# Is "case" a magic name

**URL:** <https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/is-case-a-magic-name/74270>\
**Category:** Rails\
**Created:** [December 22, 2005, 1:39am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/is-case-a-magic-name/74270 "2005-12-22T01:39:26Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![afg](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@afg](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/afg)\
**Post date:** [December 22, 2005, 1:39am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/is-case-a-magic-name/74270/1 "2005-12-22T01:39:26Z")

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I’m a newbie.

My first app is using a table called cases. With just “scaffold  
:case” I get the basic list to show up.

I just did a “generate scaffold case case” (I think that is correct).

Now when I try to list my cases, I’m getting a syntax error on all of  
the view source code that references “case”.

ie. \<% for case in @cases %\>

## Thanks Greg

Greg F.  
The Norcross Group  
Forensics for the 21st Century

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**Author:** ![afg](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@afg](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/afg)\
**Post date:** [December 22, 2005, 1:51am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/is-case-a-magic-name/74270/2 "2005-12-22T01:51:29Z")

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‘case’ is a Ruby reserved word.

-Chris

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**Author:** ![afg](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@afg](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/afg)\
**Post date:** [December 22, 2005, 1:54am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/is-case-a-magic-name/74270/3 "2005-12-22T01:54:30Z")

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On Wed, Dec 21, 2005 at 07:37:51PM -0500, Greg F. wrote:

> ie. \<% for case in @cases %\>  
> Yes, ‘case’ is part of Ruby’s syntax.

answer = ‘yes’  
case answer  
when ‘yes’  
# …  
when 'no  
# …  
end

marcel

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**Author:** ![afg](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@afg](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/afg)\
**Post date:** [December 22, 2005, 6:32pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/is-case-a-magic-name/74270/4 "2005-12-22T18:32:20Z")

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On 12/21/05, Lee M. [removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid](mailto:removed_email_address@domain.invalid) wrote:

> “case” is used for switch statements in Ruby.
> 
> Try renaming your local variable and see if it works.
> 
> \<% for a\_case in @cases %\>

Works like a champ.

Will having a table called cases give me ongoing problems, or is it  
safe to proceed like this?

## Thanks Greg

Greg F.  
The Norcross Group  
Forensics for the 21st Century

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![afg](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@afg](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/afg)\
**Post date:** [December 22, 2005, 1:54am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/is-case-a-magic-name/74270/5 "2005-12-22T01:54:30Z")

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“case” is used for switch statements in Ruby.

Try renaming your local variable and see if it works.

\<% for a\_case in @cases %\>