Dealing With Multiple Objects - ruby-on-rails

Question

I am new to Rails and currently trying to add a patient to an existing dentist appointment. I am having difficulty setting up my views and controllers properly. How can I properly accomplish this?
Note: With the way I have set things up, I can create an appointment and tie it to a dentist. Of course, the patient_id is missing.
Models:
class Dentist < ActiveRecord::Base
has_many :appointments
has_many :patients, :through => :appointments
end
class Appointment < ActiveRecord::Base
belongs_to :dentists
belongs_to :patients
end
class Patient < ActiveRecord::Base
has_many :appointments
has_many :dentists, :through => :appointments
end
Schema:
ActiveRecord::Schema.define(version: 20151107052115) do
create_table "appointments", force: :cascade do |t|
t.integer "dentist_id"
t.integer "patient_id"
t.datetime "appt_date"
end
create_table "dentists", force: :cascade do |t|
t.string "name"
end
create_table "patients", force: :cascade do |t|
t.string "name"
end
end
Routes:
Rails.application.routes.draw do
concern :commentable do
resources :appointments
end
resources :dentists, concerns: :commentable
resources :patients, concerns: :commentable
end
Dentists Controller:
class DentistsController < ApplicationController
def new
#dentist = Dentist.new
end
def create
#dentist = Dentist.new(dentist_params)
if #dentist.save
redirect_to dentists_path
else
render :new
end
end
...
end
Appointments Controller:
class AppointmentsController < ApplicationController
def new
#dentist = Dentist.find(params[:dentist_id])
#appointment = #dentist.appointments.new
end
def create
#dentist = Dentist.find(params[:dentist_id])
#appointment = #dentist.appointments.new(appt_params)
if Appointment.exists?(:appt_date => #appointment.appt_date)
render :new
else
#appointment.save
redirect_to dentist_path(#dentist)
end
end
...
end
Patients Controller:
TBD
Dentists View (Show):
<p><%= #dentist.name %> DDS</p>
<% if #dentist.appointments.any? %>
<% #dentist.appointments.each do |appt| %>
<ul>
<li><%= appt.appt_date %></li>
<p><%= link_to "Edit", edit_dentist_appointment_path(#dentist, appt) %> |
<%= link_to 'Delete', dentist_appointment_path(#dentist, appt), :method => :delete,
data: {:confirm => 'Are you sure you want to delete this record?'} %> |
<%= link_to 'Add Patient', new_patient_path %></p>
</ul>
<% end %>
<% else %>
<p>There are currently no appointments scheduled</p>
<% end %>
<p><%= link_to 'Delete Dentist', dentist_path(#dentist), :method => :delete,
data: {:confirm => 'Are you sure you want to delete this record?'} %></p>
<p><%= link_to 'Create an appointment', new_dentist_appointment_path(#dentist) %></p>
<p><%= link_to 'Return to list', root_path %></p>

Answer 1

I am new to Rails
Welcome!
You need to change your belongs_to references to be singular:
class Appointment < ActiveRecord::Base
belongs_to :dentist
belongs_to :patient
end
--
Because I can't see where you're trying to achieve this functionality, I'll show you what I'd do (using the appointment#edit action):
#app/controllers/appointments_controller.rb
class AppointmentsController < ApplicationController
def edit
#appointment = Appointment.find params[:id]
end
def update
#appointment = Appointment.find params[:id]
#appointment.save appointment_params
end
private
def appointment_params
params.require(:appointment).permit(:dentist_id, :patient_id, :appt_date)
end
end
#app/views/appointments/edit.html.erb
<%= form_for #appointment do |f| %>
<%= f.collection_select :patient_id, Patient.all, :id, :name %>
<%= f.submit %>
<% end %>
--
If you're trying to set the patient from your appointments#create method, you'll be best doing this:
#app/controllers/appointments_controller.rb
class AppointmentsController < ApplicationController
def new
#dentist = Dentist.find params[:id]
#appointment = #dentist.appointments.new
end
def create
#dentist = Dentist.find params[:id]
#appointment = #dentist.appointments.new appointment_params
end
private
def appointment_params
params.require(:appointment).permit(:dentist_id, :patient_id, :appt_date)
end
end
#app/views/appointments/new.html.erb
<%= form_for #appointment do |f| %>
<%= f.collection_select :patient_id, Patient.all, :id, :name %>
<%= f.submit %>
<% end %>

Answer 2

I think what you are asking, is can you create an appointment through both the Dentist model and the Patient model at the same time eg. #dentist.#patient.apointment.new
you cannot do that. Based on the relationships you have set up, you will either want to create the appt from the Dentist, like you have now, and pass in the patient ID as an attribute, or vice-versa. OR, create through your Appointment model eg. Appointment.new(dentist: #dentist, patient: #patient, ...)