Rails - Sep 2005 - multiple instances of model class in 1 form?

I''m trying to handle a form with multiple model objects. Since english
is not my first language I will let the code do the talking :)

<%= start_form_tag :action => ''describe'' %>
 
  <% for @photo in @todescribe %> 
    <p><label for="photo_title">Photo
Title</label><br/>
    <%= text_field ''photo'', ''title'' 
%></p>
 
    <p><label for="photo_description">Photo
Description</label><br/>
    <%= text_area ''photo'', ''description'',
:rows => 7 %></p>

    <p><label
for="photo_tags">Categories</label><br/>
    <%= text_field ''photo'', ''tags''
%></p>

     <%= hidden_field ''photo'', ''id'' %>
  <% end -%>

  <%= submit_tag "Update" %>

<%= end_form_tag %>

I have Photo model instances in @todescribe, and I loop over them in
this view. However, all of them have the same field names (so I loose
parameters in my controller). How can I fix this?

And what is the best format: photo[title][1] or  photo[1][title]? Can
rails handle this?

A second question: 

What about error messages: 

Right now I would have to check it like this: 

if not @photo.errors.is_empty?
   error_messages_on ''photo'', ''field''
end 

for each field and object.. Is there a better way? I don''t like to see
five different error instance boxes like I would if i used
error_messages_for for each object.

Thanks!

Hello Bart,

Bart Bosman said the following on 2005-09-06 09:56:
> I''m trying to handle a form with multiple model objects. Since
english
> is not my first language I will let the code do the talking :)
> 
> <%= start_form_tag :action => ''describe'' %>
>  
>   <% for @photo in @todescribe %> 
>     <p><label for="photo_title">Photo
Title</label><br/>
>     <%= text_field ''photo'', ''title'' 
%></p>
>  
>     <p><label for="photo_description">Photo
Description</label><br/>
>     <%= text_area ''photo'',
''description'', :rows => 7 %></p>
> 
>     <p><label
for="photo_tags">Categories</label><br/>
>     <%= text_field ''photo'', ''tags''
%></p>
> 
>      <%= hidden_field ''photo'', ''id''
%>
>   <% end -%>
> 
>   <%= submit_tag "Update" %>
> 
> <%= end_form_tag %>
> 
> I have Photo model instances in @todescribe, and I loop over them in
> this view. However, all of them have the same field names (so I loose
> parameters in my controller). How can I fix this?
> 
> And what is the best format: photo[title][1] or  photo[1][title]? Can
> rails handle this?
Yup, there is:
   <p><label for="photo[<%= @photo.id
%>]_title">Photo Title</label><br/>
   <%= text_field ''photo[]'', ''title'' 
%></p>

I know the text_field will work, you might have to check the actual 
format to know what to name your label.  In your controller, you''ll 
receive the Photos in this format:
photo
   1
     title
     description
   2
     title
     description

and so on.  You will probably want to iterate over all instances like this:
params[:photo].each_pair do |id, values|
   photo = Photo.find(id)
   photo.update_attributes(values)
end
> A second question: 
> 
> What about error messages: 
> 
> Right now I would have to check it like this: 
> 
> if not @photo.errors.is_empty?
>    error_messages_on ''photo'', ''field''
> end 
> 
> for each field and object.. Is there a better way? I don''t like to
see
> five different error instance boxes like I would if i used
> error_messages_for for each object.
Now that one, I''ll let another more experienced developer answer... 
You
could always use a partial, no ?

Bye !
François