Application design of controller (Rails 3) - ruby-on-rails

Question

This is hard to explain, but I will do my best:
I am building a system where user's can take courses. Courses are made up of steps, that must be taken in order. In the system there are 6 step types (Download, Presentation, Video, Text, Quiz, and Survey)
The way a user accesses a STEP currently is:
http://example.com/courses/2/course_steps/1
As you can tell course_steps are nested under courses.
Below is the show method in course steps:
def show
render "show_#{#course_step.step.step_type.name.downcase}"
end
As you can tell it basically picks a view to show_[TYPE] (quiz, survey, text..etc)
This works fine for simple steps such as a text, video, or download, but for complicated steps such as a quiz, this model does not work well for the following reasons:
How do I validate a form for a quiz or survey as I would be using a different controller (QuizAttemptsController).
It seems to break the REST principal as a quiz, survey..etc should be treated separately. (I know they are step types, but they can have their own actions and validations)
Step Model
class Step < ActiveRecord::Base
belongs_to :step_type
belongs_to :client
has_one :step_quiz, :dependent => :destroy
has_one :step_survey, :dependent => :destroy
has_one :step_text, :dependent => :destroy
has_one :step_download, :dependent => :destroy
has_one :step_video, :dependent => :destroy
has_one :step_presentation, :dependent => :destroy
has_many :course_steps, :dependent => :destroy
has_many :courses, :through => :course_steps
has_many :patient_course_steps, :dependent => :destroy
attr_accessible :step_type_id, :client_id, :title, :subtitle, :summary
validates :title, :presence=>true
validates :summary, :presence=>true
def getSpecificStepObject()
case self.step_type.name.downcase
when "text"
return StepText.find_by_step_id(self.id)
when "quiz"
return StepQuiz.find_by_step_id(self.id)
when "survey"
return StepSurvey.find_by_step_id(self.id)
when "download"
return StepDownload.find_by_step_id(self.id)
when "video"
return StepVideo.find_by_step_id(self.id)
when "presentation"
return StepPresentation.find_by_step_id(self.id)
end
end
end
Step Quiz Model:
class StepQuiz < ActiveRecord::Base
belongs_to :step, :dependent => :destroy
has_many :step_quiz_questions, :dependent => :destroy
has_many :quiz_attempts, :dependent => :destroy
accepts_nested_attributes_for :step
accepts_nested_attributes_for :step_quiz_questions, :allow_destroy => true
attr_accessible :step_id, :instructions, :step_attributes, :step_quiz_questions_attributes
validates :instructions, :presence=>true
end
CourseStep Model
class CourseStep < ActiveRecord::Base
belongs_to :step
belongs_to :course
validates_uniqueness_of :step_id, :scope => :course_id
def next_step()
Course.find(self.course.id).course_steps.order(:position).where("position >= ?", self.position).limit(1).offset(1).first
end
def previous_step()
Course.find(self.course.id).course_steps.order("position DESC").where("position <= ?", self.position).limit(1).offset(1).first
end
end
How would you suggest fixing this?

Answer 1

What you want to do is implement your Model as a Finite State Machine and continually reload the new or edit action until the desired state is reached, then your controller can display different views depending on state to allow multiple steps to happen.

Answer 2

One way I have solved the problem is by adding a member action of "submit_quiz"to the course_steps controller. I am not sure if I like this, as the code looks kind of ugly. I would appreciate feedback.(Note: I Am using CanCan so #course_step is created automagically in the course_steps_controller)
The things I don't like are:
show_quiz view has a lot of code in it
submit_quiz is in the course_steps_controller
quiz_attempt model has virtual attribute of quiz_questions (for validation purposes)
show_quiz.html.erb
<%= form_for (#quiz_attempt.blank? ? QuizAttempt.new(:started => Time.now.utc, :step_quiz_id => #course_step.step.step_quiz.id) : #quiz_attempt, :url => submit_quiz_course_course_step_path(#course_step.course, #course_step)) do |f| %>
<%= render :partial => 'shared/error_messages', :object => f.object %>
<% #course_step.step.step_quiz.step_quiz_questions.each do |quiz_question| %>
<h3><%= quiz_question.value %></h3>
<% quiz_question.step_quiz_question_choices.each do |quiz_question_choice| %>
<%= radio_button_tag("quiz_attempt[quiz_questions][#{quiz_question.id}]", quiz_question_choice.value, f.object.get_quiz_question_choice(quiz_question.id) == quiz_question_choice.value)%>
<%= quiz_question_choice.value %><br />
<% end %>
<% end %>
<%= f.hidden_field(:step_quiz_id)%>
<%= f.hidden_field(:started)%>
<%= submit_tag("Submit Quiz")%>
<% end %>
course_steps_controller.rb
def show
PatientCourseStep.viewed(current_user.id, params[:course_id], #course_step.step.id )
render "show_#{#course_step.step.step_type.name.downcase}"
end
def submit_quiz
#quiz_attempt = QuizAttempt.new(params[:quiz_attempt])
if !#quiz_attempt.save()
render 'show_quiz'
end
end
quiz_attempt.rb
class QuizAttempt < ActiveRecord::Base
belongs_to :step_quiz
belongs_to :patient
attr_accessor :quiz_questions
attr_accessible :step_quiz_id, :patient_id, :started, :ended, :correct, :incorrect, :quiz_questions
validate :answered_all_questions?
def get_quiz_question_choice(quiz_question_id)
unless self.quiz_questions.blank?
quiz_questions[quiz_question_id.to_s]
end
end
private
def answered_all_questions?
#Making sure they answered all the questions
if self.quiz_questions.blank? or self.quiz_questions.try(:keys).try(:count) != self.step_quiz.step_quiz_questions.count
errors.add_to_base "Not all questions were answered"
end
end
end
def submit_quiz
#quiz_attempt = QuizAttempt.new(params[:quiz_attempt])
if !#quiz_attempt.save()
render 'show_quiz'
end
end