Rails 3 Nested Forms

Question

I have a Person model and an Address Model:

class Person < ActiveRecord::Base
  has_one :address
  accepts_nested_attributes_for :address
end


class Address < ActiveRecord::Base
  belongs_to :person
end

In my people controller I have @person.build_address in my new action. My forms builds correctly. The problem is that when I submit the form, a person record and an address record is created but they aren't linked via the address_id column in the Person table.

Am I missing a step in the controller?

Thanks!

New Action UPDATE

def new
    @person = Person.new
    @person.build_address

    respond_to do |format|
      format.html # new.html.erb
      format.xml  { render :xml => @person }
    end
  end

Form Code UPDATE

<%= 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 :first_name %><br />
    <%= f.text_field :first_name %>
  </div>
  <div class="field">
    <%= f.label :last_name %><br />
    <%= f.text_field :last_name %>
  </div>
  <div class="field">
    <%= f.label :email %><br />
    <%= f.text_field :email %>
  </div>
  <div class="field">
    <%= f.label :telephone %><br />
    <%= f.text_field :telephone %>
  </div>
  <div class="field">
    <%= f.label :mobile_phone %><br />
    <%= f.text_field :mobile_phone %>
  </div>
  <div class="field">
    <%= f.label :date_of_birth %><br />
    <%= f.date_select :date_of_birth %>
  </div>
  <div class="field">
    <%= f.label :gender %><br />
    <%= f.select(:gender, Person::GENDER_TYPES) %>
  </div>
  <div class="field">
    <%= f.label :notes %><br />
    <%= f.text_area :notes %>
  </div>
  <div class="field">
    <%= f.label :person_type %><br />
    <%= f.select(:person_type, Person::PERSON_TYPES) %>
  </div>

<%= f.fields_for :address do |address_fields| %>
 <div class="field">
    <%= address_fields.label :street_1 %><br />
    <%= address_fields.text_field :street_1 %>
  </div>
 <div class="field">
    <%= address_fields.label :street_2 %><br />
    <%= address_fields.text_field :street_2 %>
  </div>
<div class="field">
    <%= address_fields.label :city %><br />
    <%= address_fields.text_field :city %>
  </div>
 <div class="field">
    <%= address_fields.label :state %><br />
    <%= address_fields.select(:state, Address::STATES) %>
  </div>
<div class="field">
    <%= address_fields.label :zip_code %><br />
    <%= address_fields.text_field :zip_code %>
  </div>
<% end %>
  <div class="actions">
    <%= f.submit %>
  </div>
<% end %>

Can you post your forms? You might be missing the nested fields_for. — dnch
– dnch, Commented Feb 22, 2011 at 3:29
Pretty sure now the problem is that you've got the association around the wrong way. See if my answer helps you. — Ryan Bigg
– Ryan Bigg, Commented Feb 22, 2011 at 10:02

Ryan Bigg · Accepted Answer · 2013-02-26 18:10:02Z

16

You need to have accepts_nested_attributes_for :address on your Person model for this to work nicely. In your create action you can then do this:

def create
  @person = Person.new(params[:person])
  ...
end

Then Rails will take care of the rest.

UPDATE: if the address_id column is in the people table then it should be belongs_to :address, not has_one :address

edited Feb 26, 2013 at 18:10

answered Feb 22, 2011 at 7:21

Ryan Bigg

108k25 gold badges243 silver badges264 bronze badges

Sign up to request clarification or add additional context in comments.

2 Comments

Mike Over a year ago

Thank you! That was it. I must have searched high and low for problems with nested forms and it was my association the whole time. Thank you.

D.Deriso Over a year ago

Just to clarify, I think he meant you need to have accepts_nested_attributes_for :address on your Person model (not Post). Great answer though!

christianblais · Accepted Answer · 2011-02-22 04:29:49Z

0

Why is your address built in your new action, and not in the create action? You're building an address from a non saved model, without an id, so the foreign key can't be set. You should keep your @person in your new action, but put your build_address in your create action, after @person has been saved.

answered Feb 22, 2011 at 4:29

christianblais

2,46817 silver badges14 bronze badges

1 Comment

Mike Over a year ago

If I don't put @person.build_address in my new action, then the form doesn't show the address fields. I tried putting @person.build_address in the create action, but it only inserts a null record into the address table.

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

Rails 3 Nested Forms

2 Answers 2

2 Comments

1 Comment

Your Answer

Linked

Hot Network Questions

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

2 Answers 2

2 Comments

1 Comment

Your Answer

Sign up or log in

Post as a guest

Linked

Related