Question

I have a user model with attributes(not all required) first_name, last_name, birthday, profession, pet_name.

for registration the user needs to enter first_name and birthday.

I want to somehow get the attributes which are nil (in this case – last_name and profession) and randomly pick one of them and make a form asking the user to fill it in.

if I do @user.attributes.map{|k,v| v==nil ? k : nil}.compact I can get the attributes which are nil.

How do I make a form generic enough so that this method can be used on any attribute?

Answer 1

You can fill @field in the controller action for displaying form for additional field and then display a form for that field:

# controller action
def additional_form
  @field = @user.attributes.select{|k,v| v.nil?}.keys.sample

  if request.post?
    @user.update_attributes(params[:user]) and redirect_to root_path
  end
end

# view for this action (additional_form.html.erb)
<%= form_for @user do |f| %>
  <%= f.text_field @field %>
  <%= f.submit %>
<% end %>