Rails 4: issues with strong parameters and passing data - ruby-on-rails

Question

Good day, community.
First of all, I'm a newbie in Rails. I did some thing with it in College 4 years ago, and now I decided to get back on it. Lots of things changed in version 4.
Anyway, I am experiencing issues with strong parameters. Here's what I have:
I'm using Ruby 2.1, Rails 4.1.
I am trying to create a form for a hockey match with parameters (id, team_a, team_b, arena, date, score_a, score_b). team is a table (id, name) and arena is a table (id, name).
When I pass the parameters from form to the controller, the json parameters seem to be okay. But, when it is converted into match_params it is missing some values from parameters from other table. For example, I am passing arena_id: 12, but it shows arena_id: as blank.
I've spent over 5 days on this thing. Any help appreciated.
Some of the code is bellow. Let me know if you need me to provide more information...
migration data
class CreateMatches < ActiveRecord::Migration
def change
create_table :matches do |t|
t.references :team_a, default: 1 # unknown
t.references :team_b, default: 1 # unknown
t.references :arena, default: 1 # unknown
t.datetime :date
t.integer :score_a
t.integer :score_b
t.timestamps
end
add_index :matches, :team_a_id
add_index :matches, :team_b_id
add_index :matches, :arena_id
end
end
class CreateTeams < ActiveRecord::Migration
def change
create_table :teams do |t|
t.string :name, null: false
t.timestamps
end
end
end
class CreateArena < ActiveRecord::Migration
def change
create_table :arena do |t|
t.string :name, null: false
t.timestamps
end
end
end
match.rb (model)
class Match < ActiveRecord::Base
belongs_to :team_a, :class_name => 'Team'
belongs_to :team_b, :class_name => 'Team'
belongs_to :arena
end
team.rb (model)
class Team < ActiveRecord::Base
has_many :matches
accepts_nested_attributes_for :matches
end
arena.rb (model)
class Arena < ActiveRecord::Base
has_many :matches
accepts_nested_attributes_for :matches
end
matches_controller.rb
class MatchesController < ApplicationController
before_action :set_match, only: [:show, :edit, :score, :update, :destroy]
include ActionView::Helpers::DateHelper
def index
# some code
end
def show
# some code
end
def new
#match = Match.new
#teams = Team.all.order("name ASC")
#arenas = Arena.all.order("name ASC")
end
# GET /matches/1/edit
def edit
# some code
end
def create
puts YAML::dump(match_params) # Checking passed params. Output is bellow
#match = Match.new(match_params)
respond_to do |format|
if #match.save
format.html { redirect_to #match, notice: 'Match was successfully created.' }
format.json { render action: 'show', status: :created, location: #match }
else
format.html { render action: 'new' }
format.json { render json: #match.errors, status: :unprocessable_entity }
end
end
end
def update
end
def destroy
end
private
# Use callbacks to share common setup or constraints between actions.
def set_match
#match = Match.find(params[:id])
end
# Never trust parameters from the scary internet, only allow the white list through.
def match_params
params.require(:match).permit(:date, :score_a, :score_b, team_a_id: [:id, :name], team_b_id: [:id, :name], arena_id: [:id, :name])
end
public
end
teams_controller.rb
class TeamsController < ApplicationController
before_action :set_team, only: [:show, :edit, :update, :destroy]
layout :false
def index
#teams = Team.all
end
def show
end
def new
#team = Team.new
end
def edit
end
def create
#team = Team.new(team_params)
respond_to do |format|
if #team.save
format.json { render action: 'show', status: :created, location: #team }
format.html { redirect_to #team, notice: 'Team was successfully created.' }
else
format.html { render action: 'new' }
format.json { render json: #team.errors, status: :unprocessable_entity }
end
end
end
def update
respond_to do |format|
if #team.update(team_params)
format.json { head :no_content }
format.html { redirect_to #team, notice: 'Team was successfully updated.' }
else
format.html { render action: 'edit' }
format.json { render json: #team.errors, status: :unprocessable_entity }
end
end
end
def destroy
#team.destroy
respond_to do |format|
format.html { redirect_to teams_url }
format.json { head :no_content }
end
end
private
# Use callbacks to share common setup or constraints between actions.
def set_team
#team = Team.find(params[:id])
end
# Never trust parameters from the scary internet, only allow the white list through.
def team_params
params.require(:team).permit(:name)
end
end
arenas_controller.rb
class ArenasController < ApplicationController
before_action :set_arena, only: [:show, :edit, :update, :destroy]
layout false
def index
#arena = Arena.all
end
def show
end
def new
#arena = Arena.new
end
def edit
end
def create
#arena = Arena.new(arena_params)
respond_to do |format|
if #arena.save
format.json { render action: 'show', status: :created, location: #arena }
format.html { redirect_to #arena, notice: 'Arena was successfully created.' }
else
format.html { render action: 'new' }
format.json { render json: #arena.errors, status: :unprocessable_entity }
end
end
end
def update
respond_to do |format|
if #arena.update(arena_params)
format.json { head :no_content }
format.html { redirect_to #arena, notice: 'Arena was successfully updated.' }
else
format.html { render action: 'edit' }
format.json { render json: #arena.errors, status: :unprocessable_entity }
end
end
end
def destroy
#arena.destroy
respond_to do |format|
format.html { redirect_to arenas_url }
format.json { head :no_content }
end
end
private
# Use callbacks to share common setup or constraints between actions.
def set_arena
#arena = Arena.find(params[:id])
end
# Never trust parameters from the scary internet, only allow the white list through.
def arena_params
params.require(:arena).permit(:name)
end
end
matches/_match.html.erb
<%= form_for(#match, html: {role: 'form', class: 'form-horizontal'}) do |f| %>
<% if #match.errors.any? %>
<div id="error_explanation">
<h2><%= pluralize(#match.errors.count, "error") %> prohibited this match from being saved:</h2>
<ul>
<% #match.errors.full_messages.each do |msg| %>
<li><%= msg %></li>
<% end %>
</ul>
</div>
<% end %>
<%= f.label 'Home Team' %>
<%= f.collection_select :team_a_id, #teams, :id, :name, {prompt: true}, {class: ''} %>
<%= f.label 'Visitor Team' %>
<%= f.collection_select :team_b_id, #teams, :id, :name, {prompt: true}, {class: ''} %>
<%= f.label 'Arena' %>
<%= f.collection_select :arena_id, #arenas, :id, :name, {prompt: true}, {class: ''} %>
<%= f.label 'Date' %>
<%= f.datetime_select :date, class: 'form-control' %>
<%= f.submit value: 'Submit' %>
<% end %>
And here's what I am getting in console after dumping data:
Started POST "/matches" for 127.0.0.1 at 2014-05-06 18:24:20 -0700
Processing by MatchesController#create as HTML
Parameters: {"utf8"=>"✓", "authenticity_token"=>"0RJjnpczVkp2unG9VITyHYC89ThgELn5kVE2wYRymBU=", "match"=>{"team_a_id"=>"24", "team_b_id"=>"27", "arena_id"=>"21", "date(1i)"=>"2014", "date(2i)"=>"5", "date(3i)"=>"6", "date(4i)"=>"18", "date(5i)"=>"24"}, "commit"=>"Update"}
User Load (0.5ms) SELECT `users`.* FROM `users` WHERE `users`.`id` = 1 ORDER BY `users`.`id` ASC LIMIT 1
--- !ruby/hash:ActionController::Parameters
date(1i): '2014'
date(2i): '5'
date(3i): '6'
date(4i): '18'
date(5i): '24'
team_a_id:
team_b_id:
arena_id:
(0.2ms) BEGIN
SQL (1.5ms) INSERT INTO `matches` (`created_at`, `date`, `arena_id`, `team_a_id`, `team_b_id`, `updated_at`) VALUES ('2014-05-07 01:24:20', '2014-05-07 01:24:00', NULL, NULL, NULL, '2014-05-07 01:24:20')
(0.2ms) COMMIT
Redirected to http://localhost:3000/matches/90
Completed 302 Found in 13ms (ActiveRecord: 2.4ms)

