# Syntax Help **URL:** \ **Category:** Rails\ **Created:** [December 3, 2009, 7:27pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/syntax-help/179785 "2009-12-03T19:27:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![scrozier](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/s/48db29/32.png) [@scrozier](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/scrozier)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2009, 7:27pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/syntax-help/179785/1 "2009-12-03T19:27:33Z")
Can someone please help me with the following syntax? I’m passing two arguments to a definition in my model (passing some session info to the model), and I can’t seem to get the multiple conditions down right. def self.search(search, user\_id) if search find(:all, :conditions =\> [‘firstname LIKE ?’, “#{search}”, ’ AND user\_id == ?’, “#{user\_id}”]) else find(:all, :conditions =\> [‘user\_id == ?’, “#{user\_id}”]) end end I probably have a comma in there, but is something like this possible? Two arguments sent to the definition in my model, and using both those arguments to filter out the records that I find? ---
**Author:** ![scrozier](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/s/48db29/32.png) [@scrozier](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/scrozier)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2009, 7:41pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/syntax-help/179785/2 "2009-12-03T19:41:27Z")
Steve C. wrote: > Can someone please help me with the following syntax? I’m passing two > arguments to a definition in my model (passing some session info to the > model), and I can’t seem to get the multiple conditions down right. > > def self.search(search, user\_id) > if search > find(:all, :conditions =\> [‘firstname LIKE ?’, “#{search}”, ’ AND > user\_id == ?', “#{user\_id}”]) Note that “#{var}” is always bad syntax. var.to\_s or simply var will work just as well. But anyway, your problem is simple. In the array syntax of :conditions, the strings aren’t paired – rather, the first string is the _entire_ SQL fragment, and _then_ come all the parameters. > ``` > else > find(:all, :conditions => ['user_id == ?', "#{user_id}"]) > > ``` Here, you don’t want the array syntax of :conditions. Use the hash syntax, or find\_all\_by\_user\_id. > ``` > end > > ``` > > end > > I probably have a comma in there, but is something like this possible? > Two arguments sent to the definition in my model, and using both those > arguments to filter out the records that I find? Yes. Best, – Marnen Laibow-Koser [http://www.marnen.org](http://www.marnen.org) removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid ---
**Author:** ![scrozier](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/s/48db29/32.png) [@scrozier](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/scrozier)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2009, 8:40pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/syntax-help/179785/3 "2009-12-03T20:40:54Z")
Marnen Laibow-Koser wrote: > Note that “#{var}” is always bad syntax. var.to\_s or simply var will > work just as well. > > But anyway, your problem is simple. In the array syntax of :conditions, > the strings aren’t paired – rather, the first string is the _entire_ > SQL fragment, and _then_ come all the parameters. Gotcha - thanks for the tip. I stripped out the #{var}, and simply used var and it worked just as well. I got that syntax from Ryan B. over at Railscasts, but I was watching a pretty old episode so I’m sure things had changed since then. > Here, you don’t want the array syntax of :conditions. Use the hash > syntax, or find\_all\_by\_user\_id. I had a little trouble initially figuring that one out, but I’m sure I got it working now. I guess for a beginner syntax of simple things like arrays and hashes are one of the biggest hurdles to overcome. At least that’s how it is in my case. It’s all a learning process though! Here’s the result; look pretty good? def self.search(search, user\_id) if search find(:all, :conditions =\> [’(firstname LIKE ? OR lastname LIKE ?) AND user\_id == ?’, search, search, user\_id ]) else find(:all, :conditions =\> { :user\_id =\> user\_id }) end end ---
**Author:** ![scrozier](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/s/48db29/32.png) [@scrozier](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/scrozier)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2009, 9:28pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/syntax-help/179785/4 "2009-12-03T21:28:07Z")
Steve C. wrote: […] > I stripped out the #{var}, and simply used > var and it worked just as well. I got that syntax from Ryan B. over > at Railscasts, but I was watching a pretty old episode so I’m sure > things had changed since then. It was never a good syntax, and I’m not sure why Ryan would be using it. Now, it’s great if you’re doing “#{var} with other stuff”, but it’s silly if there’s no other stuff. […] > Here’s the result; look pretty good? Mostly. > def self.search(search, user\_id) > if search > find(:all, :conditions =\> [‘(firstname LIKE ? OR lastname LIKE ?) > AND user\_id == ?’, > search, > search, > user\_id Why not use named placeholders? That way you don’t have to supply the same variable twice. > ``` > ]) > else > find(:all, :conditions => { :user_id => user_id }) > > ``` Again, I’d recommend find\_all\_by\_user\_id for something this straightforward. > ``` > end > > ``` > > end Best, – Marnen Laibow-Koser [http://www.marnen.org](http://www.marnen.org) removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid ---
**Author:** ![scrozier](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/s/48db29/32.png) [@scrozier](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/scrozier)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2009, 9:59pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/syntax-help/179785/5 "2009-12-03T21:59:22Z")
Marnen Laibow-Koser wrote: > Why not use named placeholders? That way you don’t have to supply the > same variable twice. > Again, I’d recommend find\_all\_by\_user\_id for something this > straightforward. Thanks a bunch! You’ve motivated me to learn more about named placeholders, and after doing some research ([http://www.robbyonrails.com/articles/2005/10/21/using-named-placeholders-in-ruby](http://www.robbyonrails.com/articles/2005/10/21/using-named-placeholders-in-ruby)) this page helped me understand how to use them in my particular example. Now then - how does this look? Maybe it’s because I’m new, but I find refactoring pretty neat. It’s fun to have code that works, be simplified into even easier to understand and manage code. I need to get out of the habit of leaving a problem just because it’s fixed. Nine times out of ten it could be refactored into better code, which surely helps me in the long run. The code: def self.search(search, user\_id) if search values = { :search =\> search, :user\_id =\> user\_id } conditions = “user\_id = :user\_id AND (firstname LIKE :search OR lastname LIKE :search)” find(:all, :conditions =\> [conditions, values]) else find\_all\_by\_user\_id(user\_id) end end