Rails - method not saving check_box_tag

Question

I am continuing my project on the tmdb api and in the process of saving the result of my query. I created the method add_tmdb to handle this. As for my view, this is what I have:

= form_tag :action => 'add_tmdb' do
  ... stuff here
   %td= check_box_tag "movie_id[]", movie.id
 = submit_tag 'Add selected movie'

My controller is below:

def add_tmdb
    movie = {params[:movie_id] => :id}
    Movie.create!(movie)
    flash[:notice] = "#{params[:movie_id]} was successfully created."
    redirect_to movies_path
end

When I submit the record, I get an active record error. This is what I receive:

unknown attribute '["7555"]' for Movie.

Where do I need to make the change?

Thanks!

Answer 1

The value of params[:movie_id] is a single element array. You're using that value as the key of your hash:

{params[:movie_id] => :id}

If you want to specify a key of :id with a value of params[:movei_id], then your hash is backwards. You need

{ id: params[:movie_id] }

Answer 2

You may be accessing an API, but I still think your code needs to be structured better:

#config/routes.rb
resources :movies

#app/controllers/movies_controller.rb
class MoviesController < ApplicationController
   def new
      @movie = Movie.new
      @movies = [[get data for Movies -- from API?]]
   end

   def create
      @movie = Movie.new movie_params
      @movie.save
   end

   private

   def movie_params
      params.require(:movie).permit(:id, :title, :rating, :release_date)
   end
end

Then your form is as follows:

#app/views/movies/new.html.erb
<%= form_for @movie do |f| %>
   <%= f.text_field :title %>
   <%= f.text_field :rating %>
   <%= f.collection_check_boxes :id, @movies, :id, :name %>
   <%= f.submit %>
<% end %>

Currently, your flow is not conventional; it doesn't build and object properly and doesn't protect against mass assignment.

Everything in Rails/Ruby is object orientated, meaning that when you "create" a new record, you're building a new object. Might sound trivial, but it's the core of the entire Rails framework.

Your comment of "How do I proceed in adding the title, rating and release date of the movie" demonstrates the ramifications of not adhering to it.

In short, you need new,create actions, both referencing a new Movie object, which you can then populate the with the params sent from your views.

---

API

The only exception you should make to the above would be if your flow is dependent on API callbacks, like through a billing system or something.

If you want to retain your current flow (IE call add_tmdb), you'll want to make sure you're populating the attributes of your Movie object as follows:

#app/controllers/movies_controller.rb
class MoviesController < ApplicationController
   def add_tmdb
      @movie = Movie.new
      @movie.id = params[:movie_id]
      @movie.save

      #or....
      @movie = Movie.new({id: params[:movie_id]})
      @movie.save
   end
end