Create and Update record from same field with RoR - ruby-on-rails

Question

I'm building a rails app that will be used by people to log how many steps they took on a given week.
The functionality of the application includes an activity logger that a person can enter steps into, click a week shown on a calendar, and click submit. The application will then create a record of the person's id, when the steps were taken, and how many steps. The same step logger should update the step count if the same user logs a different number of steps on a day.
I'm having trouble getting the logic into the controller to check if a step record exists that has the same user_id and step_date as the step being added.
I've looked into "find_or_initialize_by"/"find_or_create_by" but haven't had much luck.
Can anyone point me in the right direction? Code below.
Logging form (_activityLog.html.erb):
<%= simple_form_for Step.new do |f| %>
<%= f.hidden_field :user_id, :value => #user.id %>
<%= f.hidden_field :challenge_id, :value => "1" %>
<div class="input-group">
<span class="input-group-addon" id="basic-addon2">Steps I've Taken:</span>
<%= f.input :step_count, label: false, id: "step_count", class: "form-control", required: true %>
</div>
<div id="weekpicker"></div>
<%= f.input :step_date, as: :hidden, input_html: { class: 'week' } %>
<%= f.button :submit, "Log Activity", class: "submit btn-block", id: "submitWeekly" %>
<% end %>
Steps Controller (steps_controller.rb)
class StepsController < ApplicationController
before_action :set_step, only: [:show, :edit, :update, :destroy]
# GET /steps
# GET /steps.json
def index
#steps = Step.all
end
# GET /steps/1
# GET /steps/1.json
def show
redirect_to(:back)
end
# GET /steps/new
def new
#step = Step.new
end
# GET /steps/1/edit
def edit
end
# POST /steps
# POST /steps.json
def create
#step = Step.new(step_params)
respond_to do |format|
if #step.save
format.html { redirect_to #step, notice: 'Step was successfully created.' }
format.json { render :show, status: :created, location: #step }
else
format.html { render :new }
format.json { render json: #step.errors, status: :unprocessable_entity }
end
end
end
# PATCH/PUT /steps/1
# PATCH/PUT /steps/1.json
def update
respond_to do |format|
if #step.update(step_params)
format.html { redirect_to #step, notice: 'Step was successfully updated.' }
format.json { render :show, status: :ok, location: #step }
else
format.html { render :edit }
format.json { render json: #step.errors, status: :unprocessable_entity }
end
end
end
# DELETE /steps/1
# DELETE /steps/1.json
def destroy
#step.destroy
respond_to do |format|
format.html { redirect_to steps_url, notice: 'Step was successfully destroyed.' }
format.json { head :no_content }
end
end
private
# Use callbacks to share common setup or constraints between actions.
def set_step
#step = Step.find(params[:id])
end
# Never trust parameters from the scary internet, only allow the white list through.
def step_params
params.require(:step).permit(:user_id, :challenge_id, :step_date, :step_count)
end
end
Step Model (step.rb)
class Step < ActiveRecord::Base
belongs_to :user
belongs_to :challenge
end

Answer 1

Maybe something like this?
def create
# ... leaving some stuff out :)
#step = Step.where(user_id: params[:user_id], step_date: params[:step_date]).first_or_initialize(step_params) # or first_or_create
# ... other code here (leaving more stuff out)
end