In f.select, how do I set a default value if :state is blank?

Ruby
1

Below my current code. I want to default to “WI” if it’s a new record.

<%= f.select :state, Address.state_select, :state? ? ‘WI’ : :state %>

This does not work. It gave me the following error:

ctionView::Template::Error (undefined method `merge’ for “WI”:String):
13:


14:


15: <%= f.label :state %>
16: <%= f.select :state, Address.state_select, :state? ? ‘WI’
: :state %>
17:


18:


19: <%= f.label :zip %>

2

First of all, I don’t see any invocation of a method ‘merge’ in your
code, so I can’t comment on that.

What is odd, is the expression

:state? ? 'WI' : :state

It mentions two different symbols: :state? and :state. The condition is
just :state?. If you use a symbol as a condition, it is always
considered true (“every symbol is true”). Hence, the whole expression
always returns the string ‘WI’.