Ruby on Rails Drop Down Box not committing to database (Model) - ruby-on-rails

Question

I have a rails form to collect information on people for a family tree application. There are two drop down boxes that are used to assign the parents of the person being edited/created, however when a selection is made in either, or both, of these boxes, it is not committed to the database. It doesn't throw any exceptions, however when I check the database, the fatherID and motherID fields remain as null.
Here is the complete code for the form:
Does anybody have any ideas where I'm going astray?
Thanks.
<%= form_for(#person) do |f| %>
<% if #person.errors.any? %>
<div id="error_explanation">
<h2><%= pluralize(#person.errors.count, "error") %> prohibited this person from being saved:</h2>
<ul>
<% #person.errors.full_messages.each do |msg| %>
<li><%= msg %></li>
<% end %>
</ul>
</div>
<% end %>
<div class="field">
<%= f.label :FirstName %><br>
<%= f.text_field :FirstName %>
</div>
<div class="field">
<%= f.label :LastName %><br>
<%= f.text_field :LastName %>
</div>
<div class="field">
<%= f.label :MaidenName %><br>
<%= f.text_field :MaidenName %>
</div>
<div class="field">
<%= f.label :Sex %><br>
<%= f.select(:Sex, options_for_select([['Male', 'M'], ['Female', 'F']]))%>
</div>
<div class="field">
<p>Parents:</p>
Mother: <%= select(:motherID, options_from_collection_for_select(Person.all, :id, :FirstName), :include_blank => true)%>
Father: <%= select(:fatherID, options_from_collection_for_select(Person.all, :id, :FirstName), :include_blank => true)%>
<div class="actions">
<%= f.submit %>
</div>
<% end %>
Controller code
class PeopleController < ApplicationController
before_action :set_person, only: [:show, :edit, :update, :destroy]
# GET /people
# GET /people.json
def index
#people = Person.all
end
# GET /people/1
# GET /people/1.json
def show
end
# GET /people/new
def new
#person = Person.new
end
# GET /people/1/edit
def edit
end
# POST /people
# POST /people.json
def create
#person = Person.new(person_params)
respond_to do |format|
if #person.save
format.html { redirect_to #person, notice: 'Person was successfully created.' }
format.json { render action: 'show', status: :created, location: #person }
else
format.html { render action: 'new' }
format.json { render json: #person.errors, status: :unprocessable_entity }
end
end
end
# PATCH/PUT /people/1
# PATCH/PUT /people/1.json
def update
respond_to do |format|
if #person.update(person_params)
format.html { redirect_to #person, notice: 'Person was successfully updated.' }
format.json { head :no_content }
else
format.html { render action: 'edit' }
format.json { render json: #person.errors, status: :unprocessable_entity }
end
end
end
# DELETE /people/1
# DELETE /people/1.json
def destroy
#person.destroy
respond_to do |format|
format.html { redirect_to people_url }
format.json { head :no_content }
end
end
private
# Use callbacks to share common setup or constraints between actions.
def set_person
#person = Person.find(params[:id])
end
# Never trust parameters from the scary internet, only allow the white list through.
def person_params
params.require(:person).permit(:FirstName, :LastName, :MaidenName, :Sex)
end
end
Model Code
class Person < ActiveRecord::Base
has_ancestry
end

Answer 1

:motherID and :fatherID need to be in params.require(:person).permit(:FirstName, :LastName, :MaidenName, :Sex) otherwise the controller does not pass these values to the model for them to be saved.
For more information about strong parameters, see the rails guide: http://guides.rubyonrails.org/action_controller_overview.html#strong-parameters