hidden field passes all params as strings - ruby-on-rails

Question

I have a controller called "Questions" with two actions, "practice" and "grade" both are get routes, the practice view renders a small sample of of Questions and uses forms to get user answers using submit to get the "grade path"
to grade it, I need the record objects to be passed as an array, but when passed using the hidden field I get the reference numbers as strings and not the actual object. how do i get the object so I can call question_object.answer
controllers/questions.rb
def practice
#questions = Questions.find(params[:id])
#sample_array = #questions.multiple_choices.sample(params[:number_of_multiple_choices].to_i)
#sample_array += #questions.true_falses.sample(params[:number_of_true_falses].to_i)
#user_answers = Array.new(#questions.size, 1)
end
def grade
#questions = Questions.find(params[:id])
#sample_array = params[:sample_array]
#array_answers = # create array based on sample_array's answers
#user_answers = params[:user_answers].split(' ')
#user_answers = #user_answers.map.with_index{|x,y| params[("user_answer#{y.to_s}")] }
end
views/questions/practice.html.erb # don't mind the finite number of forms its just for example.
<%= form_for :grade, :url => grade_path, method: :get do |f| %>
<%= hidden_field_tag(:sample_array, #sample_array) %>
<%= hidden_field_tag(:user_answers, #user_answers) %>
<div class="form-group">
<%= select_tag(("user_answer#{0}"), options_for_select([["a", 1],[ "b", 2],[ "c", 3],[ "d", 4]], 1), class: "form-control") %>
<%= select_tag(("user_answer#{1}"), options_for_select([["a", 1],[ "b", 2],[ "c", 3],[ "d", 4]], 1), class: "form-control") %>
<%= select_tag(("user_answer#{2}"), options_for_select([["a", 1],[ "b", 2],[ "c", 3],[ "d", 4]], 1), class: "form-control") %>
<%= select_tag(("user_answer#{3}"), options_for_select([["a", 1],[ "b", 2],[ "c", 3],[ "d", 4]], 1), class: "form-control") %>
</div>
<div id="finalscore">
<%= button_to "act_2", class:'btn btn-success' %>
</div>
<% end %>
in grade the parameters i passed are just strings like so. questions: ["#", "#", "#"]
I researched it and hidden_fields will pass query_strings and that's why im only getting strings, but I can't find any examples on how to obtain the array object to use in my grade controller action.
thanks in advance sorry for the long question I don't know how else to ask about this.

Answer 1

Instead of creating the arrays in your practice method, why don’t you create them in your grade method? To do this, you can instead assign #number_of_multiple_choice and #number_of_true_false in your practice method, pass those numbers in the hidden field tag, and determine your arrays in the grade action. I’m actually not sure what you’re trying to do with #user_answers in the practice action - I assume you’re just trying to create one empty answer object, but it does not appear to be used that way in the form.
controllers/questions.rb
def practice
#question = Question.find(params[:id])
#number_of_multiple_choices = params[:number_of_multiple_choices].to_i
#number_of_true_falses = params[:number_of_true_falses].to_i
end
def grade
#question = Question.find(params[:id])
#sample_array = #questions.multiple_choices.sample(params[:number_of_multiple_choices].to_i)
#sample_array += #questions.true_falses.sample(params[:number_of_true_falses].to_i)
#array_answers = # create array based on sample_array's answers
#user_answers = params[:user_answers].split(' ')
#user_answers = #user_answers.map.with_index{|x,y| params[("user_answer#{y.to_s}")] }
end
views/questions/practice.html.erb
<%= form_for :grade, :url => grade_path, method: :get do |f| %>
<%= hidden_field_tag(:number_of_multiple_choice, #number_of_multiple_choice) %>
<%= hidden_field_tag(:number_of_true_falses, #number_of_true_falses) %>
...
<% end %>
Additionally I noticed you’re saying #questions = Questions.find(params[:id]. The .find is meant to return one record but you have a) pluralized your variable indicating you want multiple questions, and b) pluralized your model, which is not standard convention. Either your model should be renamed or that will throw an error if your model is actually not pluralized.