Simply Rails problem on page 207

[webmathetic]

Sorry, I posted this on Questions, then realized I should have posted it here. I started this forum today.

I am new to Rails.
When I browse to localhost:3000/stories, —it works.
When I browse to localhost:3000/stories/2
I get a NoMethodError showing stories/show.html.erb that says "You have a nil object when you didn't expect it! The error occured while evaluating nil.name"

The Extracted Source is
1: <h2><%= @story.name %></h2>
2: <p><%= link_to @story.link, @story.link %></p>

(which is from show.html.erb)

stories_controller.rb shows
class StoriesController < ApplicationController

def index
@story = Story.find(:first, :order => 'RANDOM()')
end

def new
@story = Story.new
end

def create
@story = Story.new(params[:story])
if @story.save
flash[:notice] = "Story submission succeeded"
redirect_to stories_path
else
render :action => 'new'
end

def show
@story = Story.find(params[:id])
end
end
end

Can anyone help?

Thanks

[ruby-lang]

Hello, and welcome to the forum.

You probably figured out part of what's happening, but let me recap what Rails is doing step by step. When you go to localhost:3000/stories/2, the show method is called. To populate the @story instance variable, it calls Story.find, which returns a Story object if it finds one row in the database with the id you are passing, in this case 2. Now, there's no row with an id = 2 in your stories table, so find returns nil to indicate it didn't find anything.

After show returns, Rails calls the corresponding template, stories/show.html.erb. But @story isn't a Story object, it is nil, and nil doesn't have properties like name and link. That's why you see that error. One way you can prevent that from happening is adding a check to the show template like this:

<% if @story %>
  <h2><%= @story.name %></h2>
  <p><%= link_to @story.link, @story.link %></p>
<% else %>
 <p>No story found.</p>
<% end %>

[webmathetic]

When I look in the SQLite Database Browser, I find that I have in row 1:
id: 2
name: Sitepoint Forums
link--etc.

I also have put 4 more id's in the stories table.

So, why does localhost:3000/stories/2 return an error?

Please be patient, I am not a programmer.

[ReggieB]

Can you post the whole of show.html.erb.

When posting to this forum, if you surround the code you post with a [code] block (or highlight it all and use # on the toolbar), the code will be displayed correctly formatted here.

#Like this
def some_method
  a = b
end

[webmathetic]

Thank you. Here is the code for show.html.erb:

<h2><%= @story.name %></h2>
<p><%= link_to @story.link, @story.link %></p>

[ReggieB]

I don't think that should generate an error. The coding is right, so the problem must be elsewhere.

Are you looking at the right SQLite database. Don't forget that if you are looking at the development version of your app, the database will be called something like:

app_name_development

and when you run in production mode the system uses a different database called something like

app_name_production

Unless you have rewritten the database.yml to have both production and development environments pointing at the same database.

[webmathetic]

Thank you for your help.
It seems to me that the database.yml is pointing correctly. Would you examine the code?

# SQLite version 3.x
#   gem install sqlite3-ruby (not necessary on OS X Leopard)
development:
  adapter: sqlite3
  database: db/development.sqlite3
  timeout: 5000

# Warning: The database defined as 'test' will be erased and
# re-generated from your development database when you run 'rake'.
# Do not set this db to the same as development or production.
test:
  adapter: sqlite3
  database: db/test.sqlite3
  timeout: 5000

production:
  adapter: sqlite3
  database: db/production.sqlite3
  timeout: 5000

[ReggieB]

When I look in the SQLite Database Browser, I find that I have in row 1:
id: 2
name: Sitepoint Forums
link--etc.

I also have put 4 more id's in the stories table.

So, why does localhost:3000/stories/2 return an error?

Please be patient, I am not a programmer.

Assuming that, as you are looking at localhost:3000, this is a development view (you haven't specifically told the mongrel or webrick to use product mode):

When you use SQLite Database Browser, are you sure you are looking at the development.sqlite3 database?

