saving two Rails models with accepts_nested_attributes_for - ruby-on-rails

Question

I have two models: author and profile. Author accepts_nested_attributes_for profile. I can't figure out how to save the profile model (namely the :avatar attribute) through author.
author.rb
class Author < ActiveRecord::Base
has_one :profile
accepts_nested_attributes_for :profile
end
profile.rb
class Profile < ActiveRecord::Base
mount_uploader :avatar, AvatarUploader
belongs_to :author
end
authors_controller.rb
class AuthorsController < ApplicationController
before_action :set_author, only: [:show, :edit, :update, :destroy]
def index
#authors = Author.all.order("last_name ASC, first_name ASC")
end
def new
#author = Author.new
end
def create
#author = Author.new(author_params)
if #author.save
AuthorMailer.activate(#author).deliver
flash[:notice] = "Please check your email to activate your account."
redirect_to root_path
else
render :new
end
end
def edit
#profile = #author.build_profile
end
def update
if #author.update(author_params)
flash[:notice] = "Profile has been updated."
redirect_to #author
else
flash[:alert] = "Profile has not been updated."
render :edit
end
end
private
def author_params
params.require(:author).permit(:first_name, :last_name, :email, :password, :password_confirmation, :avatar)
end
def set_author
#author = Author.find(params[:id])
end
end
app/views/authors/edit.html.erb
<div class="center">
<h1>Edit Author</h1>
</div>
<div class="row">
<div class="col-xs-6 col-lg-4 center-block">
<%= simple_form_for(#author, :defaults => { :wrapper_html => {:class => 'form-group'}, :input_html => { :class => 'form-control' } }) do |f| %>
<%= f.input :first_name %>
<%= f.input :last_name %>
<%= f.fields_for [#author, #profile] do |p| %>
<%= p.file_field :avatar %>
<% end %>
<%= f.submit "Submit", class: "btn small btn-default" %>
<% end %>
</div>
</div>
This form doesn't save anything to my profile table.
EDIT1
updating the permit parameters didn't save anything to the profile table. But I did notice that adding the following to my authors_controller in the update action saves an incomplete record to the profile table (the avatar field is blank):
author_controller#update
if #author.update(author_params)
#profile = #author.build_profile()
#author.profile = #profile
flash[:notice] = "Profile has been updated."
redirect_to #author
else
flash[:alert] = "Profile has not been updated."
render :edit
end
I tried placing pry inside the update action and my params look like this:
{"utf8"=>"✓",
"_method"=>"patch",
"authenticity_token"=>"EROrMzOejPmMU/wzlnC5iaoTPu4pyBXelHAs3uiPA2U=",
"author"=>
{"first_name"=>"Mike",
"last_name"=>"Glaz",
"profile"=>
{"avatar"=>
#<ActionDispatch::Http::UploadedFile:0x007feb48127ab0
#content_type="image/jpeg",
#headers=
"Content-Disposition: form-data; name=\"author[profile][avatar]\"; filename=\"me_and_lekeziah.jpg\"\r\nContent-Type: image/jpeg\r\n",
#original_filename="me_and_lekeziah.jpg",
#tempfile=#<File:/tmp/RackMultipart20140504-15793-l4uu6l>>}},
"commit"=>"Submit",
"action"=>"update",
"controller"=>"authors",
"id"=>"3"}
so then I tried the following in my update action:
#profile = #author.build_profile(params[:author][:profile])
#author.profile = #profile
but then I get the following error:
ActiveModel::ForbiddenAttributesError in AuthorsController#update

Answer 1

when you use "fields_for" for a association model xxx, your params need to permit :xxx_attributes fields, which's value should be a array include it's attributes, so change your author_params method to something like this:
def author_params
params.require(:author).permit(:first_name, :last_name, :email, :password, :password_confirmation, profile_attributes: [:avatar])
end

Answer 2

First, you should update your params permitted fields as:
def author_params
params.require(:author).permit(:first_name, :last_name, :email, :password, :password_confirmation, :profile_attributes[:id, :avatar])
end
Second, you are mixing Rails form_for helper and Simple_form in your view.
change
<%= f.fields_for [#author, #profile] do |p| %>
to:
<%= f.simple_fields_for [#author, #profile] do |p| %>