Storing an array of integers with ruby on rails - ruby-on-rails

Question

I'm trying to take in an array of numbers through the use of a form. In my database I have the variable as:
t.integer "home_goal_min", default: [], array: true
In my form I have:
<%= f.label :minutes_of_home_team_goals %>
<%= f.fields_for 'home_goal_min[]', [] do |p| %>
<%= f.number_field :home_goal_min %>
<%= f.number_field :home_goal_min %>
<% end %>
In my controller I also added in the parameter as an array but this still hasn't solved my problem:
def result_params
params.require(:result).permit(:home_result, :away_result, {:home_goal_min => []}, {:away_goal_min => []})
end
However, when I use the form and enter data, I then proceed to check the database through the console but it still appears empty and I just get:
home_goal_min: []
I'm wondering what I need to do to get the numbers entered in the form to be saved in the database?
Also is there a quick way to have the form part for home_goal_min as a text field and allow the user to enter the numbers split by comma, for example as: "23,45,52" would populate home_goal_min with the array [23,45,52]

Answer 1

You have <%= f.number_field :home_goal_min %>
Shouldn't it be <%= p.number_field :home_goal_min %>?
Edit:
I don't think you can submit Arrays through forms without using javascript. Here's the simplest solution:
In the form:
<%= f.text_field :home_goal_mins_list, placeholder: "A comma-separated list of times of the goals" %>
In the model:
def home_goal_mins_list=(value)
self.home_goal_mins = value.split(",").map(&:strip)
end
def home_goal_mins_list
self.home_goal_mins.map(&:to_s).join(", ")
end
HOWEVER
If I were you, I would just make this data into its own table. Generally, it's a bad practice to use array fields unless your database is already storing a lot of unstructured data

Answer 2

Firstly, you can pass in array through a form.
It is done by appending [] to the end of the name of the inputs.
For example, your form contains:
<input name='home_goal_min[]' value='100'>
<input name='home_goal_min[]' value='200'>
<input name='home_goal_min[]' value='300'>
Upon form submission, your params will look like:
params[:home_goal_min] => ['100', '200', '300']
Docs here:
http://guides.rubyonrails.org/v3.2.9/form_helpers.html
Section 7.1 Basic Structures
However, reading through your situation, I don't think you need to pass in an array. As Ben noted in his answer, you can parse a single field before saving it. I would suggest doing it in the form object, as model has nothing to do with parsing form data.