Why is my simple_fields_for not iterating

Question

I have the following (simplified) classes:

class CandidateList < ActiveRecord::Base
  has_many :candidates, inverse_of: :candidate_list, dependent: :destroy
  ...
end

and

class Candidate < ActiveRecord::Base
  belongs_to :candidate_list, inverse_of: :candidates
  ...
end

In my controller, I create a CandidateList with 10 Candidate objects and querying the database verifies that they exist and are attached.

In my form, I've got the following:

<%= simple_form_for save_bingo_terms_path( candidate_list_id: @candidate_list ) do |f| %>
  ...
  <%= @candidate_list.candidates.count %>
  <table>
    <%= f.simple_fields_for :candidates do |cf| %>
    <tr>
      <td><%= cf.input :name, label: false %></td>
      <td><%= cf.input :definition, label: false %></td>
    </tr>
    <% end %>
<% end %>

Can anyone help me understand why it only shows me a single row in the table with an input field for name and definition even though the count output above the table shows 10?

Thanks in advance!

Answer 1

:candidates is not associated with the @candidate_list object, it's associated with a save_bingo_terms_path

Change the simple_form_for to

<%= simple_form_for @candidate_list do |f| %>

And don't forget to specify...

class CandidateList < ActiveRecord::Base
  has_many :candidates, inverse_of: :candidate_list, dependent: :destroy
  accepts_nested_attributes_for :candidates
  ...
end

Alternatively you can explicitly specify an each loop and reference each candidate

<% @candidate_list.candidates each do |candidate| %>
  <% f.simple_fields_for :candidates, candidate do |cf| %>
    <tr>
      <td><%= cf.input :name, label: false %></td>
      <td><%= cf.input :definition, label: false %></td>
    </tr>
  <% end %>
<% end %>