Rails 4 - checkboxes for has_and_belongs_to_many association - ruby-on-rails

I recently had a problem getting checkboxes to work for a has_and_belongs_to_many (HABTM) association in Rails 4. I was able to find the information on how to get it working correctly in a few disparate places, but thought it would be good to document the few simple steps necessary to get it working correctly in one place here on StackOverflow.
As a setup assume a model of Kennel with a HABTM association to Handler.
class Kennel
has_and_belongs_to_many :handlers
end

This is all you need to do for the form: Don't do it manually when there is a built in helper.
<%= form_for #kennel do |f| %>
<%= f.collection_check_boxes(:handler_ids, Handler.all, :id, :to_s) %>
<% end %>

The form should have something like this:
<%= form_for(#kennel) do |form| %>
...
<div class="field">
<div class="field_head">Handlers</div>
<%= hidden_field_tag("kennel[handler_ids][]", nil) %>
<% Handler.order(:name).each do |handler| %>
<label><%= check_box_tag("kennel[handler_ids][]", id, id.in?(#kennel.handlers.collect(&:id))) %> <%= handler.name %></label>
<% end %>
</div>
...
<% end %>
The hidden_field_tag allows the user to uncheck all the boxes and successfully remove all the associations.
The controller needs to allow the parameter through strong parameters in the permitted_params method:
params.permit(kennel: [:city, :state
{handler_ids: []},
:description, ...
])
References:
http://railscasts.com/episodes/17-habtm-checkboxes
https://coderwall.com/p/_1oejq

I implement has_and_belongs_to_many association this way:
model/role
class Role < ActiveRecord::Base
has_and_belongs_to_many :users
end
model/user
class User < ActiveRecord::Base
has_and_belongs_to_many :roles
end
users/_form.html.erb
---
----
-----
<div class="field">
<% for role in Role.all %>
<div>
<%= check_box_tag "user[role_ids][]", role.id, #user.roles.include?(role) %>
<%= role.name %>
</div>
<% end %>
</div>
users_controller.rb
def user_params
params.require(:user).permit(:name, :email, { role_ids:[] })
end
Intermediate table_name should be roles_users and there should be two fields:
role_id
user_id

Related

unpermitted attributes even after whitelisting in rails 5

project details -> rails 5.1 and ruby 2.4.1
I'm trying to create a simple todo app. my problem is with nested model forms.
if i create a project without any task and i save it. then if i want to edit the project and add some tasks, tasks fields are not showing up. If i add tasks while creating the projects everything works as expected.in edit page i can see both project and tasks and i can edit as well.
below are my 2 models. I didnt use nested routes. just using the nested model forms.
class Project < ApplicationRecord
has_many :tasks, inverse_of: :project, dependent: :destroy
validates :name, presence: :true
validates :description, presence: :true
accepts_nested_attributes_for :tasks, reject_if: proc { |attributes| attributes[:name].blank? }
end
class Task < ApplicationRecord
belongs_to :project, inverse_of: :tasks
end
Below is my _form partial for new and edit.
<%= form_for #project do |form| %>
<% if #project.errors.any? %>
<div id="error_explanation">
<h2><%= pluralize(#project.errors.count, "error") %> prohibited this project from being saved:</h2>
<ul>
<% #project.errors.full_messages.each do |message| %>
<li><%= message %></li>
<% end %>
</ul>
</div>
<% end %>
<div class="field">
<%= form.label :name %>
<%= form.text_field :name, id: :project_name %>
</div>
<div class="field">
<%= form.label :description %>
<%= form.text_field :description, id: :project_description %>
</div>
<%= form.fields_for :tasks do |task_form| %>
<div class="field">
<%= task_form.label :task_name %>
<%= task_form.text_field :name, id: :task_name %>
</div>
<div class="field">
<%= task_form.label :task_description %>
<%= task_form.text_field :description, id: :task_description %>
</div>
<% end %>
<div class="actions">
<%= form.submit %>
</div>
<% end %>
white listing of the project controller is given below.
def project_params
params.require(:project).permit(:name, :description, tasks_attributes: [:id, :name, :description])
end
Any help is appreciated
-Ajith
if i create a project without any task and i save it. then if i want to edit the project and add some tasks, tasks fields are not showing up.
... is how it is actually supposed to be. So your problem most likely is not related to Strong Parameters problem, as I do not see any obvious problems in your view file and your project_params method. Now since you don't want that this behaviour, you'll probably want something like the following which builds up 1 or more task objects by default if there's no task object associated to theproject yet, so that there will always be at least one group of task fields when you're creating or editing a project.
app/controllers/projects_controller.rb
class ProjectsController < ApplicationController
def new
#project = Project.new
#project.tasks.build
# the above code just above is the same as below
# #project.tasks << Task.new
# now you can call this again like below, if you want 2 groups of `tasks` fields when you're creating a Project
#project.tasks.build
end
def edit
#project = Project.find(params[:id])
# this project may not yet have a `Task` object associated to it; if so we build a `Task` object like so
# this builds 3 `Task` objects; you can just use one below if you just want to show one in your edit form.
if #project.tasks.count == 0
#project.tasks.build
#project.tasks.build
#project.tasks.build
end
end
end
P.S. you may be interested in cocoon gem if you want to have a form that can build dynamic nested attributes automatically for you (like for example you want 2 buttons like the following) '(Add more task)' and '(Remove this task)`

