Rails fields_for params blank - ruby-on-rails

Question

I'm trying to build a nested form for a survey and having problems with my params hash missing values from within the fields_for block.
I have the following models. The way the app works is that an admin creates a MiniPost and its MiniPostQuestions. Then a client creates a new MiniPostSurvey using one of the MiniPosts. The client then emails out SurveyInvites to users. When a user responds, a new SurveyResponse is created, along with a new QuestionAnswer for each MiniPostQuestion in the survey.
class MiniPost < ActiveRecord::Base
has_many :mini_post_questions
has_many :question_answers, through: :mini_post_questions
has_many :mini_post_surveys
belongs_to :employer
def questions
mini_post_questions
end
def surveys
mini_post_surveys
end
end
class MiniPostQuestion < ActiveRecord::Base
has_many :question_answers
belongs_to :mini_post
belongs_to :employer
def answers
question_answers
end
end
class MiniPostSurvey < ActiveRecord::Base
belongs_to :mini_post
belongs_to :employer
belongs_to :company
has_many :survey_invites
has_many :survey_responses, through: :survey_invites
def questions
mini_post.questions
end
end
class SurveyInvite < ActiveRecord::Base
belongs_to :mini_post_survey
has_many :survey_responses
def responses
survey_responses
end
end
class SurveyResponse < ActiveRecord::Base
belongs_to :survey_invite
has_many :question_answers
has_many :mini_post_questions, through: :question_answers
end
class QuestionAnswer < ActiveRecord::Base
belongs_to :survey_response
belongs_to :mini_post_question
validates :answer, presence: true
end
Here is my response form.
<div class="form-box">
<%= form_for #response, url: "/survey?key=#{#invite.key}", method: :post, html: { role: 'form' } do |f| %>
<% #questions.each do |question| %>
<div class="form-group">
<%= f.fields_for :mini_post_questions, question do |q| %>
<%= q.fields_for :question_answers, question.question_answers.build do |a| %>
<%= f.label question.question %>
<%= a.text_area :answer, class: 'form-control' %>
<%= a.hidden_field :survey_response_id, value: #survey.id %>
<% end %>
<% end %>
</div>
<% end %>
<div><%= f.submit "Submit", :class => "btn btn-primary" %></div>
<% end %>
</div>
My form renders correctly, however when I submit it, my params hash looks like this:
{"utf8"=>"✓",
"authenticity_token"=>"p8Tky2So10TH4FUUvLKhIh7j2vjNN39b3HDsF0cYE14=",
"survey_response"=>{"mini_post_questions"=>{"question_answers"=>{"answer"=>"", "survey_response_id"=>"11"}}},
"commit"=>"Submit",
"key"=>"e4fab42244db2286d471082696",
"controller"=>"surveys",
"action"=>"create"}
I would expect a mini_post_question key for each question, but I'm not sure how to get to that point.

Answer 1

I think you are on the right track, but you need to have your models accept nested attributes for the objects that you want in your form.
So I think in your SurveyResponse model, you would have
class SurveyResponse < ActiveRecord::Base
belongs_to :survey_invite
has_many :question_answers
accepts_nested_attributes_for :question_answers
has_many :mini_post_questions, through: :question_answers
end
Also, since it looks like you are not modifying the mini question here, I would say that you don't need to accept nested attributes for the questions, but just have a hidden field that assigns the mini_question_id to the question_answer
So your form should be something like this
<div class="form-box">
<%= form_for #response, url: "/survey?key=#{#invite.key}", method: :post, html: { role: 'form' } do |f| %>
<% #questions.each do |question| %>
<div class="form-group">
<%= f.fields_for :question_answers, #survey.question_answers.build do |q| %>
<%= q.label question.question %>
<%= q.text_area :answer, class: 'form-control' %>
<%= q.hidden_field :mini_post_question_id, value: question.id %>
<% end %>
</div>
<% end %>
<div><%= f.submit "Submit", :class => "btn btn-primary" %></div>
<% end %>
</div>
Since your form is accepting nested attributes for question_answers, you won't need to supply the survey_id.
This should get you closer to what you would need in your form.