Using pre-existing records to add a new record to the database in rails

Question

Okay so you can see my models and controller below. What I want to be able to do is when a user is adding a new lease, the user can select from a list of the properties already in the database for the property_id, and also select from a list of the tenants on file for the tenant_id. I am relatively new to rails and really don't have a clue how I would go about doing this. In my controller I put @property = Property.all @tenant = Tenant.all to make them accessible but I don't know how to leverage them in the way that I want.

Lease Model

class Lease < ActiveRecord::Base
  attr_accessible :lease_end, :lease_start, :property_id, :tenant_id
  belongs_to :tenant
  belongs_to :property
end

Property Model

class Property < ActiveRecord::Base
  attr_accessible :address_line_1, :city, :county, :image, :rent
  belongs_to :lease
end

Tenant Model

class Tenant < ActiveRecord::Base
  attr_accessible :email, :name, :phone
  belongs_to :lease 
end

Lease controller methods for adding a new lease and editing a lease

 def new
    @lease = Lease.new
    @property = Property.all
    @tenant = Tenant.all
    respond_to do |format|
      format.html # new.html.erb
      format.json { render json: @lease }
    end
  end

  # GET /leases/1/edit
  def edit
    @lease = Lease.find(params[:id])
    @property = Property.all
    @tenant = Tenant.all
  end

EDIT: Drop down box work but the options arn't wahat I want. I am getting options like # for tenants and # for properties. I would like if I could get the tenants names and the address of the properties instead

_form file code updated with 's suggestions 的建议进行了更新

<%= form_for(@lease) do |f| %>
  <% if @lease.errors.any? %>
    <div id="error_explanation">
       <h2><%= pluralize(@lease.errors.count, "error") %> prohibited this lease from          
          being saved:</h2>
      <ul>
      <% @lease.errors.full_messages.each do |msg| %>
       <li><%= msg %></li>
     <% end %>
     </ul>
    </div>
 <% end %>

 <div class="field">
  <%= f.label :tenant_id %><br />
  <%= f.select :tenant, options_for_select(@tenants) %>
</div>
<div class="field">
  <%= f.label :property_id %><br />
  <%= f.select :property, options_for_select(@properties) %>
</div>
<div class="field">
  <%= f.label :lease_start %><br />
  <%= f.date_select :lease_start %>
</div>
<div class="field">
  <%= f.label :lease_end %><br />
  <%= f.date_select :lease_end %>
</div>
<div class="actions">
  <%= f.submit %>
</div>
<% end %>

Answer 1

First tip : the good practice is to use @properties when you have many properties, not @property . Idem with @tenants .

Then, you can set this in the new or edit page :

<% form_for @lease do |f| %>
  <%= f.select :property, options_for_select(@properties) %>
  <%= f.select :tenant, options_for_select(@tenants) %>
<% end %>

Next tip is to use a partial named app/views/leases/_form.html.erb to set the previous form, when the new and edit are rendering the same form. Then, your new and edit views will become

<%= render :partial => 'form' %>

To have specific option display, you can read the options_for_select or options_from_collection_for_select docs

http://api.rubyonrails.org/classes/ActionView/Helpers/FormOptionsHelper.html#method-i-options_for_select

<%= f.select :property, options_from_collection_for_select(@properties, 'id', 'name') %>

Choose the best method to your case.