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diff --git a/guides/source/nested_model_forms.md b/guides/source/nested_model_forms.md deleted file mode 100644 index 71efa4b0d0..0000000000 --- a/guides/source/nested_model_forms.md +++ /dev/null @@ -1,230 +0,0 @@ -**DO NOT READ THIS FILE ON GITHUB, GUIDES ARE PUBLISHED ON http://guides.rubyonrails.org.** - -Rails Nested Model Forms -======================== - -Creating a form for a model _and_ its associations can become quite tedious. Therefore Rails provides helpers to assist in dealing with the complexities of generating these forms _and_ the required CRUD operations to create, update, and destroy associations. - -After reading this guide, you will know: - -* do stuff. - --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- - -NOTE: This guide assumes the user knows how to use the [Rails form helpers](form_helpers.html) in general. Also, it's **not** an API reference. For a complete reference please visit [the Rails API documentation](http://api.rubyonrails.org/). - - -Model setup ------------ - -To be able to use the nested model functionality in your forms, the model will need to support some basic operations. - -First of all, it needs to define a writer method for the attribute that corresponds to the association you are building a nested model form for. The `fields_for` form helper will look for this method to decide whether or not a nested model form should be built. - -If the associated object is an array, a form builder will be yielded for each object, else only a single form builder will be yielded. - -Consider a Person model with an associated Address. When asked to yield a nested FormBuilder for the `:address` attribute, the `fields_for` form helper will look for a method on the Person instance named `address_attributes=`. - -### ActiveRecord::Base model - -For an ActiveRecord::Base model and association this writer method is commonly defined with the `accepts_nested_attributes_for` class method: - -#### has_one - -```ruby -class Person < ApplicationRecord - has_one :address - accepts_nested_attributes_for :address -end -``` - -#### belongs_to - -```ruby -class Person < ApplicationRecord - belongs_to :firm - accepts_nested_attributes_for :firm -end -``` - -#### has_many / has_and_belongs_to_many - -```ruby -class Person < ApplicationRecord - has_many :projects - accepts_nested_attributes_for :projects -end -``` - -NOTE: For greater detail on associations see [Active Record Associations](association_basics.html). -For a complete reference on associations please visit the API documentation for [ActiveRecord::Associations::ClassMethods](http://api.rubyonrails.org/classes/ActiveRecord/Associations/ClassMethods.html). - -### Custom model - -As you might have inflected from this explanation, you _don't_ necessarily need an ActiveRecord::Base model to use this functionality. The following examples are sufficient to enable the nested model form behavior: - -#### Single associated object - -```ruby -class Person - def address - Address.new - end - - def address_attributes=(attributes) - # ... - end -end -``` - -#### Association collection - -```ruby -class Person - def projects - [Project.new, Project.new] - end - - def projects_attributes=(attributes) - # ... - end -end -``` - -NOTE: See (TODO) in the advanced section for more information on how to deal with the CRUD operations in your custom model. - -Views ------ - -### Controller code - -A nested model form will _only_ be built if the associated object(s) exist. This means that for a new model instance you would probably want to build the associated object(s) first. - -Consider the following typical RESTful controller which will prepare a new Person instance and its `address` and `projects` associations before rendering the `new` template: - -```ruby -class PeopleController < ApplicationController - def new - @person = Person.new - @person.build_address - 2.times { @person.projects.build } - end - - def create - @person = Person.new(params[:person]) - if @person.save - # ... - end - end -end -``` - -NOTE: Obviously the instantiation of the associated object(s) can become tedious and not DRY, so you might want to move that into the model itself. ActiveRecord::Base provides an `after_initialize` callback which is a good way to refactor this. - -### Form code - -Now that you have a model instance, with the appropriate methods and associated object(s), you can start building the nested model form. - -#### Standard form - -Start out with a regular RESTful form: - -```erb -<%= form_for @person do |f| %> - <%= f.text_field :name %> -<% end %> -``` - -This will generate the following html: - -```html -<form action="/people" class="new_person" id="new_person" method="post"> - <input id="person_name" name="person[name]" type="text" /> -</form> -``` - -#### Nested form for a single associated object - -Now add a nested form for the `address` association: - -```erb -<%= form_for @person do |f| %> - <%= f.text_field :name %> - - <%= f.fields_for :address do |af| %> - <%= af.text_field :street %> - <% end %> -<% end %> -``` - -This generates: - -```html -<form action="/people" class="new_person" id="new_person" method="post"> - <input id="person_name" name="person[name]" type="text" /> - - <input id="person_address_attributes_street" name="person[address_attributes][street]" type="text" /> -</form> -``` - -Notice that `fields_for` recognized the `address` as an association for which a nested model form should be built by the way it has namespaced the `name` attribute. - -When this form is posted the Rails parameter parser will construct a hash like the following: - -```ruby -{ - "person" => { - "name" => "Eloy Duran", - "address_attributes" => { - "street" => "Nieuwe Prinsengracht" - } - } -} -``` - -That's it. The controller will simply pass this hash on to the model from the `create` action. The model will then handle building the `address` association for you and automatically save it when the parent (`person`) is saved. - -#### Nested form for a collection of associated objects - -The form code for an association collection is pretty similar to that of a single associated object: - -```erb -<%= form_for @person do |f| %> - <%= f.text_field :name %> - - <%= f.fields_for :projects do |pf| %> - <%= pf.text_field :name %> - <% end %> -<% end %> -``` - -Which generates: - -```html -<form action="/people" class="new_person" id="new_person" method="post"> - <input id="person_name" name="person[name]" type="text" /> - - <input id="person_projects_attributes_0_name" name="person[projects_attributes][0][name]" type="text" /> - <input id="person_projects_attributes_1_name" name="person[projects_attributes][1][name]" type="text" /> -</form> -``` - -As you can see it has generated 2 `project name` inputs, one for each new `project` that was built in the controller's `new` action. Only this time the `name` attribute of the input contains a digit as an extra namespace. This will be parsed by the Rails parameter parser as: - -```ruby -{ - "person" => { - "name" => "Eloy Duran", - "projects_attributes" => { - "0" => { "name" => "Project 1" }, - "1" => { "name" => "Project 2" } - } - } -} -``` - -You can basically see the `projects_attributes` hash as an array of attribute hashes, one for each model instance. - -NOTE: The reason that `fields_for` constructed a hash instead of an array is that it won't work for any form nested deeper than one level deep. - -TIP: You _can_ however pass an array to the writer method generated by `accepts_nested_attributes_for` if you're using plain Ruby or some other API access. See (TODO) for more info and example. |