How to get blank checkboxes to pass as false to params

Question

I have a form that is an update user form where several of the elements are checkboxes. I want true to pass to the params if checked (this is working) and false to pass to the

Answer 1

If anyone have column type boolean and using check_box_tag then look at this. It worked for me. <%= hidden_field_tag :basketball, 'false' %> <%= check_box_tag :basketball, true, is_checked? %>

Answer 2

Look at it

The main idea to place hidden field before checkbox. When a form is submitted fields will be parsed: if checkbox is checked - its value will be passed, else the value of hidden field

For example smth like this (NOT testes)

<%= hidden_field_tag :basketball, false %>
<%= check_box_tag :basketball, checked = true %> Basketball</br></br>

Answer 3

The problem is if you use a hidden attribute before a checkbox and give it the same reference like this:

<%= hidden_field_tag :basketball, false %>
<%= check_box_tag :basketball, checked = true %> Basketball</br></br>

Then if you want to do any type of dynamic action on an attribute, say like $("#basketball").removeAttr("checked") it will target the first instance of $("#basketball") which in this case is the hidden object.

What I ended up doing in my implementation was to add a default value of false to my checkboxes since my default setting was to be unchecked. Then in my jquery I detected a change on the checkbox elements and grabbed the ID of that checkbox. When a change is detected I evaluated the checked property for true or false and set the value attribute accordingly.

$(".checkbox").on('change', function(e) {
  var that;
  that = "#" + e.target.getAttribute("id");
  if ($(that).prop("checked") === true) {
    $(that).val("true");
  }
  if ($(that).prop("checked") === false) {
    return $(that).val("false");
  }
});

When I submit my PUT method form action it is updating the database record correctly with the boolean value even if it is blank.

Answer 4

You need to place a hidden field tag before each checkbox with an empty value, for example:

<%= hidden_field_tag :basketball, '' %>
<%= check_box_tag :basketball, checked = true %> Basketball</br></br>

Then the form is aware it needs to populate that field with an empty value if nothing is selected.

Answer 5

It appears that you are able to pass the value. See the following code:

check_box_tag 'accept'
<input id="accept" name="accept" type="checkbox" value="1" />

check_box_tag 'rock', 'rock music'
<input id="rock" name="rock" type="checkbox" value="rock music" />

check_box_tag 'receive_email', 'yes', true
<input checked="checked" id="receive_email" name="receive_email" type="checkbox" value="yes" />

check_box_tag 'tos', 'yes', false, :class => 'accept_tos'
<input class="accept_tos" id="tos" name="tos" type="checkbox" value="yes" />

check_box_tag 'eula', 'accepted', false, :disabled => true
<input disabled="disabled" id="eula" name="eula" type="checkbox" value="accepted" />

http://apidock.com/rails/ActionView/Helpers/FormTagHelper/check_box_tag