Rails has_many through not returning records -

i trying setup , use first has_many through association in rails 4.2.

i have populated tables data , can see associated data across 3 tables, can't understand if issue model, associations, or table data.

the models are:

class user < activerecord::base   devise :database_authenticatable, :registerable,      :recoverable, :rememberable, :trackable, :validatable    has_many :user_lists   has_many :lists, through: :user_lists    accepts_nested_attributes_for :user_lists   end  class list < activerecord::base   has_many :user_lists   has_many :users, through: :user_lists end   class userlist < activerecord::base   belongs_to :user   belongs_to :list    validates_presence_of :user   validates_presence_of :list end 

sample table data:

 users (just showing id , email particular test user):   id |       email ----+-------------------   3 | antman@marvel.com   user_lists:   id | user_id | list_id  ----+---------+---------  13 |       1 |       1   14 |       2 |       2   15 |       2 |       3   16 |       3 |       4   17 |       3 |       5   18 |       3 |       6    lists:   id | list_item_id |       list_name        | due_date ----+--------------+------------------------+----------   7 |              | 1: coles               |             8 |              | 2: monday way home     |             9 |              | 2: woolworths sandgate |            10 |              | 3: iga way home        |            11 |              | 3: aldi way home       |            12 |              | 3: pool stuff          |           

users controller:

def index   @user = current_user end 

users view:

<table>   <thead>     <tr>       <th>list</th>       <th></th>       <th></th>     </tr>   </thead>    <tbody>     <% @user.lists.each |list| %>       <tr>         <td><%= list.list_name %></td>         <td><%= link_to 'show', user_list %></td>         <td><%= link_to 'edit', edit_user_list_path(user_list) %></td>         <td><%= link_to 'destroy', user_list, method: :delete, data: { `confirm: 'are sure?' } %></td>       </tr>     <% end %>   </tbody> </table> 

i setup user_lists controller , view , viewed associated user_lists records (the join table) according logged in user.

when trying in rails console test "any" lists, , lists associated user (#3 in case) false , nothing:

irb(main):001:0> user=user.last   user load (3.0ms)  select  "users".* "users"  order "users"."id"         desc limit 1 => #<user id: 3, first_name: nil, last_name: nil, username: nil, email:     "antman@marvel.com",... irb(main):002:0> user.lists.any?   list exists (0.8ms)  select  1 one "lists" inner join "user_lists" on "lists"."id" = "user_lists"."list_id" "user_lists"."user_id" = $1 limit 1  [["user_id", 3]] => false irb(main):003:0> user.lists.all   list load (0.6ms)  select "lists".* "lists" inner join "user_lists" on "lists"."id" = "user_lists"."list_id" "user_lists"."user_id" = $1  [["user_id", 3]] => #<activerecord::associationrelation []> irb(main):004:0> 

my burning questions in hmt 101 are:

1. i think issue in underlying association or data - given rails console fails return records, case?

2. i think should using users controller/views display data - appropriate place, or should use controller/view?...also taking consideration thinking of implementing admin interface including master user list maintenance.

thankyou in advance! ll

in sample data provided, seems ids lists 4, 5, , 6 missing. if case, join table referring records no longer exist , not show in console.

for further help, try create new list, , give output of user.lists after saving record.

for example:

user = user.last list = user.lists.create!({     list_name: "4: test list" }) user.lists 

this allow see created list if associations working properly. if not, want review list see went wrong - whether it's join table record, or otherwise.