Rails/ActiveRecord - association not saving

I can't get my CheckIn record to save because the associated Tenancy isn't saving.
I have three models with associations:
class Property < ApplicationRecord
has_many :tenancies
end
class Tenancy < ApplicationRecord
belongs_to :property
has_many :check_ins
end
class CheckIn < ApplicationRecord
belongs_to :tenancy
accepts_nested_attributes_for :tenancy
end
I want the CheckIn new action to create both the CheckIn and the associated Tenancy:
def new
#check_in = CheckIn.new
#check_in.build_tenancy.property_id = params[:property_id]
end
I have to include the property_id part otherwise the Tenancy won't save.
The form in check_ins/new.html.erb:
<%= form_for #check_in, url: property_check_ins_path do |f| %>
<%= f.label :date_time %>
<%= f.datetime_select :date_time, {minute_step: 15} %>
<%= f.label :tenancy %>
<%= f.fields_for :tenancy do |i| %>
<%= i.date_select :start_date %>
<% end %>
<%= f.submit "Create Check In" %>
<% end %>
I've added tenancy attributes to the strong params in the CheckInsController:
def check_in_params
params.require(:check_in).permit(:tenancy_id, :date_time, tenancy_attributes: [:start_date])
end
It's worth noting that the check_ins routes are nested in properties:
resources :properties do
resources :check_ins, only: [:new, :create]
end
So the problem is that by the time I get to the create action in the CheckInsController, the tenancy that I built has disappeared. I'm not sure how and when each of the records should be being saved and the slight complexity of what I'm trying to achieve has made it quite difficult to find relevant help so any ideas?
I'm using Rails 5.
The problem was that the property attached to the tenancy was being forgotten. I removed the property attachment from the new action:
def new
#check_in = CheckIn.new
#check_in.build_tenancy
end
Added a hidden field for property_id to the form (as well as adding :property_id to the strong params):
<%= f.fields_for :tenancy do |i| %>
<%= i.date_select :start_date %>
<%= i.hidden_field :property_id, value: params[:property_id] %>
<% end %>
And saved the tenancy in the CheckIn create action, prior to saving the check in itself:
def create
#check_in = CheckIn.new(check_in_params)
#check_in.tenancy.save
if #check_in.save
redirect_to property_check_in_path(#check_in.tenancy.property.id, #check_in)
else
render :new
end
end
I'd certainly be interested if anyone could pick holes in this solution or offer a better one.
Using nested resources (check_ins depends from properties) you create a namespaces routes. form_for helper ( rails guides - form helpers ) when you build your form, need a Property reference also.
I try to explain me better with an example:
#checks_controller.rb
def new
#property = Property.new
#check_in = #property.build_check_ins
#check_in.build_tenancy
end
#check_ins/new.html.erb
<%= form_for [#property, #check_in], url: property_check_ins_path do |f| %>
<%= f.label :date_time %>
<%= f.datetime_select :date_time, {minute_step: 15} %>
<%= f.label :tenancy %>
<%= f.fields_for :tenancy do |i| %>
<%= i.date_select :start_date %>
<% end %>
<%= f.submit "Create Check In" %>
<% end %>
I haven't tried this code, but I hope this give you at least a way to follow to solve your problem.

