#= f.input :horse, :as => :select, :member_label => :name
= f.semantic_fields_for :horse do |horse|
= render 'horse_fields', :f => horse
.links
= link_to_add_association 'add new horse', f, :horse
_horse_fields.html.haml
.nested-fields
= f.inputs do
= f.input :name