I am having real difficulty getting my head around the issue of setting this attribute, units_alloc, in my join model?
My models:
class Contract < AR::Base has_many :codelines has_many :codes, :through => :codelines
accepts_nested_attributes_for :codes
attr_accessible :codes_attributes, :codes; :authnum,:st_date,:end_date end
class Codeline < AR::Base belongs_to :contract belongs_to :code units_alloc ...... this is the attribute I would like to set end
class Code < AR::Base has_many :codelines has_many :contracts, :through => :codelines end
The new action of my app/controllers/contracts_controller.rb
def new @contract = Contract.new @contract.codes.build end
the partial for my view in app/views/contracts/_fields.html.haml
= f.fields_for :codes do |ff| .field = ff.label :name, "Code Name" %br/ = ff.text_field :code_name .field . . = f.fields_for :codelines do |ff| .field = ff.label :name, "Units Alloc" %br/ = ff.text_field :units_alloc
From reading Rails Guides and watching railscasts #196 and #197 and researching nested attributes on the internet I came to the understanding that the @contract.codes.build line in the new action of my app/controllers/contracts_controller.rb not only built the code object but that it also built the codelines object. If I leave my new action of my app/controllers/contracts_controller.rb as above that is exactly what happens. My codelines table is populated as follows:
id contract_id code_id units_alloc 1 1 1 .... @contract.codes.build
But if you look at my view I would actually like to set units_alloc and this line @contract.codes.build does not give me access to units_alloc since it is in the codeline model. I added @contract.codelines.build to the new action of my app/controllers/contracts_controller.rb and now the units_alloc shows in my view and I am able to set it. There is a problem though,I now have two rows in my codelines table. One resulting from the @contract.codes.build where both the code object and codeline object are built and the second row is as a result of the @contract.codelines.build. Here is what my codelines table shows:
id contract_id code_id units_alloc 1 1 1 ..@contract.codes.build 2 1 80.00 ..@contract.codelines.build
Should'nt I be able to get access to units_alloc through the first build given by @contract.codes.build, where both the code object and the codeline object is built?
Does anyone know if my understanding of this issue is correct or could you point me to a resource where all will be revealed?
Thanks for any suggestions.