Checkbox items not saving (simple_form)

Question

Another Update: here is my development log. I'm confused about 2 things.

1. Where is "geography_ids" coming from (Unpermitted parameter: geography_ids). I searched my entire project and the only place it appears is in the log file. I think that's the root of the problem.
2. It appears that simple_form is trying to add a fourth item judging from the empty double quotes.

Here is the log file:

Started PATCH "/splits/11" for 127.0.0.1 at 2015-09-03 10:28:38 -0500
Processing by SplitsController#update as HTML
  Parameters: {"utf8"=>"✓", "authenticity_token"=>"h5/1qn3KJm8lktOjNGvEH/POZHqx8msCIwtoi42ZYVtbEimbyPiEPwDgdIwzrfBYDZZPPxku0uj7flcsRf6b9g==", "split"=>{"name"=>"Domestic Canada Foreign", "description"=>"", "geography_ids"=>["1", "2", "3", ""], "issue_id"=>"1"}, "commit"=>"Update Split", "id"=>"11"}
  [1m[36mSplit Load (0.3ms)[0m  [1mSELECT  "splits".* FROM "splits" WHERE "splits"."id" = $1 LIMIT 1[0m  [["id", 11]]
Unpermitted parameter: geography_ids
  [1m[35m (0.1ms)[0m  BEGIN
  [1m[36m (0.1ms)[0m  [1mCOMMIT[0m
Redirected to http://phoenix.dev/splits/11
Completed 302 Found in 4ms (ActiveRecord: 0.4ms)


Started GET "/splits/11" for 127.0.0.1 at 2015-09-03 10:28:38 -0500
Processing by SplitsController#show as HTML
  Parameters: {"id"=>"11"}
  [1m[35mSplit Load (0.2ms)[0m  SELECT  "splits".* FROM "splits" WHERE "splits"."id" = $1 LIMIT 1  [["id", 11]]
  [1m[36mIssue Load (0.2ms)[0m  [1mSELECT  "issues".* FROM "issues" WHERE "issues"."id" = $1 LIMIT 1[0m  [["id", 1]]
  Rendered splits/show.html.erb within layouts/application (1.4ms)
Completed 200 OK in 610ms (Views: 608.6ms | ActiveRecord: 0.4ms)


Started GET "/assets/user-2.jpg" for 127.0.0.1 at 2015-09-03 10:28:39 -0500


Started GET "/assets/user-13.jpg" for 127.0.0.1 at 2015-09-03 10:28:39 -0500


Started GET "/assets/user-1.jpg" for 127.0.0.1 at 2015-09-03 10:28:39 -0500

Update: I've updated my models and controllers with my most recent changes. I discovered some pluralization nuances which I fixed up. But, the root problem still exists. The data isn't going into the geographies_splits table which means the checkboxes aren't able to save their state when the split is saved.

I've been racking my head on this for days.

Here are my models:

class Split < ActiveRecord::Base
  belongs_to :issue
  has_and_belongs_to_many :geographies 
end


lass Geography < ActiveRecord::Base
  has_and_belongs_to_many :splits
end

When I read the Rails Guides on has_and_belongs_to_many associations it said to create a third table that essentially joins these together.

So I ran this migration:

class CreateGeographiesSplits < ActiveRecord::Migration
  def change
    create_table :geographies_splits do |t|
      t.belongs_to :geography, index: true
      t.belongs_to :split, index: true

      t.timestamps null: false
    end
 end
end

It doesn't say anything about creating a model or controller so I didn't initially. While continuing to work on this I did create a controller and model.

I'm using simple_form to display my checkboxes and they are displaying correctly. However, when I create a split the checkboxes with the geography content aren't saved to the DB and when I go back into the split they're unchecked.

Here is the form code for creating a split where I'm trying to say what geographies it has:

<%= simple_form_for(@split) do |f| %>
  <%= f.error_notification %>

  <div class="form-inputs form-width">
    <%= f.input :name %>
    <%= f.input :description %>
    <%= f.association :geographies, as: :check_boxes %>
    <%= f.association :issue, label_method: :name, value_method: :id, include_blank: true %>
  </div>

  <div>
    <p>More robust Query UI here</p>
  </div>

<div>
  <p>Select printer UI here</p>
</div>


  <div class="form-actions">
    <%= f.button :submit, :class => 'btn btn-primary btn-small' %>
    <%= link_to 'Cancel', splits_path, :class => 'btn btn-default btn-small'  %>
  </div>


<% end %>

Here is the Splits Controller:

    class SplitsController < ApplicationController
  before_action :set_split, only: [:show, :edit, :update, :destroy]

  # GET /splits
  # GET /splits.json
  def index
    @splits = Split.all
  end

  # GET /splits/1
  # GET /splits/1.json
  def show
  end

  # GET /splits/new
  def new
    @split = Split.new
  end

  # GET /splits/1/edit
  def edit
  end

  # POST /splits
  # POST /splits.json
  def create
    @split = Split.new(split_params)

    respond_to do |format|
      if @split.save
        format.html { redirect_to @split, notice: 'Split was successfully created.' }
        format.json { render :show, status: :created, location: @split }
      else
        format.html { render :new }
        format.json { render json: @split.errors, status: :unprocessable_entity }
      end
    end
  end

  # PATCH/PUT /splits/1
  # PATCH/PUT /splits/1.json
  def update
    respond_to do |format|
      if @split.update(split_params)
        format.html { redirect_to @split, notice: 'Split was successfully updated.' }
        format.json { render :show, status: :ok, location: @split }
      else
        format.html { render :edit }
        format.json { render json: @split.errors, status: :unprocessable_entity }
      end
    end
  end

  # DELETE /splits/1
  # DELETE /splits/1.json
  def destroy
    @split.destroy
    respond_to do |format|
      format.html { redirect_to splits_url, notice: 'Split was successfully destroyed.' }
      format.json { head :no_content }
    end
  end

  private
    # Use callbacks to share common setup or constraints between actions.
    def set_split
      @split = Split.find(params[:id])
    end

    # Never trust parameters from the scary internet, only allow the white list through.
    def split_params
      params.require(:split).permit(:name, :description, :geography_id, :issue_id, :geographies_splits_id)
      end
    end

I'm completely stumped.

All help is greatly appreciated.

Answer 1

Ok, using this post I was able to fix it.

I needed to add { geography_ids:[] } to my whitelist in the splits controller.

Thanks for the help.