No post parameters sent when a form is submitted

Question

I have a model called AlphaUser. When I submit a form to create a new alpha user, I'm told there wasn't any data in the params[:post]. How can this happen?

My code for the form:

<%= form_for :alpha_user,
    url: alpha_users_path,
    class: "form",
    id: "alphaTest" do |f| %>
    <div class="form-group">
        <%= f.label :email %>
        <%= f.text_field :email, 
            class: "form-control", placeholder: "grandma@aol.com" %>
        <%= f.text_field :producer,
          class: "hidden", value: "0" %>
    </div>
    <%= f.submit "Request Access", class: "btn btn-primary" %>
<% end %>

My controller:

class AlphaUsersController < ApplicationController  
    def create
        render text: params[:post].inspect
    end

end

Data is still recieved, just in this format:

{"utf8"=>"✓", "authenticity_token"=>"blahblahblah", "alpha_user"=>{"email"=>"test@test.com", "producer"=>"0"}, "commit"=>"Request Access", "action"=>"create", "controller"=>"alpha_users"}

Answer 1

You need to call params for the :alpha_user... e.g. params[:alpha_user].

If you're using strong_parameters in Rails 4, this should do the trick:

class AlphaUsersController < ApplicationController  

  def create
    @alpha_user = AlphaUser.new(alpha_user_params)
    @alpha_user.save
  end

  private
    def alpha_user_params
      params.require(:alpha_user).permit(:email, :producer)
    end

end

Notice that in your create action you are no longer referencing the params directly, but the alpha_user_params method required by strong_parameters.

Answer 2

Check this answer: Custom name for params hash from Rails form_for

Also there's a reason for this naming convention. Look here through section 7 "Understanding Parameter Naming Conventions".