Nested model form with mutliple has_many/belongs_to associations

I have three models:
class Rate < ActiveRecord::Base
attr_accessible :user_id, :car_id, :rate
belongs_to :user
belongs_to :car
end
class User < ActiveRecord::Base
attr_accessible :name
has_many :rates
accepts_nested_attributes_for :rates
end
class Car < ActiveRecord::Base
attr_accessible :name
has_many :rates
accepts_nested_attributes_for :rates
end
And one controller:
class UsersController < ResourceController
def new
# Assume user is loaded
#user.rates.build
end
end
I'm trying to build a nested form that will associate a list of users/cars and their associated rates.
Something like:
<% form_for #user do |f| %>
<%= #user.name %><br />
<% Car.all.each do |car| %>
<%= car.name %><br />
<%= f.fields_for :rates do |r| %>
<%= r.number_field :rate %>
<% end %>
<% end %>
<% end %>
The problem is that I would like the Rate model to store data as follows:
USER_ID CAR_ID RATE
1 1 10
1 2 20
1 3 30
2 1 40
3 2 50
I cannot figure out how to properly build the fields_for helper to build the proper params for both the user_id and the car_id.
Something like:
user[car=1][rate]
user[car=2][rate]
I've tried being more explicit with the fields_for like this:
<%= r.fields_for 'user[car][rate]' %>
But it still doesn't build out the nested parameters properly. The car parameter is not correctly identified.
Any help would be appreciated! Thanks.
EDIT:
The controller action has to be under user. The example above has been shortened for brevity but other user-related attributes are available through the form so it has to use the users controller.
ANSWER:
I figured out a way to do it. I've added my own answer that explains it.
<% form_for #user do |f| %>
<%= #user.name %><br />
<%= f.fields_for :rates do |r| %>
<% Car.all.each do |car| %>
<%= car.name %><br />
<%= r.number_field :rate %>
<% end %>
<% end %>
<% end %>
This may be solution of your problem. Just check it.
The form is going to create a new rate instead of a new user, so the method should be in RatesController instead of UsersController.
With this logic the problem seems solved. You can write field_for rate[user] and field_for rate[car]
I think I've got it figured out.
In my controller, I've modified the build method as follows:
Car.all.each { |c| #user.rates.build(car_id: c.id) } if #user.rates.count == 0
Then, in my model, I need the following:
attr_accessible :rates_attributes
Finally, the fields_for block should look like this (remember, this is in the #user form object f):
<%= f.fields_for :rates do |r| %>
<%= r.hidden_field :car_id %>
<%= r.object.car.name %><br />
<%= r.number_field :rate %>
<% end %>
This builds the params hash properly and create the rate model entries when the form is submitted.
The check on existing user rates in the controller will ensure that the existing values are used in the form and new ones are not built (which I thought build took into consideration... ?).

