How do I build a request scheduler using ruby on rails?

Question

I am building an application that requires users to schedule appointment/conversations times with mentors. I am having a hard time building this out. I have been reading up on the has_many :through => Association but I know I am going about this the wrong way.

In my User.rb

Class User < ActiveRecord::Base

  has_many :mentor_requests, foreign_key: "user_id"
  has_many :mentors, through: :mentor_requests

  def requested?(mentor) 
    mentor_requests.find_by_mentor_id(mentor.id)
  end

  def request!(mentor_request)
    mentor_requests.create!(mentor_request)
  end

  def unrequest!(mentor)
    mentor_requests.find_by_mentor_id(mentor.id).destroy
  end
end

In my Mentor.rb

class Mentor < User

  has_many :mentor_requests, foreign_key: "mentor_id"
  has_many :users, through: :mentor_requests
end

In the Mentor_request.rb

class MentorRequest < ActiveRecord::Base
  attr_accessible :reason, :mentor_id

  belongs_to :user, class_name: "User"
  belongs_to :mentor, class_name: "Mentor"

  validates :user_id, :mentor_id, presence: true 
  validates :reason, presence:true, length: { maximum: 140 }

  default_scope order: 'mentor_requests.created_at DESC'
end

In my requests controller is

def create
  @mentor_request = current_user.mentor_requests.build(params[:mentor_request])
  #current_user.request!(@mentor)
  if @mentor_request.save
    flash[:success] = "Your request has been sent"
redirect_to user_path(current_user)
#Send confirmations to both user and mentor
#Send the notification to an internal message inbox
  else
render "new"
  end
end

When I go to the view at mentor_requests/new.html.erb and try to submit the request it says that the mentor_id has to be present and the content has to be present. I tried creating a request using a modal view from the mentor show page but the content doesnt save and I validate that the presence has to be true, and then when it redirects to mentor_requests/new.html.erb the mentor id is no longer present.

I do not know if I have presented enough information but I seriously need help here. If I am on the right path what do I need to do to get it work, and if all this is wrong what do I do to get what I want.

Thanks a lot

Jude

Answer 1

make your mentor_request route nested under mentor. Since a mentor request doesn't make sense without the context of a mentor this is the perfect spot for a nested resource.

    resources :mentors do 
       resources :mentor_requests
    end

this will make your route something like /mentors/1/mentor_requests

And then in your controller you will also have a params[:mentor_id] so make it

   def create
     @mentor_request = current_user.mentor_requests.build(params[:mentor_request])
     @mentor_request.mentor = Mentor.find(params[:mentor_id])
   end

As for your content error, it seems like that is a field required on mentor_request that you arent' filling in. You'll need to pass that back too and assign it to the mentor_request or just take off the validation if you dont' need it