Rails - Saving Hidden Field Tag to Database

Question

Beginner Rails Question:

I have a hidden_field_tag at the top of my form and I want to save the params value to the database in order to facilitate creating a subscription. I have my view, controller, and model files below. What is the best way to do this? Let me know if you need info..here to learn and thanks in advance!

View:

<%= form_for @register, html: {id: 'payment-form'} do |f| %>

      <%= hidden_field_tag :plan, params[:plan] %>

      <div class="form-group">
        <%= f.label :name_of_person_completing_form, "Name of Person Completing Form" %>
        <%= f.text_field :name_of_person_completing_form, class: 'form-control' %>
      </div>

      <div class="form-group">
        <%= f.label :email, "Your Email" %>
        <%= f.text_field :email, placeholder: "Ex: schoolcounselor@school.com", class: 'form-control' %>
      </div>

      <div class="form-group">
        <%= f.label :role_in_school, "Role in School" %>
        <%= f.text_field :role_in_school, placeholder: "Ex: School Counselor, Assistant Principal", class: 'form-control' %>
      </div>

      <div class="form-group">
        <%= f.label :school_name, "School Name" %>
        <%= f.text_field :school_name, class: 'form-control' %>
      </div>

      <div class="form-group">
        <%= f.label :grade_levels, "Grade Levels" %>
        <%= f.text_field :grade_levels, placeholder: "Ex: 9-12, 6-8, 6-12", class: 'form-control' %>
      </div>

      <div class="form-group">
        <%= f.label :street_name, "Street Name" %>
        <%= f.text_field :street_name, placeholder: "Ex: 123 School Drive", class: 'form-control' %>
      </div>

      <div class="form-group">
        <%= f.label :city, "City" %>
        <%= f.text_field :city, class: 'form-control' %>
      </div>

       <div class="form-group">
        <%= f.label :state, "State" %>
        <%= f.text_field :state, placeholder: "Ex: Virginia, Pennsylvania, California", class: 'form-control' %>
      </div>

      <div class="form-group">
        <%= f.label :zip_code, "Zip Code" %>
        <%= f.text_field :zip_code, class: 'form-control' %>
      </div>

      <div class="form-group">
        <label for="card-element">
          Credit or debit card
        </label>

        <div id="card-element", class = "form-control">
          <!-- a Stripe Element will be inserted here. -->
        </div>

        <!-- Used to display Element errors -->
        <div id="card-errors" role="alert"></div>
      </div>

      <div class="actions form-group">
        <%= f.submit "Submit!", class: 'btn btn-success', id: 'form-signup-btn' %>
      </div>

    <% end %>

Controller:

 class SchoolRegistrationsController < ApplicationController

  def new
    @register = SchoolRegistration.new
  end

  def create
    @register = SchoolRegistration.new(register_params)

      if @register.save_with_subscription

      flash[:success] = "Congratulations!  You registered your school!"
      redirect_to new_user_registration_path

      else
      flash[:danger] = @register.errors.full_messages.join(", ")
      redirect_to new_registration_path
      end
  end

  private
    def register_params
      params.require(:school_registration).permit(:name_of_person_completing_form, :email, :role_in_school, :school_name, :grade_levels, :street_name, :city, :state, :zip_code)
    end
end

Model:

 class SchoolRegistration < ApplicationRecord
  validates :name_of_person_completing_form, presence: true
  validates :email, presence: true
  validates :role_in_school, presence: true
  validates :school_name, presence: true
  validates :grade_levels, presence: true
  validates :street_name, presence: true
  validates :city, presence: true
  validates :state, presence: true
  validates :zip_code, presence: true

  belongs_to :plan
  attr_accessor :stripeToken


  def save_with_subscription

    if valid?
      customer = Stripe::Customer.create(description: email, plan: plan_name, source: stripeToken)
        # This will make a call to stripe server and charge their card then create subscription
        self.stripe_customer_token = customer.id
        save!
      # This runs save on the spot and sends it to the database

    end
  end
end

Answer 1

I would include the plan_id in permitted parameters:

def register_params
  params.require(:school_registration).permit(:name_of_person_completing_form, :email, :role_in_school, :school_name, :grade_levels, :street_name, :city, :state, :zip_code, :plan_id)
end

I would add the hidden parameter as part of the form:

<%= form_for @register, html: {id: 'payment-form'} do |f| %>
  <%= f.hidden_field :plan_id %>

I would set the value in the controller:

def new
  # You should also validate if the plan exists in advance
  @register = SchoolRegistration.new(plan_id: params[plan])
end

Answer 2

You should use hidden_field instead of hidden_field_tag.

Using hidden_tag you'll be able to catch plan in params[:school_registration].

This one will do what you want:

<%= f.hidden_field :plan, value: params[:plan] %>

and don't forget to permit plan

Updated

You can go on with hidden_field_tag also but in this case you have to specify the name of the field manually:

hidden_field_tag 'school_registration[plan]', params[:plan]

Answer 3

Try to the following

<%= f.hidden_field :plan, value: params[:id] %>

And update register_params method on private section

params.require(:school_registration).permit(:name_of_person_completing_form, :email, :role_in_school, :school_name, :grade_levels, :street_name, :city, :state, :zip_code, :plan)

added plan

Hope to help