Question

If I have a model where one attribute can be set only to several predefined values, like this:

class Painting < ActiveRecord::Base
  SALE_STATUS = ["for sale", "sold"]
  validates_inclusion_of :status, :in => SALE_STATUS
end

Is there a way to write an ERb/HTML form so that the input field for status would only display something like a radio button or checkbox for each of the available options?

<%= form_for @painting do |painting| %>
  <%= painting.check_box :status # ... don't know how to implement!
<% end %>

Thanks for your time.

Answer 1

I think you could do something like this:

<%= form_for @painting do |painting| %>
  <% Painting::SALE_STATUS.each do |sale_status| %>
    <%= painting.check_box :status, sale_status %>
  <% end %>
<% end %>

But this code allow the user to choose none of the Sale Status. If you want to allow null values for the status, add this to your model:

validates_inclusion_of :status, :in => SALE_STATUS, :allow_nil => true

If not, use radio buttons instead:

<%= form_for @painting do |painting| %>
  <% Painting::SALE_STATUS.each do |sale_status| %>
    <%= painting.radio_button :status, sale_status %>
  <% end %>
<% end %>