# When Could AR Objects Not Have Their Methods? **URL:** \ **Category:** Rails\ **Created:** [August 17, 2007, 12:57am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/when-could-ar-objects-not-have-their-methods/196433 "2007-08-17T00:57:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![hunter\_h](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/h/bc79bd/32.png) [@hunter\_h](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/hunter_h)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2007, 12:57am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/when-could-ar-objects-not-have-their-methods/196433/1 "2007-08-17T00:57:31Z")
I’m seeing something strange and so far haven’t been able to figure it out. First off, here’s our setup: MacOS X Tiger 10.4.10 (Intel) Ruby 1.8.6 Rails 1.2.3 PostgreSQL 8.2.3 I have a ton of apps that work great but a brand new app is giving me trouble. I am getting an error indicating that the ‘errors’ method for the object doesn’t exist. It should be inherited from the base AR class. This app has a single model, ‘Upload’ that uses attachment\_fu to take uploads. Here’s my code: Model: class Upload \< ActiveRecord::Base has\_attachment :storage =\> :file\_system, :max\_size =\> 5.megabytes end Controller: def new @upload = Upload.new if @upload.blank? end View: \<% form\_for :upload, @upload, :url =\> {:action =\> :create} do |form| %\> \<% if @upload != nil && !@upload.errors.empty? -%\> \<%= error\_messages\_for ‘upload’ %\> \<% end -%\> \<% end %\> The error I get is: ActionView::TemplateError (undefined method `errors’ for #\) on line #12 of app/views/uploads/new.rhtml: 12: \<% if @upload != nil && !@upload.errors.empty? -%\> 14: \<%= error\_messages\_for ‘upload’ %\> 15: \<% end -%\> ``` #{RAILS_ROOT}/app/views/uploads/new.rhtml:12:in ``` `_run_rhtml_47app47views47uploads47new46rhtml' /opt/local/lib/ruby/gems/1.8/gems/actionpack-1.13.3/lib/ action_view/helpers/form_helper.rb:151:in`fields\_for’ /opt/local/lib/ruby/gems/1.8/gems/actionpack-1.13.3/lib/ action\_view/helpers/form\_helper.rb:127:in `form_for' #{RAILS_ROOT}/app/views/uploads/new.rhtml:4:in`\_run\_rhtml\_47app47views47uploads47new46rhtml’ Huh? When I put in some debugging code, it gets even more interesting: I added this code to the controller: ``` logger.debug "Upload Class: #{@upload.class}" logger.debug @upload.methods ``` Ok, this should tell me more. Output: Upload Class: Upload inspectinstance\_execlistenerclonemethodrequire\_gemrequire\_library\_or\_gem request\_progresspublic\_methodsencode64blank? listener=instance\_variable\_defined?decode64equal? freezeunloadableloadb64encodemethodssilence\_warningsrespond\_to? enable\_warningsreturningremove\_subclasses\_ofdupto\_yamlinstance\_variables optionsdecode\_b\_\_id\_\_object\_ideql? requireidprocesssilence\_streamrequest\_beginssingleton\_methodsto\_yaml\_sty lesendwith\_optionstaintfrozen?instance\_variable\_getgeminstance\_of? \_\_send\_\_to\_aextend\_with\_included\_modules\_fromrequest\_notify`typeinstance \_evalprotected\_methodsto\_yaml\_propertiesdisplay=====subclasses\_ofinstanc e\_variable\_setsilence\_stderrextended\_byextendkind\_of? to\_sdaemonizeinstance\_valuesclasshashto\_paramprivate\_methods=~tainted? suppresstagurito\_jsonuntaintnil? copy\_instance\_variables\_fromtaguri=dcloneis\_a? So, it is the right class but the methods are wrong. What the heck is going on here? When I create a new Upload object from the console, everything works properly and the methods are all there. What gives? Thanks, Hunter ---
**Author:** ![hunter\_h](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/h/bc79bd/32.png) [@hunter\_h](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/hunter_h)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2007, 1:04am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/when-could-ar-objects-not-have-their-methods/196433/2 "2007-08-17T01:04:06Z")
> @upload = Upload.new if @upload.blank? the if statement is the most likely cause ---
**Author:** ![hunter\_h](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/h/bc79bd/32.png) [@hunter\_h](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/hunter_h)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2007, 1:06am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/when-could-ar-objects-not-have-their-methods/196433/3 "2007-08-17T01:06:19Z")
> the if statement is the most likely cause it should always return false or throw an error if @upload is undefined. I assume this is for if new is called from edit/update were @upload is already defined. try “unless @upload” instead ---
