Rails form with nested attributes (accepts_nested_attributes_for)

Question

I have this one to many relationship:

class Programa < ActiveRecord::Base
  attr_accessible :descripcion, :nombre, :roles_attributes
  has_many :roles, :dependent => :restrict
  accepts_nested_attributes_for :roles
    ...
end

class Role < ActiveRecord::Base
  attr_accessible :description, :name, :programa_id
  belongs_to :programa
    ...
end

It works in rails console:

> params = { programa: { nombre: 'nuevo', roles_attributes: [ {name: 'role1'}, {name: 'role2'}] }}
> p = Programa.create(params[:programa])
> p
 => #<Programa id: 7, nombre: "nuevo", descripcion: nil, created_at: "2013-10-09 14:07:46", updated_at: "2013-10-09 14:07:46">
> p.roles
 => [#<Role id: 15, name: "role1", description: nil, created_at: "2013-10-09 14:07:46", updated_at: "2013-10-09 14:07:46", programa_id: 7>, #<Role id: 16, name: "role2", description: nil, created_at: "2013-10-09 14:07:46", updated_at: "2013-10-09 14:07:46", programa_id: 7>]

But I can not make it work in the app/views/programas/_form:

<%= form_for(@programa) do |f| %>
  <%= render 'shared/form_error_messages', object: f.object %>
  <div class="field">
    <%= f.label :nombre %>
    <%= f.text_field :nombre %>
  </div>
  <div class="field">
    <%= f.label :descripcion %>
    <%= f.text_field :descripcion %>
  </div>

  <% f.fields_for :roles do |builder| %>
    <div class="field">
      <%= builder.label :name %>
      <%= builder.text_field :name %>
    </div>
    <div class="field">
      <%= builder.label :description %>
      <%= builder.text_field :description %>
    </div>
  <% end %>

  <div class="actions">
    <%= f.submit %>
  </div>
<% end %>

Is there anything else that I have to add or remove to make my form shows the roles nested attributes?

This is my the controller for programas:

class ProgramasController < ApplicationController
  # GET /programas
  # GET /programas.json
  def index
    @programas = Programa.all

    respond_to do |format|
      format.html # index.html.erb
      format.json { render json: @programas }
    end
  end

  # GET /programas/1
  # GET /programas/1.json
  def show
    @programa = Programa.find(params[:id])

    respond_to do |format|
      format.html # show.html.erb
      format.json { render json: @programa }
    end
  end

  # GET /programas/new
  # GET /programas/new.json
  def new
    @programa = Programa.new
    respond_to do |format|
      format.html # new.html.erb
      format.json { render json: @programa }
    end
  end

  # GET /programas/1/edit
  def edit
    @programa = Programa.find(params[:id])
  end

  # POST /programas
  # POST /programas.json
  def create
    @programa = Programa.new(params[:programa])

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

  # PUT /programas/1
  # PUT /programas/1.json
  def update
    @programa = Programa.find(params[:id])

    respond_to do |format|
      if @programa.update_attributes(params[:programa])
        format.html { redirect_to @programa, notice: 'Programa was successfully updated.' }
        format.json { head :no_content }
      else
        format.html { render action: "edit" }
        format.json { render json: @programa.errors, status: :unprocessable_entity }
      end
    end
  end

  # DELETE /programas/1
  # DELETE /programas/1.json
  def destroy
    @programa = Programa.find(params[:id])
    @programa.destroy

    respond_to do |format|
      format.html { redirect_to programas_url }
      format.json { head :no_content }
    end
  end
end

I just want the nested attributes to be shown in the edit and show actions only.

Answer 1

The form for the nested attributes will only show if there is actually data to show, ie. if your Programa instance has one or more Roles associated with it.

This can be as simple as @programa.roles.build in your controller, before rendering the form, to add a new Role. Any existing roles will be rendered.

edit: You also need to actually render the form, ie. <%= f.fields_for (note missing =).