Saving Mutiple arrays with strong parameters Ruby on Rails 4

Question

I have an ajax response like this ,

google_searched_locations [{"geometry":{"location":{"J":31.482273,"M":74.33069999999998}},"icon":"https://maps.gstatic.com/mapfiles /place_api/icons/restaurant-71.png","id":"b93a99a46343de01d0d928f99470f9b0f5f6f11d","name":"Dunkin' Donuts" ,"place_id":"ChIJSeoh6hkEGTkRsd0e1crAbHU","rating":4.3,"reference":"CnRhAAAAewgE30hrAcax1xdGPIf7M863 bOtNhRgfnncMx17uWMgtdTyGHGbTO76LX6yXsPyB4PcvfVzIeeIR1bxG0oSambqMYxFWwqHY3Cyfs6uWFp2QbVkGObvQ1LlTrdqLh1eZVgX8aL0iRFFhAnHEM8u1RxIQACDCn2BMD3IiG7tKri31BRoULMSagTU-EmxswgLxzCOWPVVnlpI" ,"scope":"GOOGLE","types":["restaurant","food","point_of_interest","establishment"],"vicinity":"Lahore" ,"html_attributions":[]}]

After JSON.parse(thisString) , I get the required result by using params["places"][0]["geometry"] and then looping over it , but I know that it's not a better way when Rails have strong parameter there , so I tried some solutions after searching , below is my strong parameters function

def google_places
    json_params = ActionController::Parameters.new(JSON.parse(request.body.read) )
json_params.require(:google_searched_locations).permit(:icon)
end

but it gives the following error ,

JSON::ParserError in SearchesController#searchResults

757: unexpected token at 'places=%5B%7B%22geometry

Can anyone make us out of this mess , and tell us what's happening here and where is the right way to go . Thanks in advance :)

max max · Accepted Answer · 2015-10-07T15:22:02

You do not need to manually parse JSON parameters. Rails will automatically parse the parameters provided the request has the correct format (more specifically the correct mime type headers). In fact doing so will be slower and use more memory since you are doing the same parsing work twice.

To allow an array of parameters you simply use the hash key and an array of the permitted attributes for the nested params.

def google_places
  params.permit(places: [:icon, { location: [:H, :L] }])
end

If possible you should change the H and L parameters to lowercase so that you can map them directly to attributes without violating the ruby conventions of lowercase attributes.

Saving Mutiple arrays with strong parameters Ruby on Rails 4

1 Answers