Rails has_many checkboxes with extra attribtues

We have the following code working for a complex rails form with checkboxes. I'm not really happy with the solution we have in place and I was wondering if anyone knows of a more proper way to do this in rails. All the code below is working I just want to know if there is a cleaner approach.
In my Admins controller I want to remove the need to call the following code on each update.
#user.admin.school_admin_roles.destroy_all
params[:roles].each do |school_role|
ids = school_role.split('_')
#user.admin.school_admin_roles.find_or_create_by_school_id_and_school_role_id(ids[0], ids[1])
end if !params[:roles].nil?
So I basically want to be able to call #user.update_attributes(params[:user]) and have rails take care of creating the needed relationships for me. I have that working with AccountRole in the form below. I want to know if there is a way to do the same thing with SchoolRole given I have an extra variable school_id in the join table.
We have the following form for editing a user and assigning roles
Screenshot of form ->
http://i.stack.imgur.com/PJwbf.png
I have the following form where an admin can edit other users and assign account based roles and school based roles via checkboxes. The account based roles were easy to implement. The school based rules are a bit complicated since the join table school_admin_roles has school_id, user_id, role_id fields. We had to implement the school roles part of the form in a rather hackish way. We have the form implemented like this - notice how we hacked together school.id.to_s+'_'+role.id.to_s into the same checkbox on school roles.
In the Admins controller's update function we manually destroy all school_admin roles on each update then loop through the school roles params do a split on the ids on '-' then manually re-create each school based role. I really hate the way we've had to go about this. Could anyone shed some light on a cleaner more rails centric approach to solving this scenario?
The form -
<%= form_for #user, :url => {:controller => 'admins', :action => 'update'} do |f| %>
<%= f.label :username %>
<%= f.text_field :username %>
<%= f.fields_for :admin do |uf| %>
<div class="field">
<%= uf.label :first_name %>
<%= uf.text_field :first_name %>
</div>
<label>Admin Permissions</label>
#account level permissions works fine
<%= hidden_field_tag "#{uf.object_name}[account_role_ids][]" %>
<% AccountRole.find(:all).each do |role| %>
<div class="account_role">
<%= check_box_tag "#{uf.object_name}[account_role_ids][]", role.id, #user.admin.account_roles.include?(role)%>
<%= role.name %>
</div>
<% end %>
#school level permissions a bit of a hack
<%= hidden_field_tag "#{uf.object_name}[school_role_ids][]" %>
<% SchoolRole.find(:all).each_with_index do |role, index| %>
<div class="school_role">
<%= check_box_tag "#{uf.object_name}[school_role_ids][]",role.id, #user.admin.school_roles.include?(role) %>
<%= role.name %>
<span class="advanced_box admin_permissions" <% if #user.admin.school_roles.include?(role) %>style="display:inline"<% end %>>
<div class="content" id="perm_<%= index %>">
<h4><%= role.name %></h4>
<% uf.object.account.schools.each do |school|%>
<div>
<%= check_box_tag "roles[]", school.id.to_s+'_'+role.id.to_s, role.school_admin_roles.where(:admin_id => uf.object.id).collect(&:school_id).include?(school.id)%>
<%= school.name %>
</div>
<% end %>
<%= link_to 'Done', '#', :class => "done" %>
</div>
Advanced
</span>
</div>
<% end %>
</div>
<% end %>
The controller
class AdminsController < ApplicationController
def update
#user = User.find(params[:id])
if #user.update_attributes(params[:user])
# TODO find a way to refactor this
#user.admin.school_admin_roles.destroy_all
params[:roles].each do |school_role|
ids = school_role.split('_')
#user.admin.school_admin_roles.find_or_create_by_school_id_and_school_role_id(ids[0], ids[1])
end if !params[:roles].nil?
#
flash[:notice] = "Successfully updated Admin."
redirect_to admins_path
else
render "edit"
end
end
end
Given the following models
class User < ActiveRecord::Base
has_one :parent
has_one :admin
has_many :scool_admin_roles
has_many :account_admin_roles
end
class AccountAdminRole < ActiveRecord::Base
before_save :set_account_id
belongs_to :admin
belongs_to :account_role
end
class SchoolAdminRole < ActiveRecord::Base
belongs_to :admin
belongs_to :school_role
belongs_to :school
end
class SchoolRole < ActiveRecord::Base
has_many :school_admin_roles
end
class AccountRole < ActiveRecord::Base
has_many :account_admin_role
end
When I face code that I know smells bad, usually it leads me to the design.
In this case, the problem is the database table design.
You are hacking the value passed from a checkbox with a delimiter because the "join" table does more than just join. I believe that the relationship to school belongs_to the SchoolRole and not the SchoolAdminRole. Changing this will create a pattern much like your AccountRole.
Correcting the model design, might be a bit painful now, but it is much cleaner and will be maintainable in the future. You will thank yourself later.
We refactored the code above as follows
In the model we added accepts_nested_attributes_for :school_admin_roles, :reject_if => proc { |attr| attr['school_role_id'].blank? }
and added school_admin_roles_attributes to attr_accessible
class Admin < ActiveRecord::Base
belongs_to :account
belongs_to :user
has_many :school_admin_roles
has_many :school_roles, :through => :school_admin_roles
has_many :account_admin_roles
has_many :account_roles, :through => :account_admin_roles
accepts_nested_attributes_for :account
accepts_nested_attributes_for :school_admin_roles, :reject_if => proc { |attr| attr['school_role_id'].blank? }
attr_accessible :account_role_ids, :email, :first_name, :last_name, :account_id, :user_id, :account_attributes, :school_admin_roles_attributes
default_scope where(:deleted => false)
end
We then built the form as follows
<% index2 = 0 %>
<% SchoolRole.find(:all).each_with_index do |role, index| %>
<div class="school_role">
<%= check_box_tag "school_roles[]",role.id, #user.admin.school_roles.include?(role) %>
<%= role.name %>
<span class="advanced_box admin_permissions" <% if #user.admin.school_roles.include?(role) %>style="display:inline"<% end %>>
div class="content" id="perm_<%= index %>">
<h4><%= role.name %></h4>
<% uf.object.account.schools.each do |school|%>
<div>
<%= check_box_tag "#{uf.object_name}[school_admin_roles_attributes][#{index2}][school_role_id]", role.id, role.school_admin_roles.where(:admin_id => uf.object.id).collect(&:school_id).include?(school.id)%>
<%= school.name %>
<%= hidden_field_tag "#{uf.object_name}[school_admin_roles_attributes][#{index2}][school_id]", school.id %>
</div>
<% index2 += 1 %>
<% end %>
<%= link_to 'Done', '#', :class => "done" %>
</div>
Advanced
</span>
</div>
<% end %>
</div>
<% end %>
Which then enabled us to refactor the controller without splitting the ids but we still have to call destroy all each time which I can live with.
def update
#user = User.find(params[:id])
#user.admin.school_admin_roles.destroy_all
if #user.update_attributes(params[:user])
flash[:notice] = "Successfully updated Admin."
redirect_to admins_path
else
render "edit"
end
end

