have the following models
class Address < ActiveRecord::Base
  has_and_belongs_to_many :address_types, :join_table =>
"address_types_addresses", :foreign_key => "address_id"
  has_and_belongs_to_many :organisations
class AddressType < ActiveRecord::Base
  has_and_belongs_to_many :addresses, :join_table =>
"address_types_addresses", :foreign_key =>
"address_types_id"
class Organisation < ActiveRecord::Base
  has_and_belongs_to_many :addresses
An organisation can have a number of different addresses (main,
dispatch, invoice etc). And one address can belong to more than one
organisation (to allow for different companies operating out of the
same address), and an address can be more than one type of address (ie
the invoice address could be the same as the dispatch address, but
different to the main office address).
There are the appropriate join tables: address_types_addresses, and
addresses_organisations.
I have a form that allows a user to add a new address (uses Ryan
Bates'' "Handle Multiple Models in One Form" technique from
the
Advanced Rails Recipes book.
Here is the relevant part of the Organisations model:
  after_update :save_addresses
  def new_address_attributes=(address_attributes)
    #handles the address edit form in the edit view
    address_attributes.each do |attributes|
        addresses.build(attributes)
    end
  end
  def existing_address_attributes=(address_attributes)
    addresses.reject(&:new_record?).each do |address|
      attributes = address_attributes[address.id.to_s]
      if attributes
        address.attributes = attributes
      else
        addresses.delete(address)
      end
    end
  end
  def save_addresses
    addresses.each do |address|
      address.save(false)
    end
  end
The problem I am having is that the save is great - except for it
doesn''t enter a value in the address_types_address table.  Being an
old-fashioned PHP programmer, I am slightly struggling to find out how
to make it update that table as well. I am guessing that since there
is no direct relationship between address_types and organisations,
rails doesn''t know about it. How to tell it .... Is this something
simple, or is there a bus-sized hole in the logic?
Any help would be v gratefully received.
Thanks
Ben