[webmathetic]

This is the path to my database, as shown in SQLite Database Browser:

C:\InstantRails\rails_apps\shovell\db\development.sqlite3

Of course, this is Windows. The book suggested that I put the InstantRails folder in the C drive.

[ReggieB]

That all looks fine.

What is the error you get?

[webmathetic]

 NoMethodError in Stories#show

Showing stories/show.html.erb where line #1 raised:

You have a nil object when you didn't expect it!
The error occurred while evaluating nil.name

Extracted source (around line #1):

1: <h2><%= @story.name %></h2>
2: <p><%= link_to @story.link, @story.link %></p>

RAILS_ROOT: C:/InstantRails/rails_apps/shovell
Application Trace | Framework Trace | Full Trace

app/views/stories/show.html.erb:1:in `_run_erb_47app47views47stories47show46html46erb'

C:/InstantRails/ruby/lib/ruby/gems/1.8/gems/actionpack-2.0.2/lib/action_view/base.rb:637:in `send'
C:/InstantRails/ruby/lib/ruby/gems/1.8/gems/actionpack-2.0.2/lib/action_view/base.rb:637:in `compile_and_render_template'
C:/InstantRails/ruby/lib/ruby/gems/1.8/gems/actionpack-2.0.2/lib/action_view/base.rb:365:in `render_template'
C:/InstantRails/ruby/lib/ruby/gems/1.8/gems/actionpack-2.0.2/lib/action_view/base.rb:316:in `render_file'
C:/InstantRails/ruby/lib/ruby/gems/1.8/gems/actionpack-2.0.2/lib/action_controller/base.rb:1100:in `render_for_file'
C:/InstantRails/ruby/lib/ruby/gems/1.8/gems/actionpack-2.0.2/lib/action_controller/base.rb:836:in `render_with_no_layout'
C:/InstantRails/ruby/lib/ruby/gems/1.8/gems/actionpack-2.0.2/lib/action_controller/layout.rb:262:in `render_without_benchmark'
C:/InstantRails/ruby/lib/ruby/gems/1.8/gems/actionpack-2.0.2/lib/action_controller/benchmarking.rb:51:in `render'
C:/InstantRails/ruby/lib/ruby/1.8/benchmark.rb:293:in `measure'
C:/InstantRails/ruby/lib/ruby/gems/1.8/gems/actionpack-2.0.2/lib/action_controller/benchmarking.rb:51:in `render'
C:/InstantRails/ruby/lib/ruby/gems/1.8/gems/actionpack-2.0.2/lib/action_controller/base.rb:1153:in `default_render'
C:/InstantRails/ruby/lib/ruby/gems/1.8/gems/actionpack-2.0.2/lib/action_controller/base.rb:1164:in `perform_action_without_filters'
C:/InstantRails/ruby/lib/ruby/gems/1.8/gems/actionpack-2.0.2/lib/action_controller/filters.rb:697:in `call_filters'
C:/InstantRails/ruby/lib/ruby/gems/1.8/gems/actionpack-2.0.2/lib/action_controller/filters.rb:689:in `perform_action_without_benchmark'
C:/InstantRails/ruby/lib/ruby/gems/1.8/gems/actionpack-2.0.2/lib/action_controller/benchmarking.rb:68:in `perform_action_without_rescue'
C:/InstantRails/ruby/lib/ruby/1.8/benchmark.rb:293:in `measure'
