# Acts\_as\_state\_machine error: evaluating nil.exited

**URL:** <https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/acts-as-state-machine-error-evaluating-nil-exited/140326>\
**Category:** Rails\
**Created:** [June 12, 2008, 11:42pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/acts-as-state-machine-error-evaluating-nil-exited/140326 "2008-06-12T23:42:23Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![mindtonic](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/m/f19dbf/32.png) [@mindtonic](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/mindtonic)\
**Post date:** [June 12, 2008, 11:42pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/acts-as-state-machine-error-evaluating-nil-exited/140326/1 "2008-06-12T23:42:23Z")

</div>

NoMethodError in FeedsController#do\_validate

You have a nil object when you didn’t expect it!  
The error occurred while evaluating nil.exited

RAILS\_ROOT: /Users/jaysanders/Sites/rss/trunk  
Application Trace | Framework Trace | Full Trace

vendor/plugins/acts\_as\_state\_machine/lib/acts\_as\_state\_machine.rb:  
64:in `perform' vendor/plugins/acts_as_state_machine/lib/acts_as_state_machine.rb: 94:in`fire’  
vendor/plugins/acts\_as\_state\_machine/lib/acts\_as\_state\_machine.rb:  
93:in `each' vendor/plugins/acts_as_state_machine/lib/acts_as_state_machine.rb: 93:in`fire’  
vendor/plugins/acts\_as\_state\_machine/lib/acts\_as\_state\_machine.rb:  
201:in `validated!' app/controllers/feeds_controller.rb:103:in`do\_validate’

===

def do\_validate  
@feed = Feed.find(params[:id])  
@feed.cache\_feed

```
if @feed.feed_cache
  @feed.validated!
else
  @feed.invalidated!
end

respond_to do |format|
  format.js { render :text => @feed.state }
end

```

end

===

acts\_as\_state\_machine :initial =\> :submitted  
state :valid\_address  
state :invalid\_address  
state :readable\_feed  
state :unreadable\_feed  
state :active  
state :invalid

event :validated do  
transitions :from =\> :submitted, :to =\> :valid\_address  
end

===

Any ideas? If I comment out line 64 from acts\_as\_state\_machine.rb,  
everything works beautifully. What am I missing? Thanks!

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![mindtonic](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/m/f19dbf/32.png) [@mindtonic](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/mindtonic)\
**Post date:** [June 12, 2008, 11:43pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/acts-as-state-machine-error-evaluating-nil-exited/140326/2 "2008-06-12T23:43:34Z")

</div>

Oh yeah, this is line 64: old\_state.exited(record) unless  
loopback