EDITED: code below reflects last suggestions from your answers...
I'm having trouble with saving to two different models, from one form... I tried to follow rails casts #196 and looked at several other examples here at stackoverflow but I haven't figured out how to do this because my case is a little bit different...
So, I have two models:
class Patient < ActiveRecord::Base
attr_accessible :date_of_birth, :patient_name
has_many :samples
end
class Sample < ActiveRecord::Base
attr_accessible :approved, :patientID, :result, patient_attributes: [:patient_name, :date_of_birth]
belongs_to :patient
accepts_nested_attributes_for :patient
end
What I found on most of the examples I saw, including the railscasts, is to create a new sample inside the patient form, and the "accepts_nestes_attributes_for" is inside the "patient" model... But what I want to do is exactly the opposite, that is, creating a new patient inside the new sample form.
Here're my views, I have a normal form for the sample and then a partial for the patient part:
_form.html.erb
<%= form_for(@sample) do |f| %>
<% if @sample.errors.any? %>
<div id="error_explanation">
<h2><%= pluralize(@sample.errors.count, "error") %> prohibited this sample from being saved:</h2>
<ul>
<% @sample.errors.full_messages.each do |msg| %>
<li><%= msg %></li>
<% end %>
</ul>
</div>
<% end %>
<div class="field">
<%= f.label :result %><br />
<%= f.text_area :result %>
</div>
<div class="field">
<%= f.label :approved %><br />
<%= f.check_box :approved %>
</div>
<div><%= render 'patient', f: f %></div>
<div class="actions">
<%= f.submit %>
</div>
<% end %>
patient.html.erb
<%= f.fields_for :patient do |p| %>
<div class="field">
<%= p.label :patient_name %><br />
<%= p.text_field :patient_name %>
</div>
<div class="field">
<%= p.label :date_of_birth %><br />
<%= p.date_select :date_of_birth %>
</div>
<% end %>
When I click the submit button everything seems to work, but nothing is saved into the patients table.
Here's the log:
Started POST "/samples" for 127.0.0.1 at 2013-10-12 23:32:03 +0100
Processing by SamplesController#create as HTML
Parameters: {"utf8"=>"✓", "authenticity_token"=>"13OKZ8DaGJ4zTb35q+ymSzx7r+Ipxou1u+XrR4jtyeI=", "sample"=>{"result"=>"teste 3", "approved"=>"0"}, "patient"=>{"patient_name"=>"Joao", "date_of_birth(1i)"=>"2013", "date_of_birth(2i)"=>"10", "date_of_birth(3i)"=>"10"}, "commit"=>"Create Sample"}
(0.1ms) begin transaction
SQL (0.5ms) INSERT INTO "samples" ("approved", "created_at", "patientID", "result", "updated_at") VALUES (?, ?, ?, ?, ?) [["approved", false], ["created_at", Sat, 12 Oct 2013 22:32:03 UTC +00:00], ["patientID", nil], ["result", "teste 3"], ["updated_at", Sat, 12 Oct 2013 22:32:03 UTC +00:00]]
(2.4ms) commit transaction
Redirected to http://localhost:3000/samples/3
Completed 302 Found in 6ms (ActiveRecord: 2.9ms)
As you can see in the log, it's only saving to the sample table. Can I use accepts_nested_attributes_for this way? Is there a way to achieve what I want? Or should I try a different approach?
UPDATE: Here's the code for my patient and sample controllers:
patients_controller.rb
def new
@patient = Patient.new
respond_to do |format|
format.html # new.html.erb
format.json { render json: @patient }
end
end
def create
@patient = Patient.new(params[:patient])
respond_to do |format|
if @patient.save
format.html { redirect_to @patient, notice: 'Patient was successfully created.' }
format.json { render json: @patient, status: :created, location: @patient }
else
format.html { render action: "new" }
format.json { render json: @patient.errors, status: :unprocessable_entity }
end
end
end
samples_controller.rb
def new
@sample = Sample.new
@sample.build_patient #suggested by El Key
respond_to do |format|
format.html # new.html.erb
format.json { render json: @sample }
end
end
def create
@sample = Sample.new(params[:sample])
respond_to do |format|
if @sample.save
format.html { redirect_to @sample, notice: 'Sample was successfully created.' }
format.json { render json: @sample, status: :created, location: @sample }
else
format.html { render action: "new" }
format.json { render json: @sample.errors, status: :unprocessable_entity }
end
end
end
Here's the updated log after I follow El Key suggestions:
Started POST "/samples" for 127.0.0.1 at 2013-10-17 00:20:05 +0100
Processing by SamplesController#create as HTML
Parameters: {"utf8"=>"✓", "authenticity_token"=>"NZXQUdd8tQc206LdEuYF5iO5+89wlfza0VbbvgBGNuI=", "sample"=>{"result"=>"teste 9", "patientID"=>"", "approved"=>"0", "patient_attributes"=>{"patient_name"=>"Sergio", "date_of_birth(1i)"=>"2013", "date_of_birth(2i)"=>"10", "date_of_birth(3i)"=>"2"}}, "commit"=>"Create Sample"}
Completed 500 Internal Server Error in 1ms
ActiveModel::MassAssignmentSecurity::Error - Can't mass-assign protected attributes: patient_attributes:
As you can see, now I have a problem for "can't mass-assign protected attributes", but shouldn't this work as I have the "patient_attributes" on the sample model?
After I solve this I will try to check first if the patient exists or not before committing and try to do as SAYT on the patient's name... but that's a future step!
Thanks for your help
After following El-Key advise and suggestions, I found the solution
Update, Final Code - My solution
models/samples.rb
class Sample < ActiveRecord::Base
attr_accessible :approved, :patient_id, :result, :patient_attributes
belongs_to :patient
accepts_nested_attributes_for :patient
end
models/patient.rb
class Patient < ActiveRecord::Base
attr_accessible :date_of_birth, :patient_name
has_many :samples
end
controllers/samples_controller
def new
@sample = Sample.new
@sample.build_patient
respond_to do |format|
format.html # new.html.erb
format.json { render json: @sample }
end
end
def create
@sample = Sample.new(params[:sample])
respond_to do |format|
if @sample.save
format.html { redirect_to @sample, notice: 'Sample was successfully created.' }
format.json { render json: @sample, status: :created, location: @sample }
else
format.html { render action: "new" }
format.json { render json: @sample.errors, status: :unprocessable_entity }
end
end
end
views/samples/_form.html.erb
<%= form_for(@sample) do |f| %>
<% if @sample.errors.any? %>
<div id="error_explanation">
<h2><%= pluralize(@sample.errors.count, "error") %> prohibited this sample from being saved:</h2>
<ul>
<% @sample.errors.full_messages.each do |msg| %>
<li><%= msg %></li>
<% end %>
</ul>
</div>
<% end %>
<div class="field">
<%= f.label :result %><br />
<%= f.text_area :result %>
</div>
<div class="field">
<%= f.label :patient_id, 'Patient ID' %><br />
<%= f.text_area :patient_id %>
</div>
<div class="field">
<%= f.label :approved %><br />
<%= f.check_box :approved %>
</div>
<div><%= render 'patient', f: f %></div>
<div class="actions">
<%= f.submit %>
</div>
<% end %>
views/samples/_patient.html.erb
<%= f.fields_for :patient do |p| %>
<div class="field">
<%= p.label :patient_name %><br />
<%= p.text_field :patient_name %>
</div>
<div class="field">
<%= p.label :date_of_birth %><br />
<%= p.date_select :date_of_birth %>
</div>
<% end %>