C:/InstantRails/ruby/lib/ruby/gems/1.8/gems/actionpack-2.0.2/lib/action_controller/benchmarking.rb:68:in `perform_action_without_rescue'
C:/InstantRails/ruby/lib/ruby/gems/1.8/gems/actionpack-2.0.2/lib/action_controller/rescue.rb:199:in `perform_action_without_caching'
C:/InstantRails/ruby/lib/ruby/gems/1.8/gems/actionpack-2.0.2/lib/action_controller/caching.rb:678:in `perform_action'
C:/InstantRails/ruby/lib/ruby/gems/1.8/gems/activerecord-2.0.2/lib/active_record/connection_adapters/abstract/query_cache.rb:33:in `cache'
C:/InstantRails/ruby/lib/ruby/gems/1.8/gems/activerecord-2.0.2/lib/active_record/query_cache.rb:8:in `cache'
C:/InstantRails/ruby/lib/ruby/gems/1.8/gems/actionpack-2.0.2/lib/action_controller/caching.rb:677:in `perform_action'
C:/InstantRails/ruby/lib/ruby/gems/1.8/gems/actionpack-2.0.2/lib/action_controller/base.rb:524:in `send'
C:/InstantRails/ruby/lib/ruby/gems/1.8/gems/actionpack-2.0.2/lib/action_controller/base.rb:524:in `process_without_filters'
C:/InstantRails/ruby/lib/ruby/gems/1.8/gems/actionpack-2.0.2/lib/action_controller/filters.rb:685:in `process_without_session_management_support'
C:/InstantRails/ruby/lib/ruby/gems/1.8/gems/actionpack-2.0.2/lib/action_controller/session_management.rb:123:in `process'
C:/InstantRails/ruby/lib/ruby/gems/1.8/gems/actionpack-2.0.2/lib/action_controller/base.rb:388:in `process'
C:/InstantRails/ruby/lib/ruby/gems/1.8/gems/actionpack-2.0.2/lib/action_controller/dispatcher.rb:171:in `handle_request'
C:/InstantRails/ruby/lib/ruby/gems/1.8/gems/actionpack-2.0.2/lib/action_controller/dispatcher.rb:115:in `dispatch'
C:/InstantRails/ruby/lib/ruby/gems/1.8/gems/actionpack-2.0.2/lib/action_controller/dispatcher.rb:126:in `dispatch_cgi'
C:/InstantRails/ruby/lib/ruby/gems/1.8/gems/actionpack-2.0.2/lib/action_controller/dispatcher.rb:9:in `dispatch'
C:/InstantRails/ruby/lib/ruby/gems/1.8/gems/mongrel-1.1.5-x86-mswin32-60/lib/mongrel/rails.rb:76:in `process'
C:/InstantRails/ruby/lib/ruby/gems/1.8/gems/mongrel-1.1.5-x86-mswin32-60/lib/mongrel/rails.rb:74:in `synchronize'
C:/InstantRails/ruby/lib/ruby/gems/1.8/gems/mongrel-1.1.5-x86-mswin32-60/lib/mongrel/rails.rb:74:in `process'
C:/InstantRails/ruby/lib/ruby/gems/1.8/gems/mongrel-1.1.5-x86-mswin32-60/lib/mongrel.rb:159:in `process_client'
C:/InstantRails/ruby/lib/ruby/gems/1.8/gems/mongrel-1.1.5-x86-mswin32-60/lib/mongrel.rb:158:in `each'
C:/InstantRails/ruby/lib/ruby/gems/1.8/gems/mongrel-1.1.5-x86-mswin32-60/lib/mongrel.rb:158:in `process_client'
C:/InstantRails/ruby/lib/ruby/gems/1.8/gems/mongrel-1.1.5-x86-mswin32-60/lib/mongrel.rb:285:in `run'