Ruby on rails: fields_for do nothing if defined submodel_attributes=

I have such code in new.erb.html:
<% form_for(#ratification) do |f| %>
<%= f.error_messages %>
<% f.fields_for :user do |fhr| %>
<p>
<%= fhr.label :url %><br />
<%= fhr.text_field_with_auto_complete :url %>
</p>
<% end %>
<% end %>
If i have empty Ratification.rb it is ok, fields_for works ok.
But if I wrote:
class Ratification < ActiveRecord::Base
belongs_to :user
accepts_nested_attributes_for :user
end
or
class Ratification < ActiveRecord::Base
belongs_to :user
def user_attributes=(attr)
...
end
end
f.fields_for yields nothing! Why!?
Rails: 2.3.8
Plugin for autocomplete: repeated_auto_complete
just add an = (EQUAL) after <% in the f.fields_for
like this:
<%= f.fields_for :user do |fhr| %>
<p>
<%= fhr.label :url %><br />
<%= fhr.text_field_with_auto_complete :url %>
</p>
<% end %>
obs: you have to do the same in Rails 3
I believe you need to build a user in your controller, like
# controller
def new
#ratification = Ratification.new
#ratification.build_user
end
What about
<% f.fields_for :user, #ratification.user do |fhr| %>
# ...
<% end %>
?
I believe if you use
<% f.fields_for :user do |fhr| %>
you should have #user as instance variable. But in your case you have #ratification.user.
You cannot redefine user_attributes since you will overwrite the standar behaviour that ActiveRecord specifies for it. If still knowing this you need to redefine user_attributes try using alias_method_chain.
Aren't you doing this wrong? If Ratification belongs to a user, then the user model should accept nested attributes for ratifications, not the other way around.
So if users have many ratifications, and if you want to submit multiple ratifications for a user in a single form, then you would use accept nested attributes for ratification in the user model.
And you would do somewhere in the users controller
#user = User.new
2.times { #user.ratifications.build } # if you want to insert 2 at a time
I tried to do something similar in the console:
#user = User.new
#user.ratifications.build # this works
But if I did
#ratification = Ratification.new
#ratification.user.build # this fails
I just encountered the same problem and was able to fix it. The problem was that fields_for takes :user as an argument while the argument should be #ratification.user
Hence, replace
<% f.fields_for :user do |fhr| %>
with
<% f.fields_for #ratification.user do |fhr| %>
That's it.

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