Rails 3 way working with multiple if statements and form create/new - activerecord

Question

I have a problem to approach and not sure what the most appropriate method will be to make this work. Here the background to begin:
There are two models I am working with Procedures and Appointments. The Appointments model belongs_to the Procedures model and Procedures model has_many Appointments.
Now on the procedures model there are two key points to focus on, rather, two key columns.
attr_accessible :visits, :occurence
visits is the specific number of times to schedule the Appointment(s).
occurence is the frequency of the visits. An example would be visits: "5", occurence: "weekly"
So when I am submitting my form I would like to write a method that looks at both visits: "x" and occurence: ["weekly", "biweekly", "monthly"] to then create a if or a switch -- php does switch still looking into ruby version -- but I suspect there is an elegant way to write this up.
My current create method looks like this:
def create
#appointment = Appointment.new(params[:appointment])
set_variables
if #appointment.save
flash[:success] = "Appointment scheduled!"
redirect_to patient_path(#current_patient)
else
redirect_to patient_path(#current_patient)
flash[:error] = "Appointment Date and Time cannot be blank, please try again."
end
end
What would be the best way to tackle a) identifying occurence: ["weekly", "biweekly", "monthly"] and then processing visits: "x" based on something similar to:
if #appointment.occurence == "weekly"
(x-1).times do |n|
submit same params but change within params appointment_date: = ((#appointment.appointment_date) + (n+1).week.to_formatted_s(:db)
#appointment.save
end
end
...and so on and so forth using (n+1).month for monthly occurrence (n+2).day and for bi-weekly occurrence(s).
Thank you in advance, hope this clarifies things. Just one item to note, do I need to store in database visits: and occurence:, I suspect not but would like to be certain they are used when hitting the models_controller create function.

Answer 1

Here's a slightly less cluttered solution that should do what you need, though it also assumes that you get rid of the :appointment_date field and change :appointment_time to a DateTime field. For more info on DateTimes check out:
(Stackoverflow will only allow me to post 2 links because I'm a n00b so search "DateTime Ruby" on your favorite search engine for documentation for the Ruby and rails methods for DateTime)
Formatting DateTime to string for views: http://apidock.com/ruby/DateTime/strftime
Intro on using DateTimes in forms: http://guides.rubyonrails.org/form_helpers.html#using-date-and-time-form-helpers
#appointment = Appointment.new(params[:appointment])
set_variables
if #appointment.save
if #procedure.occurence == "WEEKLY"
multiplier = 7
elsif #procedure.occurence == "BIWEEKLY"
multplier = 14
else
multiplier = 30
end
#visits = #procedure.visits - 1
#visits.times do |n|
Appointment.create!(
:procedure_id => #appointment.procedure_id,
:patient_id => #appointment.patient_id,
:appointment_time => (#appointment.appointment_time + (multiplier * n).days),
:attendance => "SCHEDULED"
)
end
else
flash.now[:error] = "There appears to be an error, please try again."
render 'new'
end

Answer 2

Solved for the moment, rather crude--as is my current ruby skill set--but it seems to have done the job.
#appointment = Appointment.new(params[:appointment])
set_variables
#appointment.save
if #procedure.occurence == "BIWEEKLY"
#visits = #procedure.visits - 1
#visits.times do |n|
procedure_id = #appointment.procedure_id
patient_id = #appointment.patient_id
appointment_date = (#appointment.appointment_date +
((n+2)*2).days).to_formatted_s(:db)
appointment_time = #appointment.appointment_time
appointment_notes = #appointment.appointment_notes
attendance = "SCHEDULED"
#scheduled = Appointment.create(procedure_id: procedure_id,
patient_id: patient_id, appointment_date: appointment_date,
appointment_time: appointment_time,
appointment_notes: appointment_notes, attendance: attendance)
end
end
if #procedure.occurence == "WEEKLY"
#visits = #procedure.visits - 1
#visits.times do |n|
procedure_id = #appointment.procedure_id
patient_id = #appointment.patient_id
appointment_date = (#appointment.appointment_date +
(n+1).week).to_formatted_s(:db)
appointment_time = #appointment.appointment_time
appointment_notes = #appointment.appointment_notes
attendance = "SCHEDULED"
#scheduled = Appointment.create(procedure_id: procedure_id,
patient_id: patient_id, appointment_date: appointment_date,
appointment_time: appointment_time,
appointment_notes: appointment_notes, attendance: attendance)
end
end
if #procedure.occurence == "MONTHLY"
#visits = #procedure.visits - 1
#visits.times do |n|
procedure_id = #appointment.procedure_id
patient_id = #appointment.patient_id
appointment_date = (#appointment.appointment_date + (n+1).month).to_formatted_s(:db)
appointment_time = #appointment.appointment_time
appointment_notes = #appointment.appointment_notes
attendance = "SCHEDULED"
#scheduled = Appointment.create(procedure_id: procedure_id,
patient_id: patient_id, appointment_date: appointment_date,
appointment_time: appointment_time,
appointment_notes: appointment_notes, attendance: attendance)
end
end