C:/InstantRails/ruby/lib/ruby/gems/1.8/gems/mongrel-1.1.5-x86-mswin32-60/lib/mongrel.rb:285:in `initialize'
C:/InstantRails/ruby/lib/ruby/gems/1.8/gems/mongrel-1.1.5-x86-mswin32-60/lib/mongrel.rb:285:in `new'
C:/InstantRails/ruby/lib/ruby/gems/1.8/gems/mongrel-1.1.5-x86-mswin32-60/lib/mongrel.rb:285:in `run'
C:/InstantRails/ruby/lib/ruby/gems/1.8/gems/mongrel-1.1.5-x86-mswin32-60/lib/mongrel.rb:268:in `initialize'
C:/InstantRails/ruby/lib/ruby/gems/1.8/gems/mongrel-1.1.5-x86-mswin32-60/lib/mongrel.rb:268:in `new'
C:/InstantRails/ruby/lib/ruby/gems/1.8/gems/mongrel-1.1.5-x86-mswin32-60/lib/mongrel.rb:268:in `run'
C:/InstantRails/ruby/lib/ruby/gems/1.8/gems/mongrel-1.1.5-x86-mswin32-60/lib/mongrel/configurator.rb:282:in `run'
C:/InstantRails/ruby/lib/ruby/gems/1.8/gems/mongrel-1.1.5-x86-mswin32-60/lib/mongrel/configurator.rb:281:in `each'
C:/InstantRails/ruby/lib/ruby/gems/1.8/gems/mongrel-1.1.5-x86-mswin32-60/lib/mongrel/configurator.rb:281:in `run'
C:/InstantRails/ruby/lib/ruby/gems/1.8/gems/mongrel-1.1.5-x86-mswin32-60/bin/mongrel_rails:128:in `run'
C:/InstantRails/ruby/lib/ruby/gems/1.8/gems/mongrel-1.1.5-x86-mswin32-60/lib/mongrel/command.rb:212:in `run'
C:/InstantRails/ruby/lib/ruby/gems/1.8/gems/mongrel-1.1.5-x86-mswin32-60/bin/mongrel_rails:281
C:/InstantRails/ruby/lib/ruby/gems/1.8/gems/activesupport-2.0.2/lib/active_support/dependencies.rb:489:in `load'
C:/InstantRails/ruby/lib/ruby/gems/1.8/gems/activesupport-2.0.2/lib/active_support/dependencies.rb:489:in `load'
C:/InstantRails/ruby/lib/ruby/gems/1.8/gems/activesupport-2.0.2/lib/active_support/dependencies.rb:342:in `new_constants_in'
C:/InstantRails/ruby/lib/ruby/gems/1.8/gems/activesupport-2.0.2/lib/active_support/dependencies.rb:489:in `load'
C:/InstantRails/ruby/lib/ruby/gems/1.8/gems/rails-2.0.2/lib/commands/servers/mongrel.rb:64
C:/InstantRails/ruby/lib/ruby/site_ruby/1.8/rubygems/custom_require.rb:27:in `gem_original_require'
C:/InstantRails/ruby/lib/ruby/site_ruby/1.8/rubygems/custom_require.rb:27:in `require'
C:/InstantRails/ruby/lib/ruby/gems/1.8/gems/activesupport-2.0.2/lib/active_support/dependencies.rb:496:in `require'
C:/InstantRails/ruby/lib/ruby/gems/1.8/gems/activesupport-2.0.2/lib/active_support/dependencies.rb:342:in `new_constants_in'
C:/InstantRails/ruby/lib/ruby/gems/1.8/gems/activesupport-2.0.2/lib/active_support/dependencies.rb:496:in `require'
C:/InstantRails/ruby/lib/ruby/gems/1.8/gems/rails-2.0.2/lib/commands/server.rb:39
C:/InstantRails/ruby/lib/ruby/site_ruby/1.8/rubygems/custom_require.rb:27:in `gem_original_require'
C:/InstantRails/ruby/lib/ruby/site_ruby/1.8/rubygems/custom_require.rb:27:in `require'
script/server:3

