Rails - How to validate Form with Nested Attributes? - ruby-on-rails

Question

I am creating a nested form with attributes from different models. I expect all the required attributes to be valid, before a new object is saved.
<%= form for #product do |f| %>
<%= f.fields_for #customer do |g| %>
<%= g.label :name %>
<%= g.text_field :name %>
<%= g.label :email %>
<%= g.text_field :email %>
<%= g.label :city %>
<%= g.text_field :city %>
<%= g.label :state %>
<%= g.text_field :state %>
<%= g.label :zipcode %>
<%= g.text_field :zipcode %>
<% end %>
<%= f.label :product %>
<%= f.text_field :product %>
<%= f.label :quantity %>
<%= number_field(:quantity, in 1..10) %>
<% end %>
Here are my models
class Product < ActiveRecord::Base
belongs_to :customer
validates_associated :customer
validates :product, :presence => "true"
end
class Customer < ActiveRecord::Base
has_one :product
validates :name, :email, presence: true
validates :email, format: { with: /[A-Za-z\d+][#][A-Za-z\d+][.][A-Za-z]{2,20}\z/ }
validates :city, presence: true
validates :zipcode, format: { with: /\A\d{5}\z/ }
end
I added validates_associated to my Product Model, so my form_for #product should require all the customer validations to pass. That means name, email, city and zipcode have to be there and have to be formatted properly.
I fiddled around, and submitted the form without filling in the Customer required fields, and the form was considered valid.
I don't understand where my mistake is.
EDIT
Alright, so by adding validates :customer, the customer attributes are now required. But they aren't actually saved to the database. I think this has to do with my params
def product_params
params.require(:product).permit(:product, :quantity)
end
Do I need to add my Customer Params to my permitted params list?

Answer 1

The validates_associated method only validates the associated object if the object exists, so if you leave the form fields blank, the Product you are creating/editing will validate, because there is no associated Customer.
Instead, assuming you're using Rails 4+, you want to use accepts_nested_attributes_for :customer, along with validates :customer, presence: true in order to required the customer fields in your product form.
If you're using Rails 3, then accepts_nested_attributes_for will not work for a belongs_to association. Instead, your Customer class will need to use accepts_nested_attributes_for :product, and you will need to alter your form view accordingly.
UPDATE
You also need to allow your controller action to accept parameters for the :customer association:
def product_params
params.require(:product).permit(:product, :quantity, :customer_attributes => [:name, :email, :city, :state, :zipcode])
end
It's worth noting that because there is no :id field in your customer form fields, and no :customer_id field in your product form fields, you will create a new customer every time you successfully submit the product form.

Answer 2

try this out:
In Controller create an instance of a product and associated customer as follows:
#product = Product.new
#customer = #product.build_customer
in use this code for form
<%= form for #product do |f| %>
<%= f.fields_for :customer do |g| %>
<%= g.label :name %>
<%= g.text_field :name %>
<%= g.label :email %>
<%= g.text_field :email %>
<%= g.label :city %>
<%= g.text_field :city %>
<%= g.label :state %>
<%= g.text_field :state %>
<%= g.label :zipcode %>
<%= g.text_field :zipcode %>
<% end %>
<%= f.label :product %>
<%= f.text_field :product %>
<%= f.label :quantity %>
<%= number_field(:quantity, in 1..10) %>
<% end %>
i.e use :customer symbol instead of #customer instance variable.
and use accepts_nested_attributes_for helper method in Product model as #Charles said

Answer 3

Complementing the other answers, I control what I receive in the controller, avoiding further action and noticing if a value is not the one I want.
def update
if params[:customer][:product_attributes]["0"][:name] == ""
redirect_to customer_path(#incident), alert: 'You need to add a name'
else
respond_to do |format|
if #customer.update(customer_params)
format.html { redirect_to customer_path(#customer), notice: 'Succesfully updated' }
format.json { render :show, status: :ok, location: #customer }
else
format.html { render :edit }
format.json { render json: #customer.errors, status: :unprocessable_entity }
end
end
end
end