**Author:** ![hunter\_h](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/h/bc79bd/32.png) [@hunter\_h](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/hunter_h)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2007, 2:06am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/when-could-ar-objects-not-have-their-methods/196433/4 "2007-08-17T02:06:37Z")
Thanks for responding. I tried changing it to: @upload = Upload.new unless @upload but I’m getting the same error. In the view, I removed the conditional around the error messages helper output and that didn’t help either. It’s strange - it’s like this instance of the ‘Upload’ class isn’t properly hooking up with AR - it’s not getting all of the inherited methods… But when used in the console it works fine. This project has nothing in it but the ‘attachment\_fu’ plugin. Can anyone think of any other code that would be loaded here that could somehow screw up the class loading? ---
**Author:** ![hunter\_h](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/h/bc79bd/32.png) [@hunter\_h](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/hunter_h)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2007, 1:35am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/when-could-ar-objects-not-have-their-methods/196433/5 "2007-08-17T01:35:35Z")
Hi – On Thu, 16 Aug 2007, Hunter H. wrote: > trouble. > > View: > 0x34e5e14\>) on line #12 of app/views/uploads/new.rhtml: > > 12: \<% if @upload != nil && !@upload.errors.empty? -%\> > 14: \<%= error\_messages\_for ‘upload’ %\> > 15: \<% end -%\> There’s no line 13. Are you superstitious? 🙂 I don’t know what the problem is, but I’m curious what would happen if you simply removed the surrounding lines and just had line 14. error\_messages\_for is smart enough not to bother showing anything if there’s nothing to show. David – - Books: RAILS ROUTING (new! [http://www.awprofessional.com/title/0321509242](http://www.awprofessional.com/title/0321509242)) RUBY FOR RAILS ([Ruby for Rails](http://www.manning.com/black)) - Ruby/Rails training & consulting: Ruby Power and Light, LLC ([http://www.rubypal.com](http://www.rubypal.com)) ---
**Author:** ![hunter\_h](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/h/bc79bd/32.png) [@hunter\_h](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/hunter_h)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2007, 2:22am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/when-could-ar-objects-not-have-their-methods/196433/6 "2007-08-17T02:22:38Z")
I was just thinking that so I tried it… Using another class name does seem to work, though I can’t find ‘Upload’ in any reserved word list of mentioned at all in attachment\_fu. For this one I’ll probably not worry about it and name it something else but I’m surprised I hit this issue as I did check before hand. ---
**Author:** ![hunter\_h](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/h/bc79bd/32.png) [@hunter\_h](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/hunter_h)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2007, 2:15am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/when-could-ar-objects-not-have-their-methods/196433/7 "2007-08-17T02:15:38Z")
Hi – On Thu, 16 Aug 2007, Hunter H. wrote: > helper output and that didn’t help either. > > It’s strange - it’s like this instance of the ‘Upload’ class isn’t > properly hooking up with AR - it’s not getting all of the inherited > methods… But when used in the console it works fine. > > This project has nothing in it but the ‘attachment\_fu’ plugin. Can > anyone think of any other code that would be loaded here that could > somehow screw up the class loading? You might try changing the name of Upload to Blah or something, just to see if it’s a namespace thing, though I don’t think attachment\_fu defines an Upload class. And I assume you’ve checked and double-checked that Upload is inheriting from AR::Base – that would be the other issue. David – - Books: RAILS ROUTING (new! [http://www.awprofessional.com/title/0321509242](http://www.awprofessional.com/title/0321509242)) RUBY FOR RAILS ([Ruby for Rails](http://www.manning.com/black)) - Ruby/Rails training & consulting: Ruby Power and Light, LLC ([http://www.rubypal.com](http://www.rubypal.com))