# RoR : Shortening this code **URL:** \ **Category:** Ruby\ **Created:** [October 6, 2006, 11:30am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/ror-shortening-this-code/71239 "2006-10-06T11:30:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Zouplaz](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/z/a4c791/32.png) [@Zouplaz](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/Zouplaz)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2006, 11:30am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/ror-shortening-this-code/71239/1 "2006-10-06T11:30:58Z")
Hello, Under Ruby On Rails, I would like to replace mouvement = Mouvement.find(params[:id]) mouvement.statut = :traite mouvement.save! By Mouvement.update(params[:id], statut =’#{:traite}’") But this error occurs : undefined method `stringify\_keys!’ for “statut = traite”:String I don’t understand the meaning of the error. Why does Ruby doesn’t knows how to convert the symbol :traite to a string representation ? Even statut =’#{:traite.to\_s}’" don’t work Any help ? Thank you ---
**Author:** ![Zouplaz](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/z/a4c791/32.png) [@Zouplaz](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/Zouplaz)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2006, 11:38am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/ror-shortening-this-code/71239/2 "2006-10-06T11:38:59Z")
> Under Ruby On Rails, I would like to replace This question is probably better asked at the RoR mailing list: [http://lists.rubyonrails.org/mailman/listinfo/rails](http://lists.rubyonrails.org/mailman/listinfo/rails) ---
**Author:** ![Zouplaz](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/z/a4c791/32.png) [@Zouplaz](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/Zouplaz)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2006, 11:40am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/ror-shortening-this-code/71239/3 "2006-10-06T11:40:59Z")
Zouplaz wrote: > Mouvement.update(params[:id], statut =‘#{:traite}’") This isn’t valid, did you mean? (note, the ") Mouvement.update(params[:id], “statut =‘#{:traite}’”) The problem is not that Ruby can’t stringify :traite, instead the problem is that you’ve not read the RoR docs on update() well enough. Please see: [Peak Obsession](http://api.rubyonrails.com/classes/ActiveRecord/Base.html#M000864) If you’ve read this, you’d change your code to look like this: Mouvement.update(params[:id], { :statut =\> ‘traite’ }) Or, better yet Mouvement.find(params[:id]).update\_attribute(:statut, ‘traite’) Note, Rails will take the symbol and use to\_yaml instead of to\_s when it saves the record, so you should explictly change it to a string yourself before passing it in the update hash. ---
**Author:** ![Zouplaz](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/z/a4c791/32.png) [@Zouplaz](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/Zouplaz)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2006, 11:44am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/ror-shortening-this-code/71239/4 "2006-10-06T11:44:59Z")
Zouplaz wrote: > Mouvement.update(params[:id], statut =’#{:traite}’") > Thank you I can’t tell you exactly, but I can give you a hint. It is converting :traite to a string. But, you have a mistype somewhere, because you have an uneven number of double quotes. I’m guessing that when you pasted/wrote the code in your email, this was obscured. > Mouvement.update(params[:id], statut =’#{:traite}’") > ^ ^^ You even have it again: > Even statut =’#{:traite.to\_s}’" don’t work > ^ ^^ Hope that helps. -Justin ---
**Author:** ![Zouplaz](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/z/a4c791/32.png) [@Zouplaz](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/Zouplaz)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2006, 12:21pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/ror-shortening-this-code/71239/5 "2006-10-06T12:21:02Z")
le 06/10/2006 11:40, eden nous a dit: > The problem is not that Ruby can’t stringify :traite, instead the > problem is that you’ve not read the RoR docs on update() well enough. You’re right ! I read it the wrong way 😉 > If you’ve read this, you’d change your code to look like this: > Mouvement.update(params[:id], { :statut =\> ‘traite’ }) > > Or, better yet > Mouvement.find(params[:id]).update\_attribute(:statut, ‘traite’) Why is the second solution the better one ? Thank you ! ---
**Author:** ![Zouplaz](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/z/a4c791/32.png) [@Zouplaz](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/Zouplaz)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2006, 12:21pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/ror-shortening-this-code/71239/6 "2006-10-07T12:21:56Z")
Zouplaz wrote: > Hello, > > Under Ruby On Rails, I would like to replace > > mouvement = Mouvement.find(params[:id]) > mouvement.statut = :traite > mouvement.save! I like this variant better. The whole point of ActiveRecord is that you handle the database tables like objects, and the use of #update\_attribute makes the code read more like SQL generator calls instead of ORM use. YMMV. David V. ---
**Author:** ![Zouplaz](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/z/a4c791/32.png) [@Zouplaz](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/Zouplaz)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2006, 7:23am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/ror-shortening-this-code/71239/7 "2006-10-07T07:23:40Z")
> Why is the second solution the better one ? I guess it’s personal preference. There’s not really any huge difference between the two methods. It all depends on what the context is – update() returns the object, and update\_attribute() returns true/false depending on whether the update succeeded or not (minus validation checks). ---
**Author:** ![Zouplaz](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/z/a4c791/32.png) [@Zouplaz](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/Zouplaz)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2006, 12:35pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/ror-shortening-this-code/71239/8 "2006-10-08T12:35:53Z")
ActiveRecord is an ORM that doesn’t feel like an ORM. The fact that things like #update\_attribute and #find\_by\_sql exist are part of the reason that I like ActiveRecord. It’s a light wrapper around my database that lets me get down and dirty with SQL if need to (which happens quite a bit). Maybe I’m too pragmatic, but I definitely prefer writing one line of code to writing 3.