app/views/stories/show.html.erb:1:in `_run_erb_47app47views47stories47show46html46erb'
C:/InstantRails/ruby/lib/ruby/gems/1.8/gems/actionpack-2.0.2/lib/action_view/base.rb:637:in `send'
C:/InstantRails/ruby/lib/ruby/gems/1.8/gems/actionpack-2.0.2/lib/action_view/base.rb:637:in `compile_and_render_template'
C:/InstantRails/ruby/lib/ruby/gems/1.8/gems/actionpack-2.0.2/lib/action_view/base.rb:365:in `render_template'
C:/InstantRails/ruby/lib/ruby/gems/1.8/gems/actionpack-2.0.2/lib/action_view/base.rb:316:in `render_file'
C:/InstantRails/ruby/lib/ruby/gems/1.8/gems/actionpack-2.0.2/lib/action_controller/base.rb:1100:in `render_for_file'
C:/InstantRails/ruby/lib/ruby/gems/1.8/gems/actionpack-2.0.2/lib/action_controller/base.rb:836:in `render_with_no_layout'
C:/InstantRails/ruby/lib/ruby/gems/1.8/gems/actionpack-2.0.2/lib/action_controller/layout.rb:262:in `render_without_benchmark'
C:/InstantRails/ruby/lib/ruby/gems/1.8/gems/actionpack-2.0.2/lib/action_controller/benchmarking.rb:51:in `render'
C:/InstantRails/ruby/lib/ruby/1.8/benchmark.rb:293:in `measure'
C:/InstantRails/ruby/lib/ruby/gems/1.8/gems/actionpack-2.0.2/lib/action_controller/benchmarking.rb:51:in `render'
C:/InstantRails/ruby/lib/ruby/gems/1.8/gems/actionpack-2.0.2/lib/action_controller/base.rb:1153:in `default_render'
C:/InstantRails/ruby/lib/ruby/gems/1.8/gems/actionpack-2.0.2/lib/action_controller/base.rb:1164:in `perform_action_without_filters'
C:/InstantRails/ruby/lib/ruby/gems/1.8/gems/actionpack-2.0.2/lib/action_controller/filters.rb:697:in `call_filters'
C:/InstantRails/ruby/lib/ruby/gems/1.8/gems/actionpack-2.0.2/lib/action_controller/filters.rb:689:in `perform_action_without_benchmark'
C:/InstantRails/ruby/lib/ruby/gems/1.8/gems/actionpack-2.0.2/lib/action_controller/benchmarking.rb:68:in `perform_action_without_rescue'
C:/InstantRails/ruby/lib/ruby/1.8/benchmark.rb:293:in `measure'
C:/InstantRails/ruby/lib/ruby/gems/1.8/gems/actionpack-2.0.2/lib/action_controller/benchmarking.rb:68:in `perform_action_without_rescue'
C:/InstantRails/ruby/lib/ruby/gems/1.8/gems/actionpack-2.0.2/lib/action_controller/rescue.rb:199:in `perform_action_without_caching'
C:/InstantRails/ruby/lib/ruby/gems/1.8/gems/actionpack-2.0.2/lib/action_controller/caching.rb:678:in `perform_action'
C:/InstantRails/ruby/lib/ruby/gems/1.8/gems/activerecord-2.0.2/lib/active_record/connection_adapters/abstract/query_cache.rb:33:in `cache'
C:/InstantRails/ruby/lib/ruby/gems/1.8/gems/activerecord-2.0.2/lib/active_record/query_cache.rb:8:in `cache'
C:/InstantRails/ruby/lib/ruby/gems/1.8/gems/actionpack-2.0.2/lib/action_controller/caching.rb:677:in `perform_action'
C:/InstantRails/ruby/lib/ruby/gems/1.8/gems/actionpack-2.0.2/lib/action_controller/base.rb:524:in `send'
C:/InstantRails/ruby/lib/ruby/gems/1.8/gems/actionpack-2.0.2/lib/action_controller/base.rb:524:in `process_without_filters'
C:/InstantRails/ruby/lib/ruby/gems/1.8/gems/actionpack-2.0.2/lib/action_controller/filters.rb:685:in `process_without_session_management_support'
C:/InstantRails/ruby/lib/ruby/gems/1.8/gems/actionpack-2.0.2/lib/action_controller/session_management.rb:123:in `process'
C:/InstantRails/ruby/lib/ruby/gems/1.8/gems/actionpack-2.0.2/lib/action_controller/base.rb:388:in `process'
C:/InstantRails/ruby/lib/ruby/gems/1.8/gems/actionpack-2.0.2/lib/action_controller/dispatcher.rb:171:in `handle_request'
C:/InstantRails/ruby/lib/ruby/gems/1.8/gems/actionpack-2.0.2/lib/action_controller/dispatcher.rb:115:in `dispatch'
C:/InstantRails/ruby/lib/ruby/gems/1.8/gems/actionpack-2.0.2/lib/action_controller/dispatcher.rb:126:in `dispatch_cgi'
