Question

I have an app that allows users to enter a project into a database.

They get the option to either enter new data via a textbox for some field, or can select data via a drop down menu, that has been entered before for that field.

If the user fills out the form, then clicks submit, but there is a problem, like they have missed out one of the fields, the page flags up an error saying which fields are missing, which is fine.

However, if the user had entered new data in the text boxes, that gets deleted, and the first option in the drop down is selected instead.

Here is my project controller:

class ProjectsController < ApplicationController


before_filter :authenticate_user!
#:except => [:show, :index]




    def index
        @projects = Project.all

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

  # GET /projects/1
  # GET /projects/1.json
  def show
    @project = Project.find(params[:id])
        @project_project_id = params[:id]

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

  # GET /projects/new
  # GET /projects/new.json
  def new
    @project = Project.new
        @technol = Technol.new(params[:tech])

        @all_technols = Technol.all
        tech_ids = params[:technols][:id].reject(&:blank?) unless params[:technols].nil?


        @project_technol = @project.projecttechnols.build

    respond_to do |format|
      format.html # new.html.erb
      format.json { render json: @project }
    end
  end

  # GET /projects/1/edit
  def edit
    @project = Project.find(params[:id])
        @project_technol = @project.projecttechnols.build



puts @project.inspect
puts @project.technols.inspect
  end

  # POST /projects
  # POST /projects.json
  def create    
    @project = Project.new(params[:project])
        @project.client = params[:new_client] unless params[:new_client].blank?
        @project.role = params[:new_role] unless params[:new_role].blank?
        @project.industry = params[:new_industry] unless params[:new_industry].blank?
        @project.business_div = params[:new_business_div] unless params[:new_business_div].blank?


if !params[:technols].nil?

            params[:technols][:id].each do |tech|

                if !tech.empty?

                    @project_technol = @project.projecttechnols.build(:technol_id => tech) 

                end
            end

end

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

  # PUT /projects/1
  # PUT /projects/1.json
  # PUT /projects/1
  # PUT /projects/1.json
  def update


    @project = Project.find(params[:id])

puts @project.inspect
puts @project.technols.inspect
        @project.client = params[:new_client] unless params[:new_client].blank?
        @project.role = params[:new_role] unless params[:new_role].blank?
        @project.industry = params[:new_industry] unless params[:new_industry].blank?
        @project.business_div = params[:new_business_div] unless params[:new_business_div].blank?


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

  # DELETE /projects/1
  # DELETE /projects/1.json
  def destroy
    @project = Project.find(params[:id])
    @project.destroy

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




private

  helper_method :sort_column, :sort_direction
  def sort_column
    Project.column_names.include?(params[:sort]) ? params[:sort] : "project_name"
  end

  def sort_direction
    %w[asc desc].include?(params[:direction]) ? params[:direction] : "asc"
  end

    def per_page
      params[:per_page] ||= 1
    end
    def page 
      params[:page] ||= 1
   end
end

Here is some of my new project view

<%= stylesheet_link_tag "new" %>


<h1>Create New Project</h1>
<HTML>

<%= stylesheet_link_tag "form" %>


<%= form_for(@project) do |f| %>


  <% if @project.errors.any? %>
    <div id="error_explanation">
      <h2><%= pluralize(@project.errors.count, "error") %> prohibited this project from being saved:</h2>

      <ul>
      <% @project.errors.full_messages.each do |msg| %>
        <li><%= msg %></li>
      <% end %>
      </ul>
    </div>
  <% end %>

<CENTER>

   <div id = "project_name">
<div class="project_name">
    Project Name:
    <%= f.text_field :project_name,:maxlength => 30 %>
  </div>
</div>


   <div id ="smallbox">
<div id = "status">
  <div class="status"> 
    <%= f.label :status %> : 

    <%#= f.select :status, [['Active'],['Completed']], {:include_blank => true} %>
    <%= f.select :status, [['Active'],['Completed']] %>
  </div></div> 



<div class="client" STYLE="text-align: left;">
<%= label_tag :new_client, "Client" %><br/>
<%= text_field_tag :new_client, nil, :maxlength => 30 %>
Or
<%= f.select( :client, Project.all.map {|p| [p.client]}.uniq, :prompt => "Select previous..") %>
</div>


   <div class="business_div" STYLE="text-align: left;">
<%= label_tag :new_business_div, "Business Division" %><br/>
<%= text_field_tag :new_business_div, nil, :maxlength => 30 %>
Or
<%= f.select( :business_div, Project.all.map {|p| [p.business_div]}.uniq, :prompt => "Select previous") %>
</div>

   <div class="start_date" STYLE="text-align: left;">
    <b>Start Date:</b>
    <%= f.text_field :start_date, :class => 'datepicker', :style => 'width: 80px;' %>
  </div>  

</P>


<div class="create_button">
<div class="actions">
    <%= f.submit "Save New Project", :class => "button",  :confirm => "Are you sure you want to save the new project?" %>
  </div>
</div>

</div> <%#= small div %>


<% end %>



<div class="back_button2">
<%= button_to "Back", projects_path , :class => "button", :method => "get" %>
</div>

Here is my project model

class Project < ActiveRecord::Base
  attr_accessible  :fullname, :edited_first_name, :edited_last_name, :first_name, :last_name, :business_div, :client, :customer_benefits, :edited_date, :end_date, :entry_date, :financials, :industry, :keywords, :lessons_learned, :project_name, :role, :start_date, :status, :summary, :technol_ids, :tech , :technols



validates_presence_of :business_div, :client, :customer_benefits, :end_date, :financials, :industry, :lessons_learned, :project_name,  :role, :start_date, :status, :summary #, :keywords

validates_format_of :industry, :with => /\A[^\d]+\Z/, :message => "field should only have letters"
validates_format_of :business_div, :with => /\A[^\d]+\Z/, :message => "field should only have letters"
validates_format_of :client, :with => /\A[^\d]+\Z/, :message => "field should only have letters"
validates_format_of :exception_pm, :with => /\A[^\d]+\Z/, :message => "field should only have letters"
validates_format_of :project_owner, :with => /\A[^\d]+\Z/, :message => "field should only have letters"
validates_format_of :role, :with => /\A[^\d]+\Z/, :message => "field should only have letters"

has_many :projecttechnols
has_many :technols, :through => :projecttechnols

  def set_fullname(a, b)
    fullname = [a, b].join(' ')
  end


accepts_nested_attributes_for(:technols)

end

If I need to include anything else please let me know. I have been stuck with this problem for some time now. Thank you in advance.

Answer 1

As railsdog suggests, use the data passed to Projects#create. Your form submits data and that data is held in a variable called params as key/value pairs. That variable should still be accessible from whichever view Projects#create renders.

What you need to do is to set some default content on your form elements. Here’s an example for the text_field called “project_name”

<div class="project_name">
 Project Name:
  <%= f.text_field :project_name, params[:project_name],:maxlength => 30 %>
</div>

You should be able to do the same or something similar with any other fields.