# Flash\[:notice\] **URL:** \ **Category:** Rails\ **Created:** [January 21, 2007, 2:24am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/flash-notice/82794 "2007-01-21T02:24:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![dxk3355](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dxk3355](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/dxk3355)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2007, 2:24am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/flash-notice/82794/1 "2007-01-21T02:24:50Z")
Hello! I want to understand more about how flash[:notice] works, because in one case it stays on longer than I would want or expect… I set it in on of the actions, and in the view for that action there is a link to somewhere else… When the user clicks on that link, the flash message is displayed in the new action/view… how come? If I do flash.now[:notice] = ‘’… then it works as expected… my questions: is it normal that in first case the message stays… and why? what is the exact difference between flash and flash.now… is this subject easy to understand and consistent or is it a little bit “hackish” and blurry? The details: def forgotten\_password # if post, generate password reset link and store it in the user table, otherwise just show the form if request.post? user = User.find\_by\_email(params[:email]) if !user flash[:notice] = “There is no user with such email” else Notifier::deliver\_password\_reset\_key(user) # show the message about the sent email render :action =\> ‘password\_reset\_sent’ end end end This is the view for this action: \<%= start\_form\_tag :action =\> ‘forgotten\_password’ %\> Plase enter your email: \<%= text\_field\_tag(:email, ‘’ ) %\> \<%= submit\_tag ‘OK’ %\> \<%= end\_form\_tag %\> \<%= link\_to “Home”, :action =\> ‘login’ %\> So when I enter the non-existing email, the above flash message is set and this view(form) displayed again… BUT when I click on HOME (link on the bottom), the message is still there in the ‘login’ action… as I said - the message goes away if I use flash.now() … but I would really like to understand the philosophy of this… I don’t want to go testing the code for that kind of stuff and not learning it the right way… THANK YOU A LOT for the clarification! David ---
**Author:** ![dxk3355](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dxk3355](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/dxk3355)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2007, 4:58am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/flash-notice/82794/2 "2007-01-21T04:58:08Z")
A flash is essensial a session variable that is around in the request after it was set. On the request after that again, it’s gone. Not sure about your problem, though. On Jan 21, 2:24 am, David K. [removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid](mailto:removed_email_address@domain.invalid) ---
**Author:** ![dxk3355](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dxk3355](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/dxk3355)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2007, 9:51am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/flash-notice/82794/3 "2007-01-21T09:51:33Z")
You could use flash.now[:notice], that way it will only show once. Kind regards, ## Nick > **[Ruby on Rails hosting companies - Compare, review and find your next ROR host](https://www.railshostinginfo.com/)** > > Are you looking for a good and reliable Ruby on Rails hosting company? We have lined them up so you can easily compare and review them. Compare Rails hosting companies ---
**Author:** ![dxk3355](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dxk3355](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/dxk3355)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2007, 8:57pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/flash-notice/82794/4 "2007-01-21T20:57:02Z")
thank you, but this doesn’t tell me anything 😉 I know that… and it does work… but I wanted to know why the normal flash doesn’t… I also wanted to know the difference between the two (how it works)… thank you anyway … but can anyone provide the _real_ explanation? Thank you! enjoy! david Nick S. wrote: > You could use flash.now[:notice], that way it will only show once. > > Kind regards, > > ## Nick > > [http://www.railshostinginfo.com](http://www.railshostinginfo.com) > Compare Rails hosting companies ---
**Author:** ![dxk3355](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dxk3355](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/dxk3355)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2007, 1:47am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/flash-notice/82794/5 "2007-01-22T01:47:50Z")
OK, I got it now… The thing that was confusing me was that somehow I thought that regular flash is cleared after rendering a view (of course it’s not), when in fact it’s the next action that is the final stop… great! Thank you all! David Rob S. wrote: > You have pretty much answered it yourself. > From > [Ruby on Rails — A web-app framework that includes everything needed to create database-backed web applications according to the Model-View-Controller (MVC) pattern.](http://www.rubyonrails.org/api/classes/ActionController/Flash.html) > > The flash provides a way to pass temporary objects between actions. > Anything you place in the flash will be exposed to the very next action > and then cleared out. This is a great way of doing notices and alerts, > such as a create action that sets flash[:notice] = “Successfully > created” before redirecting to a display action that can then expose the > flash to its template. Actually, that exposure is automatically done. > > and for Flash.now > [Ruby on Rails — A web-app framework that includes everything needed to create database-backed web applications according to the Model-View-Controller (MVC) pattern.](http://www.rubyonrails.org/api/classes/ActionController/Flash/FlashHash.html) > > now() > Sets a flash that will not be available to the next action, only to the > current. ---
**Author:** ![dxk3355](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dxk3355](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/dxk3355)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2007, 9:06pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/flash-notice/82794/6 "2007-01-21T21:06:24Z")
You have pretty much answered it yourself. From > **[Ruby on Rails](https://rubyonrails.org)** > > A web-app framework that includes everything needed to create database-backed web applications according to the Model-View-Controller (MVC) pattern. The flash provides a way to pass temporary objects between actions. Anything you place in the flash will be exposed to the very next action and then cleared out. This is a great way of doing notices and alerts, such as a create action that sets flash[:notice] = “Successfully created” before redirecting to a display action that can then expose the flash to its template. Actually, that exposure is automatically done. and for Flash.now > **[Ruby on Rails](https://rubyonrails.org)** > > A web-app framework that includes everything needed to create database-backed web applications according to the Model-View-Controller (MVC) pattern. now() Sets a flash that will not be available to the next action, only to the current.