Create a select from existing or create new in a form Rails 3

Question

So I'm trying to set a name attribute of organizations and create a new organization or choose from a previously existing organization from the same form.

I've tried to follow Ryan Bates' railscast on the topic here: http://railscasts.com/episodes/57-create-model-through-text-field

I have also tried numerous solutions from stack. However, I can't quite seem to get it to run (that and I have a validation that does not recognize the virtual attribute I'm using)

so my organizations model:

class Organization < ActiveRecord::Base
  has_many :materials
  has_many :users
  has_and_belongs_to_many :causes
  has_and_belongs_to_many :schools, :join_table => 'organizations_schools'
####The following line has been edited ####
  attr_accessible :name, :unlogged_books_num, :id, :new_organization_name
  attr_accessor :new_organization_name
  before_validation :create_org_from_name

  validates_presence_of :name

  def self.assign_school_to_organization(org, school)
    orgschool = OrganizationsSchool.create(:organization_id=> org.id, :school_id=> school[0])
  end

 def create_org_from_name
   create_organization(:name=>new_organization_name) unless new_organization_name.blank?
 end
end

I have also tried the create_org_from_name as the following:

 def create_org_from_name
   self.name = new_organization_name
 end

And this does not change the name to the organization name before validating or saving the instance. I have also tried to change the before_save to before_validation, and that has not worked

My controller for organization (I also tried to change this in create)

def create
   respond_to do |format|
      @organization = Organization.new(params[:organization])
      @organization.name = @organization.new_organization_name unless @organization.new_organization_name.blank?
      if @organization.save
        @school = params[:school]
        Organization.assign_school_to_organization(@organization, @school)     
        format.html { redirect_to @organization, notice: 'Organization was successfully created.' }
        format.json { render json: @organization, status: :created, location: @organization }
      else
        format.html { render action: "new" }
        format.json { render json: @organization.errors, status: :unprocessable_entity }
      end
    end
  end

And finally, I have what my form is doing currently:

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

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

  <% @schools = School.all %>
  <% @organizations = Organization.all %>
  <div class="field">
      <%= f.label 'Organization Name' %><br />
      <%= f.collection_select(:name, @organizations, :name, :name, :prompt=>"Existing Organization") %>
      Or Create New
      <%= f.text_field :new_organization_name %>
    </div>
    <div class="field">
      <%= f.label :unlogged_books_num %><br />
      <%= f.number_field :unlogged_books_num %>
    </div>
    <div class="field">
      <%= f.label 'School' %><br />
      <% school_id = nil %>
      <%= collection_select(:school, school_id, @schools, :id, :name) %>  
    </div>
    <div class="actions">
      <%= f.submit %>
    </div>
  <% end %>

==================================EDIT============================================ So currently, when I try to make an organization with something only written in the virtual text field, My log tells me the following:

Processing by OrganizationsController#create as HTML
  Parameters: {"utf8"=>"✓",    "authenticity_token"=>"igoefz8Rwm/RHrHLTXQnG48ygTGLydZrzP4gEJOPbF0=", "organization"=>  {"name"=>"", "new_organization_name"=>"Virtual Organization", "unlogged_books_num"=>""},   "school"=>["1"], "commit"=>"Create Organization"}
  Rendered organizations/_form.html.erb (7.1ms)
  Rendered organizations/new.html.erb within layouts/application (8.0ms)
Completed 200 OK in 17ms (Views: 12.2ms | ActiveRecord: 1.0ms)

================================EDIT 2============================================ So this is what I get from the rails console if I try to create a new organization running this command: Organization.create(:new_organization_name=>"Virtual Organization", :unlogged_books_num=>"3")

irb(main):001:0> Organization.create(:new_organization_name=>"Virtual Organization",    :unlogged_books_num=>"3")
   (0.1ms)  BEGIN
   (0.1ms)  ROLLBACK
=> #<Organization id: nil, name: nil, unlogged_books_num: 3, created_at: nil, updated_at: nil>

If the function of create_org_from_name is self.name = new_organization_name, then the result of the same command from the console is blank:

irb(main):002:1> Organization.create(:new_organization_name=>"Virtual Organization", :unlogged_books_num=>"3")
irb(main):003:1> 

Answer 1

You need:

before_validation :create_org_from_name

and

def create_org_from_name
  self.name = new_organization_name if not new_organization_name.blank?
end

You don't want to do a create in your before_validation method.