Answer 1

Take a look at your match_params, and compare it to what parameters are being passed to your controller from your form.
def match_params
params.require(:match).permit(:date, :score_a, :score_b, team_a_id: [:id, :name], team_b_id: [:id, :name], area_id: [:id, :name])
end
Parameters: {"utf8"=>"✓", "authenticity_token"=>"0RJjnpczVkp2unG9VITyHYC89ThgELn5kVE2wYRymBU=", "match"=>{"team_a_id"=>"24", "team_b_id"=>"27", "arena_id"=>"21", "date(1i)"=>"2014", "date(2i)"=>"5", "date(3i)"=>"6", "date(4i)"=>"18", "date(5i)"=>"24"}, "commit"=>"Update"}
You're permitting your arena_id in match_params as an array called area_id, with elements :id and :name. However, it's being passed from your form as just arena_id. You should change your match_params function to:
def match_params
params.require(:match).permit(:date, :score_a, :score_b, :team_a_id, :team_b_id, :arena_id)
end
Note that I've also changed :team_a_id and :team_b_id to be consistent with what's being passed in your parameters too, although it doesn't look like you're passing :score_a or :score_b. You should check out strong parameters in the rails guides for more information.

Answer 2

Okay, I found my mistake. (Thanks to JKen13579)
I have put params in the wrong place.
It should be something like that:
def match_params
params.require(:match).permit(:date, :score_a, :score_b, :team_a_id, :team_b_id , :arena_id)
end
def team_params
params.require(:team).permit(:name, matches_params:[:id, :match_id, :name])
end
def arena_params
params.require(:arena).permit(:name, matches_params:[:id, :match_id, :name])
end
It fixed the issue.

Answer 3

everyting but name will be removed when you call this:
params.require(:arena).permit(:name)