C:/InstantRails/ruby/lib/ruby/gems/1.8/gems/actionpack-2.0.2/lib/action_controller/dispatcher.rb:9:in `dispatch'
C:/InstantRails/ruby/lib/ruby/gems/1.8/gems/mongrel-1.1.5-x86-mswin32-60/lib/mongrel/rails.rb:76:in `process'
C:/InstantRails/ruby/lib/ruby/gems/1.8/gems/mongrel-1.1.5-x86-mswin32-60/lib/mongrel/rails.rb:74:in `synchronize'
C:/InstantRails/ruby/lib/ruby/gems/1.8/gems/mongrel-1.1.5-x86-mswin32-60/lib/mongrel/rails.rb:74:in `process'
C:/InstantRails/ruby/lib/ruby/gems/1.8/gems/mongrel-1.1.5-x86-mswin32-60/lib/mongrel.rb:159:in `process_client'
C:/InstantRails/ruby/lib/ruby/gems/1.8/gems/mongrel-1.1.5-x86-mswin32-60/lib/mongrel.rb:158:in `each'
C:/InstantRails/ruby/lib/ruby/gems/1.8/gems/mongrel-1.1.5-x86-mswin32-60/lib/mongrel.rb:158:in `process_client'
C:/InstantRails/ruby/lib/ruby/gems/1.8/gems/mongrel-1.1.5-x86-mswin32-60/lib/mongrel.rb:285:in `run'
C:/InstantRails/ruby/lib/ruby/gems/1.8/gems/mongrel-1.1.5-x86-mswin32-60/lib/mongrel.rb:285:in `initialize'
C:/InstantRails/ruby/lib/ruby/gems/1.8/gems/mongrel-1.1.5-x86-mswin32-60/lib/mongrel.rb:285:in `new'
C:/InstantRails/ruby/lib/ruby/gems/1.8/gems/mongrel-1.1.5-x86-mswin32-60/lib/mongrel.rb:285:in `run'
C:/InstantRails/ruby/lib/ruby/gems/1.8/gems/mongrel-1.1.5-x86-mswin32-60/lib/mongrel.rb:268:in `initialize'
C:/InstantRails/ruby/lib/ruby/gems/1.8/gems/mongrel-1.1.5-x86-mswin32-60/lib/mongrel.rb:268:in `new'
C:/InstantRails/ruby/lib/ruby/gems/1.8/gems/mongrel-1.1.5-x86-mswin32-60/lib/mongrel.rb:268:in `run'
C:/InstantRails/ruby/lib/ruby/gems/1.8/gems/mongrel-1.1.5-x86-mswin32-60/lib/mongrel/configurator.rb:282:in `run'
C:/InstantRails/ruby/lib/ruby/gems/1.8/gems/mongrel-1.1.5-x86-mswin32-60/lib/mongrel/configurator.rb:281:in `each'
C:/InstantRails/ruby/lib/ruby/gems/1.8/gems/mongrel-1.1.5-x86-mswin32-60/lib/mongrel/configurator.rb:281:in `run'
C:/InstantRails/ruby/lib/ruby/gems/1.8/gems/mongrel-1.1.5-x86-mswin32-60/bin/mongrel_rails:128:in `run'
C:/InstantRails/ruby/lib/ruby/gems/1.8/gems/mongrel-1.1.5-x86-mswin32-60/lib/mongrel/command.rb:212:in `run'
C:/InstantRails/ruby/lib/ruby/gems/1.8/gems/mongrel-1.1.5-x86-mswin32-60/bin/mongrel_rails:281
C:/InstantRails/ruby/lib/ruby/gems/1.8/gems/activesupport-2.0.2/lib/active_support/dependencies.rb:489:in `load'
C:/InstantRails/ruby/lib/ruby/gems/1.8/gems/activesupport-2.0.2/lib/active_support/dependencies.rb:489:in `load'
C:/InstantRails/ruby/lib/ruby/gems/1.8/gems/activesupport-2.0.2/lib/active_support/dependencies.rb:342:in `new_constants_in'
C:/InstantRails/ruby/lib/ruby/gems/1.8/gems/activesupport-2.0.2/lib/active_support/dependencies.rb:489:in `load'
C:/InstantRails/ruby/lib/ruby/gems/1.8/gems/rails-2.0.2/lib/commands/servers/mongrel.rb:64
C:/InstantRails/ruby/lib/ruby/site_ruby/1.8/rubygems/custom_require.rb:27:in `gem_original_require'
C:/InstantRails/ruby/lib/ruby/site_ruby/1.8/rubygems/custom_require.rb:27:in `require'
C:/InstantRails/ruby/lib/ruby/gems/1.8/gems/activesupport-2.0.2/lib/active_support/dependencies.rb:496:in `require'
C:/InstantRails/ruby/lib/ruby/gems/1.8/gems/activesupport-2.0.2/lib/active_support/dependencies.rb:342:in `new_constants_in'
C:/InstantRails/ruby/lib/ruby/gems/1.8/gems/activesupport-2.0.2/lib/active_support/dependencies.rb:496:in `require'
C:/InstantRails/ruby/lib/ruby/gems/1.8/gems/rails-2.0.2/lib/commands/server.rb:39
C:/InstantRails/ruby/lib/ruby/site_ruby/1.8/rubygems/custom_require.rb:27:in `gem_original_require'
C:/InstantRails/ruby/lib/ruby/site_ruby/1.8/rubygems/custom_require.rb:27:in `require'
script/server:3

