rails: create Parent, if doesn't exist, whilte creating child record

Question

Any best practices for the following?:

I have Manufacturer model that has_many Inventory

In my new Inventory form I want a field that maps to Manufacturer.na

Answer 1

You may try like this:

class Inventory < ActiveRecord::Base

  ...

  belongs_to :manufacturer

  ...

  def manufacturer_name
    manufacturer && manufacturer.name
  end

  def manufacturer_name=(value)
    self.manufacturer = Manufacturer.find_by_name(value)
    self.manufacturer ||= Manufacturer.new(:name => value)
  end

  ...

end

In this case you should output manufacturer_name text field on Inventory form.