Notes for http://stackoverflow.com/questions/10050797/rails-error-cant-mass-assign-protected-attributes

_fields.html.erb

<%= form_for(@person) do |f| %>
  <fieldset>
    <div class="left">
        <%= f.label :first_name %><br/>
        <%= f.text_field :first_name %>
    </div>
    <div>
        <%= f.label :last_name %><br/>
        <%= f.text_field :last_name %>
    </div>
    <div>
        <%= f.label :email %><br/>
        <%= f.text_field :email %>
    </div>
    <div>
        <%= f.label :organisation_id %><br/>
        <% # You need to customize this so that it displays the names, but sends option values equal to the ids %>
        <%= f.select(:organisation_id, Organisation.all.map(&:id), {:include_blank => "--- None ---"}, :id => 'organization_select') %>
    </div>
  </fieldset>

  <%= f.fields_for :address do |address| %>
    <%= render 'shared/address', :f => address %>
  <% end %>

  <%= f.submit %>
<% end %>

Controller.rb

# I am assuming you have a User model with a
# has_many :people association?
def create
  # Your params for Person creation are found on the params[:person]
  # I do not understand what you are doing here.  Basically, what's going
  # on - if an organisation is selected, you are building the person off of
  # the organisation relationship.  Your form, however, revolves around people, not
  # organisations.  

  # So, get rid of the complexity below
  #if params[:organisation_id]
  #  @person = current_user.organisations.build_person(params[:person])
  #else
  #  @person = current_user.people.build(params[:person])
  #end
  
  # Uncomment this to test the creation against a standalone Person object
  # test_person = Person.new(params[:person])
  # puts test_person.valid?
  # puts test_person.organisation
  # puts test_person.address
  
  puts 'testing @person:'
  @person = current_user.people.build(params[:person])
  puts "valid? #{@person.valid?}"
  puts "errors: #{@person.errors.inspect}"

  if @person.save
    flash[:success] = "Person created."
    redirect_to people_path
  else
    render :action => "new"
  end
end

Models.rb

class Organisation < ActiveRecord::Base

  has_many    :people
  has_one     :address, :as         => :addressable,
                        :dependent  => :destroy
  accepts_nested_attributes_for :address, :allow_destroy => true

end

class Person < ActiveRecord::Base

  belongs_to  :organisation
  has_one     :address, :as         => :addressable,
                        :dependent  => :destroy

  # The form sends the address attributes as blank values when they are not entered
  # Without the reject, the address model gets populated with blank values and then blows up during validation
  accepts_nested_attributes_for :address, :allow_destroy => true, :reject_if => lambda { |a| a[:line1].blank? && a[:line2].blank? && a[:city].blank? && a[:zip].blank? }

  
  # Organization must be selected, unless Address details are added
  validates_presence_of :organisation, :unless => "address.present?"
  # The Address association must be validated, unless organization is selected 
  validates_associated :address, :unless => "organisation.present?"
end

class Address < ActiveRecord::Base
  belongs_to :addressable, :polymorphic => true
  
  # These validations are necessary for the validated_associated above
  # If there are no validations, then missing organizations and address inputs will not trigger the proper validations
  validates_presence_of :line1, :line2, :city, :zip
end

PersonController.rb

# I excluded all User relationships
class PeopleController < ApplicationController
  before_filter :print_params

  def index
    @people = Person.all
  end

  def new
    # Add default values if you want them displayed
    @person = Person.new
    # Necessary to build out the blank address fields
    @person.build_address
    @title = "New person"
  end

  def edit
    @person = Person.find(params[:id])
    @title = @person.name
  end

  def create
    # This is the beauty of accepts_nested_attributes
    @person = Person.new(params[:person])

    if @person.save
      flash[:success] = "Person created."
      redirect_to people_path
    else
      Rails.logger.info "==== errors: #{@person.errors.inspect}"
      @person.build_address if @person.address.nil?
      render :new
    end
  end

  # Just for debugging purposes - remove once you've figured everything out
  def print_params
    Rails.logger.info "==== params: #{params.inspect}"
  end

end

stack_overflow_12772318_testbed.rb

# Once your models are updated, open the console via `rails c` and enter the following tests
# Note: I am using organization vs organisation - you might want to do a search/replace

# I made an assumption that Organization has at least a name attribute
organization = Organization.create(:name => 'Org1')

# Simple method that prints validity and errors
def print_validation(obj)
  puts "valid?: #{obj.valid?}"
  puts obj.errors.inspect
end

# nested attrs containing a full person, org reference and full address
full_person_attrs = {
  :first_name => 'Harry',
  :last_name => 'Smith',
  :email => '[email protected]',
  :organization_id =>  organization.id,
  :address_attributes => {
    :line1 => '122 N Lane St',
    :line2 => 'Apt 35',
    :city => 'Chicago',
    :zip => '60625'
  }
}

p = Person.create(full_person_attrs)
print_validation(p)

# nested attrs containing a full person and full address
person_address_attrs = {
  :first_name => 'Harry',
  :last_name => 'Smith',
  :email => '[email protected]',
  :address_attributes => {
    :line1 => '122 N Lane St',
    :line2 => 'Apt 35',
    :city => 'Chicago',
    :zip => '60625'
  }
}

p2 = Person.create(person_address_attrs)
print_validation(p2)

# nested attrs containing a full person and org reference
person_organization_attrs = {
  :first_name => 'Harry',
  :last_name => 'Smith',
  :email => '[email protected]',
  :organization_id =>  organization.id
}

p3 = Person.create(person_organization_attrs)
print_validation(p3)

# nested attrs containing a full person, but no org or address
person_without_organization_or_address_attrs = {
  :first_name => 'Harry',
  :last_name => 'Smith',
  :email => '[email protected]'  
}

p4 = Person.create(person_without_organization_or_address_attrs)
print_validation(p4)

# nested attrs containing a full person and partial address
# I added presence_of validations in Address for all the attributes
person_with_partial_address_attrs = {
  :first_name => 'Harry',
  :last_name => 'Smith',
  :email => '[email protected]',
  :address_attributes => {
    :line1 => '122 N Lane St',
    :line2 => 'Apt 35'
  }
}

p5 = Person.create(person_with_partial_address_attrs)
print_validation(p5)