Request

Parameters:

{"id"=>"2"}

Show session dump

--- 
flash: !map:ActionController::Flash::FlashHash {}


Response

Headers:

{"cookie"=>[],
 "Cache-Control"=>"no-cache"}

[ReggieB]

I still can't see anything wrong. I think it must be your InstantRails installation. You could reinstall InstantRails, but I think a proper Rails installation on XP is so simple than you are better doing that than using InstantRails.

However, before trying that, there is one thing I would suggest doing:

Change your Controller show method to this:

def show
  @story = Story.find(params[:id])
  @bit_of_text = "bit of text"
end

And then change you view code to this:

<h2><&#37;#= @story.name %></h2>
<p><%#= link_to @story.link, @story.link %></p>
<p><%= @bit_of_text %></p>

If that produces an error, post the error message.

If it doesn't produce an error, have a look at the development.log entry. As you did a Story.find at the controller, the resulting SQL should appear in the log. If you can't work out which part of the log relates to this page request do this:

• Shut down the web server (stop mongrel)
• Rename development.log to old_development.log
• Start the web server.
• Enter the URL for your show page page (or refresh the page if it is already open) in your browser.

What you get in the development.log now pure contains what happened since you renamed the log file.

[webmathetic]

ReggieB

I made the changes you suggested.
The development log showed this:

# Logfile created on Thu Aug 21 13:36:30 -0400 2008

Processing StoriesController#show (for 127.0.0.1 at 2008-08-21 13:37:50) [GET]
  Session ID: BAh7BiIKZmxhc2hJQzonQWN0aW9uQ29udHJvbGxlcjo6Rmxhc2g6OkZsYXNo%0ASGFzaHsABjoKQHVzZWR7AA%3D%3D--1bc4cffe024e2fd53d262a4a1427fadf08b93d7d
  Parameters: {"action"=>"show", "id"=>"2", "controller"=>"stories"}
Rendering template within layouts/application
Rendering stories/show
Completed in 0.01600 (62 reqs/sec) | Rendering: 0.01600 (100%) | DB: 0.00000 (0%) | 200 OK [http://localhost/stories/2]

The browser source code was this:

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd">
<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"
	xml:lang="en" lang="en">
<head>
	<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" />
	<title>Shovell</title>
	<link href="/stylesheets/style.css?1216495672" media="screen" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" />
</head>

<body>
	<div id="content">
		<h1>Shovell</h1>
		
		<h2></h2>
<p></p>
<p></p>

	</div>
</body>
</html>

What should this tell me?

If I have to reinstall InstantRails, do I have to start back over in the book and work back up to this point?

