Many to Many table collection_select error - many-to-many

Question

I am trying to have rails populate an inbetween table. The inbetween table is: room_task
The form I am using is the new task form, which is nested.
Here is the model:
class Property < ActiveRecord::Base (property is parent nest)
attr_accessible :brand_id, :name, :user_property_code, :total_rooms, :property_addresses_attributes
belongs_to :brand
has_many :rooms
has_many :nonrooms
end
class Room < ActiveRecord::Base (room)
attr_accessible :number, :out_of_order, :property_id, :room_type_id, :taskable_id
belongs_to :room_type
belongs_to :property
has_many :room_tasks
has_many :tasks, through: :room_tasks
accepts_nested_attributes_for :tasks
accepts_nested_attributes_for :room_tasks
#add_index :room, :property_id
end
class Room < ActiveRecord::Base (task)
attr_accessible :number, :out_of_order, :property_id, :room_type_id, :taskable_id
belongs_to :room_type
belongs_to :property
has_many :room_tasks
has_many :tasks, through: :room_tasks
accepts_nested_attributes_for :tasks
accepts_nested_attributes_for :room_tasks
#add_index :room, :property_id
end
class RoomTask < ActiveRecord::Base (in between table)
attr_accessible :room_id, :task_id
has_one :room
has_one :task
belongs_to :room # foreign key - room id
belongs_to :task # foreign key - task id
end
Controller (task - where I want to create the new task and also the required relationship in the inbetween table)
class TasksController < ApplicationController
before_filter :find_property
def find_property
#property = Property.find(params[:property_id])
#room = #property.rooms
end
# GET /tasks
# GET /tasks.json
def index
#tasks = Task.all
respond_to do |format|
format.html # index.html.erb
format.json { render json: #tasks }
end
end
# GET /tasks/1
# GET /tasks/1.json
def show
#task = Task.find(params[:id])
respond_to do |format|
format.html # show.html.erb
format.json { render json: #task }
end
end
# GET /tasks/new
# GET /tasks/new.json
def new
#task = Task.new
respond_to do |format|
format.html # new.html.erb
format.json { render json: #task }
end
end
# GET /tasks/1/edit
def edit
#task = Task.find(params[:id])
end
# POST /tasks
# POST /tasks.json
def create
#task = Task.new(params[:task])
#task.time_assigned = Time.now
respond_to do |format|
if #task.save
format.html { redirect_to property_tasks_path(#property), notice: 'Task was successfully created.' }
format.json { render json: #task, status: :created, location: #task }
else
format.html { render action: "new" }
format.json { render json: #task.errors, status: :unprocessable_entity }
end
end
end
# PUT /tasks/1
# PUT /tasks/1.json
def update
#task = Task.find(params[:id])
respond_to do |format|
if #task.update_attributes(params[:task])
format.html { redirect_to #task, notice: 'Task was successfully updated.' }
format.json { head :no_content }
else
format.html { render action: "edit" }
format.json { render json: #task.errors, status: :unprocessable_entity }
end
end
end
# DELETE /tasks/1
# DELETE /tasks/1.json
def destroy
#task = Task.find(params[:id])
#task.destroy
respond_to do |format|
format.html { redirect_to tasks_url }
format.json { head :no_content }
end
end
end
Form (using a collection select (purpose would be to select the room of the property that the task is tied to and populate in the inbetween table)
<%= form_for([#property, #task]) do |f| %>
<% if #task.errors.any? %>
<div id="error_explanation">
<h2><%= pluralize(#task.errors.count, "error") %> prohibited this task from being saved:</h2>
<ul>
<% #task.errors.full_messages.each do |msg| %>
<li><%= msg %></li>
<% end %>
</ul>
</div>
<% end %>
<div>
<%= fields_for(:room_task) do |t| %>
<%= collection_select(:room_task, :room_id, #room, :id, :number) %> #without t. works but does not assign
<% end %>
<%= #room %> #debug collection pull - good
<div class="actions">
<%= f.submit %>
</div>
<% end %>
So I need help on ensuring that my inbetween table is populated when selecting the room. When f. or t. is prefixed to the collection_select, rails throws errors.
I am extremely confused. Help would be greatly appreciated, please let me know if any additional information is needed.
receiving this error when adding f. or t.
undefined method `merge' for :number:Symbol
displays and works fine without f. or t. but does not populate table.