Rails - map form values to database - ruby-on-rails

Question

How can I set up my Model so fields project_score, employee_score, and company_score all map their values to the database? This is what I mean:
'Low' maps to 1
'High' maps to 2
'Very High' maps to 3
'Urgent' maps to 4
Is there a way to get the textual output in my views, and separately convert that text back into the numbers before saving? Thanks.

Answer 1

I think what you're asking is as follows
<%= form_for #something do |f| %>
<%= f.select :project_score, [["Low", 1], ["High", 2], ["Very High", 3], ["Urgent", 4]] %>
<%= f.select :employee_score, [["Low", 1], ["High", 2], ["Very High", 3], ["Urgent", 4]] %>
<%= f.select :company_score, [["Low", 1], ["High", 2], ["Very High", 3], ["Urgent", 4]] %>
<% end %>
Alternatively, if you had your Scores in a database table with an id and name column.
<%= form_for #something do |f| %>
<%= f.select :project_score_id, Score.all.map{|s| [s.name, s.id]} %>
<% end %>
Where you would create an association to the score
belongs_to :project_score, :class_name => 'Score'
rather than use the integer. This would also mean you change your fields to project_score_id, employee_score_id, company_score_id
You could also create a custom FormBuilder that would create some form of score_select to make it easier down the road: http://code.alexreisner.com/articles/form-builders-in-rails.html.
When displaying, you'll also need some form of helper method to display the appropriate one:
module ScoreHelper
def score_display(score)
case score
when 1
"Low"
when 2
"High"
when 3
"Very High"
when 4
"Urgent"
end
end
end
# in your view
<%= score_display(#something.project_score) %>
Or if you have took the Score table and belongs_to association approach
<%= #something.project_score.name %>

Answer 2

You can set-up you model to return something like this:
RATINGS = [
["Low", 1],
["High", 2],
["Very High", 3],
["Urgent", 4]
]
Then <%= obj.select Model::FREQUENCY.each { |w| w } %> in the View.