Hey all,
I have an n:m relationship between lpl_short_form_apps and practice_areas. The joining table is called practices. The definitions are as follows (minus validation/business logic):
LPLSFAs Model: class LPLShortFormApp < ActiveRecord::Base has_many :practices has_many :practice_areas, :through => :practices has_many :attorneys end Table: class CreateLplShortFormApps < ActiveRecord::Migration def self.up create_table :lpl_short_form_apps do |t| t.string :applicant_name, :null => false t.string :principal_business_address ... t.string :email_address, :null => false t.datetime :effective_date_requested ... t.timestamps end end
def self.down drop_table :lpl_short_form_apps end end
Practice Areas Model: class PracticeArea < ActiveRecord::Base has_many :practices has_many :lpl_short_form_apps, :through => :practices end Table: class CreatePracticeAreas < ActiveRecord::Migration def self.up create_table :practice_areas do |t| t.string :area t.integer :specialty
t.timestamps end end
def self.down drop_table :practice_areas end end
Model: class Practice < ActiveRecord::Base belongs_to :lpl_short_form_app, :class_name => "LPLShortFormApp" belongs_to :practice_areas end Table: class Practices < ActiveRecord::Migration def self.up create_table :practices, :id => false do |t| t.integer :lplsfa_id, :null => false, :options => "CONSTRAINT fk_practices_lplsfas REFERENCES lpl_short_form_apps(id)" t.integer :practice_area_id, :null => false, :options => "CONSTRAINT fk_practices_areas_of_practice REFERENCES practice_area (id)"
t.decimal :percentage, :null => false end end
def self.down drop_table :practices end end
I think that's the proper way to setup the relationships. If it isn't, can someone guide me along the right method?
What I want to do, what I'm having an issue doing, is generating the new records in the n:m relationship. By business rules, we have 30 Practice Areas set up. Each LPLSFA can have a percentage of those areas up to 100%; so, I have a practices_controller defined with an index that generates a form with all of the areas of practice and a percentage field.
This is the controller code: def index @lpl_short_form_app = LPLShortFormApp.find(session [:lplsfa_id]) @practice = Practice.new @practice_areas = PracticeArea.all respond_to do |format| format.html # index.html.erb format.xml { render :xml => @practice } end end
This is the index page: <div class = "demo-long-form"> <% form_for(@practice) do |f| %> <%= f.error_messages %> <fieldset> <legend>Listing all Areas of Practice for <%= @lpl_short_form_app.applicant_name %></legend> <% @practice_areas.each do |practice_area| %> <div> <%= f.label practice_area.area %> <%= f.text_field :percentage, :id => practice_area.area %> </div> <% end %> <div> <%= f.submit 'Set' %> </div> </fieldset> <% end %> </div>
So, my questions are as follows: 1. How do I have the submit button go to the "Set" action defined in the practices_controller? 2. How do I collect/scrape each of the individual percentages from the form so that I can validate them against a total of 100%? 3. How do I take that collection and generate a new record in the practices table such that it joins the LPLSFA with the Practice Area? Each LPLSFA will have all 30 practice areas, so 30 practices records, most of which will probably be at a 0 percentage. I'm imagining something like this:
def set @practice_areas = PracticeArea.all @lpl_short_form_app = LPLShortFormApp.find(session[:lplsfa_id]) @practice_areas.each do |practice_area| @practice_areas.lpl_short_form_apps << @lpl_short_form_app end end
I know this is a long message, but I hope it gets a fair evaluation. It breaks down to my lack of understanding of many to many relationships in Ruby, my lack of understanding of the form_for in Rails, and my lack of understanding of both ruby/rails general syntax. I have the Ruby 1.9 Pickaxe book as well as the Agile Web Dev with Rail, 3rd ed. but having read through the beginning sections of both books hasn't cleared this up for me.
