Storing Array of Checkbox Selections - ruby-on-rails

Question

I have an attribute called "features" in my application. In my form, "features" consists of a list of check boxes. The idea here is that users can check off which "features" apply to their post, and that list of features gets saved into the record.
I see the array being saved in my console ("features"=>{"Private bathroom"=>"1", "Elevator"=>"0", "Complimentary breakfast"=>"1", "Great view"=>"1", "Cable TV"=>"0", "Fireplace"=>"0", "Other (see description)"=>"0", "Sweet location"=>"0"}).
However... When I view the record, features returns nil. It doesn't seem to be saving the features array.
Code provided below. Any idea what I'm doing wrong here?
models/accommodation.rb
class Accommodation < ActiveRecord::Base
validates_presence_of :title, :description, :thing, :location
attr_accessible :photo_attributes, :title, :description, :thing, :borough, :location, :spaces, :price, :features
has_one :photo
has_many :requests
belongs_to :user
accepts_nested_attributes_for :photo, :allow_destroy => true
end
controllers/accommodation_controller.rb
class AccommodationsController < ApplicationController
before_filter :auth, :except => :show
uses_tiny_mce ( :options => {
:theme => 'advanced',
:theme_advanced_toolbar_location => 'top',
:theme_advanced_toolbar_align => 'left',
:theme_advanced_buttons1 => 'bold,italic,underline,image,bullist,numlist,separator,undo,redo',
:theme_advanced_buttons2 => '',
:theme_advanced_buttons3 => ''
})
def show
#accommodation = Accommodation.find(params[:id])
end
def new
#accommodation = current_user.accommodations.build
#accommodation.build_photo
end
def create
#accommodation = current_user.accommodations.build(params[:accommodation])
if #accommodation.save
flash[:notice] = "Successfully created your accommodation."
redirect_to #accommodation
else
render :new
end
end
def edit
#accommodation = Accommodation.find(params[:id])
end
def update
#accommodation = Accommodation.find(params[:id])
if #accommodation.update_attributes(params[:accommodation])
flash[:notice] = "Successfully updated accommodation."
redirect_to #accommodation
else
render :edit
end
end
def destroy
#accommodation = Accommodation.find(params[:id])
#accommodation.destroy
flash[:notice] = "Successfully destroyed accommodation."
redirect_to :inkeep
end
private
def auth
if current_user
if params[:action] != 'new' && params[:action] != 'create'
#accommodation = Accommodation.find(params[:id])
if #accommodation.user_id != current_user.id
flash[:notice] = "You don't own this accommodation!"
render :action => 'show'
end
end
return true
else
flash[:error] = "Please login first."
redirect_to :controller => 'sessions', :action => 'new'
end
end
end
views/accommodations/_form.html.erb
<%= form_for #accommodation, :html => {:multipart => true} do |f| %>
<%= f.error_messages %>
<p>
Title<br />
<%= f.text_field :title, :size => 60 %>
</p>
<p>
Description<br />
<%= f.text_area :description, :rows => 17, :cols => 75, :class => "mceEditor" %>
</p>
[...snip...]
<p>
<i>Featuring...</i>
<%= fields_for :features do |feature_fields| %>
<table>
<tr>
<td><%= feature_fields.check_box 'Private bathroom' %> Private bathroom</td>
<td><%= feature_fields.check_box 'Cable TV' %> Cable TV</td>
<td><%= feature_fields.check_box 'Complimentary breakfast' %> Complimentary breakfast</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><%= feature_fields.check_box 'Elevator' %> Elevator</td>
<td><%= feature_fields.check_box 'Fireplace' %> Fireplace</td>
<td><%= feature_fields.check_box 'Great view' %> Great view</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><%= feature_fields.check_box 'Sweet location' %> Sweet location</td>
<td><%= feature_fields.check_box 'Other (see description)' %> Other (see description)</td>
</tr>
</table>
<% end %>
</p>
[...snip...]
<% end %>

Answer 1

First, is the features array inside of your the accommodation hash in the params hash?
Second, there is no db column type which accepts an array, so you need to put
serialize :features
in the model. This will store the array as yaml in the db. You can also specify the data type as an argument to serialize() (probably Array in this case), but it's not always necessary.

Answer 2

I add the same problem today, it appears the form isn't properly built in the view.
Indeed, take a closer look at your params: params[:features] is outside params[:accomodation]
I simply added at the beginning of my create action:
params[:accomodation][:features] = params[:features]
And it works properly

Answer 3

What about your model? Do you have attr_accessible or attr_protected calls in there?