Instance Variable string collection lost after render => 'new' - ruby-on-rails

Question

When I get an error creating a quote, it renders the same page it was just on and displays the errors. Unfortunately two inputs are drop down menus of strings, and they disappear when the refresh happens.
I've looked at Rail 3: instance variable not available after redirection which talks about sessions, which looks like it could be the right way to go but I'm not sure. Any help would be appreciated.
quotes controller
def new
#quote = Quote.new
#quote.items.build
#types = ["T-Shirt", "Hoodie", "Sweatpants"]
#colors = ["White", "Black", "Red", "Blue", "Green"]
end
def create
#quote = Quote.new(params[:quote])
respond_to do |format|
if #quote.save
format.html { redirect_to root_url }
flash[:success] = "Your quote is being approved. You will recieve an email shortly!"
format.json { render json: #quote, status: :created, location: #quote }
else
format.html { render :action => 'new' }
format.json { render :json => #quote.errors, :status => :unprocessable_entry }
flash[:error] = "Quote failed to create! Try again!"
end
end
end
form partial
<!-- item form -->
<%= f.input :make, collection: #types, label: 'Thread Type' %>
<%= f.input :amount, label: 'How Many' %>
<%= f.input :color, collection: #colors %>
<!-- nested form for creating a design of an item -->
<%= f.simple_fields_for :designs, :html => { :multipart => true } do |designform| %>
<%= render "customdesign", g: designform %>
<% end %>
<!-- add/remove another design -->
<%= f.link_to_add "Add Design", :designs %>
<%= f.input :note, :input_html => { :cols => 50, :rows => 3 }, label: 'Special Notes or Requests' %>
<%= f.link_to_remove "Remove" %>

Answer 1

#colors and #types are only set in the new action, and not the create action. Rendering a template does not automatically call the action method in the controller; it goes straight to the view.
A possible solution is to define helper methods for these lists:
# app/helpers/quote_helper.rb
module QuoteHelper
def possible_types
["T-Shirt", "Hoodie", "Sweatpants"]
end
end
And in your view:
<%= f.input :make, collection: possible_types, label: 'Thread Type' %>