[ReggieB]

What should this tell me?

<p><&#37;= @bit_of_text %></p>

Should result as

<p>bit of text</p>

But instead it is coming out as

<p></p>

That tells me that the problem is not between your application and the database, but rather between the controller and the view template. That is, data created at the controller is not being passed to the view template.

There is something fairly fundamentally wrong with your Rails installation. I think the simplest and easiest solution would be to reinstall.

If I have to reinstall InstantRails, do I have to start back over in the book and work back up to this point?

No ... but ...

You can copy your whole application to another location to back it up. One of the great things about Rails is that all the application files are simple text files so you can move them very easily.

So copy your application folder (from an earlier post this looks like shovell at "C:\InstantRails\rails_apps\shovell" on your system) to another location.
Then uninstall and reinstall InstantRails.
Then copy the shovell folder back in to the new InstantRails\rails_apps folder.

And the but! There is a chance the problem is in the application code somewhere. If you follow the instructions and get the same problem, it would probably be simpler to start again.

However, book's code is available on-line. It may be worth you downloading the code up to your current point and using that.

[Mittineague]

I've been working trough a few tutorials and have noticed that controller classes are singular (a Ruby "convention"). i.e.
using
> ruby script/generate controller Story
the created file story_controller.rb does NOT look like
class StoriesController < ApplicationController
but rather
class StoryController < ApplicationController

[webmathetic]

ReggieB

Thank you for your help. I will try it as soon as possible.

[ReggieB]

It is a Rails convention, but I've seen controllers both singular and plural.

If you enter:

ruby script/generate controller Stories

you will get:
stories_controller.rb
class StoriesController < ApplicationController
and all your views will be in a folder called 'stories'
That's just as webmathetic is seeing.

Also if you:

ruby script/generate scaffold Story

you will get plural stories controller. That's left me with inconsistencies as I sometimes use Scaffold if I want to add a new model and controller to my application in a hurry.

As long as you are consistent (file name, controller class, and view folder name all match) it should work. And webmathetic appears to have been consistent.

If he'd got the controller name wrong he'd get an "uninitialised constant" error. He'd get a "No such file or directory" if the view folder name was wrong.

So an interesting point well made, but I don't think that is the cause of the problem here.

[Mittineague]

Good point, I'm still a RoR newbie and didn't think of scaffold. Should

<&#37;= link_to @story.link, @story.link %>

be

<%= link_to 'Method', @story.link %>

EDIT* Sine I made this post, I've been learning a bit. What was confusing me is that methods are named for what they do, so the above would be

<%= link_to 'Link Text', @story.link %>

[Mittineague]

I just got the book and have been working through it (I'm up to page 197 - still 10 pages away from your problem).
The story controller class is indeed class StoriesController < ApplicationController

Anyway, just a thought, did you put this line in your config\routes.rb file back on page 164?

  # Sample resource route (maps HTTP verbs to controller actions automatically):
#   map.resources :products
map.resources :stories

[webmathetic]

I just got the book and have been working through it (I'm up to page 197 - still 10 pages away from your problem).
The story controller class is indeed class StoriesController < ApplicationController

Anyway, just a thought, did you put this line in your config\routes.rb file back on page 164?

  # Sample resource route (maps HTTP verbs to controller actions automatically):
#   map.resources :products
map.resources :stories

Yes, I did add that to the code.
Thanks.

[webmathetic]

I have reinstalled Rails in a new folder on the C drive. THe problem is that when I do

gem update --system

the operation times out looking for http://gem.rubyforge.org.

Also, I have always had the Instant Rails control panel say that the Apache port 80 is used by inetinfo.exe. Does that have anything to do with the first problem?

[Mittineague]

I can't use InstantRails, but you need to be online when you
gem update/install.
This is unfortunate as it seems relatively little time is spent with actual transfer. Most of the time is Gems extracting files etc., but as you don't know when it will make another request, if you go offline the whole process could get aborted.

*I'm speaking from experience http://www.sitepoint.com/forums/show...89&postcount=3