Passing nil into "connection" Object

connection.rb

class Connection < ActiveRecord::Base 
	attr_accessible :reason, :established, :connector, :connectee1, :connectee2, 
									:connectee1_attributes, :connectee2_attributes, :connector_attributes 
	
	belongs_to :connector, class_name: "User" 
	belongs_to :connectee1, class_name: "User"
	belongs_to :connectee2, class_name: "User"

	accepts_nested_attributes_for :connector, :connectee1, :connectee2 
	
	validates :reason, :presence => true
	validates_length_of :reason, :maximum => 160

	after_create :mail_connectees
	after_initialize :build_associated_parties	
	after_create :log_successful_mail
	
	# Builds connectee's and connector objects
	def build_associated_parties
		build_connector
		build_connectee1
		build_connectee2
	end

	# Sends email to both connectee1 and connectee2 with offer to connect #
	def mail_connectees
		ConnectionMailer.connectee1_email(connectee1).deliver
		ConnectionMailer.connectee2_email(connectee2).deliver
	end

	def log_successful_mail
		Rails.logger.info "Mailed successfully!"
	end

	
end

connections_controller.rb

class ConnectionsController < ApplicationController

	# instantiate new connection object #
	def new
		@connection = Connection.new
		@connection.build_connectee1
		@connection.build_connectee2
		@connection.build_connector
	end
	
	# save attributes to connection #
	def create	
		debugger
		@connection = Connection.new params[:connection]

		if @connection.save		
			flash[:notice] = "Connection created successfully!"
			redirect_to @connection
		else
			render :new
		end
	end

	def edit
		@connection = Connection.find(params[:id])
	end
	
	def update
	end
	
	def show
		Connection.find(params[:id])
	end
end

new.html.erb

<h1>Tell Us 2 People to Introduce</h1>

<div class="errors">
	<% if @connection.errors.present? %>
		<% @connection.errors.each do |key, message| %>
			<p class="error"><b><%= key %></b>: <%= uppercase.message %></p>
		<% end %>
	<% end %>
</div> 

<%= form_for @connection do |f| %>
	<h2>Tell us two poeple you want to connect?</h2>
	<%= f.fields_for :connectee1 do |c1| %> 
		<%= c1.label :name1 %>
		<%= c1.text_field :name%>
		<%= c1.label :email1 %>
		<%= c1.email_field :email%>
	<% end %>
	<%= f.fields_for :connectee2 do |c2| %> 
		<%= c2.label :name2 %>
		<%= c2.text_field :name%>
		<%= c2.label :email2 %>
		<%= c2.email_field :email%>
	<% end %>
	<h2>Who should get the credit?</h2>
	<%= f.fields_for :connector do |c| %> 
		<%= c.label :name %>
		<%= c.text_field :name%>
		<%= c.label :email %>
		<%= c.email_field :email%>	
	<% end %>	
	<%= f.label :reason %>
	<%= f.text_area :reason %>
	<%= f.submit "Introduce" %>
<% end %>

Can you paste in or screenshot the error backtrace you're getting?

I think I know what was happening here. I think the build_* calls were overwriting the values passed in from the form. I think that method should probably be this:

def build_associated_parties
  build_connectee1 unless connectee1
  build_connectee2 unless connectee2
  build_connector unless connector
end

@ajsharp - you were spot on.

Now I need to search through the API docs to find out why?