A second set of eyes

[crankin]

Could someone please look over the following code and inform me of what I've stupidly done to receive this error: argumets_controller .rb:49: syntax error, unexpected kEND, expecting $end

class ArgumentsController < ApplicationController
    before_filter :login_required
 
    def create
        @argument = Argument.create!(params[:argument])
 
        flash[:notice] = 'You have now argued your case'
 
        respond_to do |format|
            format.html
            format.js
        end
    end
 
    def show
        @argument = Argument.find(params[:id])
 
        respond_to do |format|
            format.html
            format.js
        end
    end
 
 
    def destroy
        @argument = Argument.find(params[:id])
 
        if is_creator?
            @argument.destroy
 
            flash[:notice]    =    'Your argument has been removed'
            respond_to do |format|
                format.html { redirect_to :back }
                format.js
            end
        else 
            flash[:notice] = 'That\'s not your own argument you\'re trying to delete fool'
            redirect_to :back
        end
    end
 
    protected
    #Check is user is allowed to edit and update options of this debate.
    def is_creator?
        if argument_creator? 
            true
        else
            false            
        end
    end    
 
end

[Mittineague]

Without seeing any code I can only guess. But it sounds like something isn't nested properly. If the code is lengthy, indentation helps visualize various depth levels.

[crankin]

Hey thanks pal, I managed to paste it so edited the above post. Ive been over it and over it and am still having no luck seeing the problem. From my experience with debugging, it's probably rediculously obvious

[calkie_f]

Your code, copied and pasted, works fine for me (no syntax errors).

Try changing your is_creator? method to

def is_creator?
  argument_creator?
end

as this has the same logic and is simpler (and removes one possible problem block).

Try moving other actions out of the file until the culprit is found. (Divide and conquer.)

Is there a difference between how you wrote it and how Sitepoint displayed it?

This error often happens if you have one too many ends. This also means that the reported error line can be far removed from where you made the mistake.

[Mittineague]

It looks like everything is matched up OK.
In my copy, line 49 is the if's closing end:

43	    #Check is user is allowed to edit and update options of this debate.
44	    def is_creator?
45	        if argument_creator?
46	            true
47	        else
48	            false           
49	        end
50	    end

So with any luck, calkie_f's suggestion will fix things.

I'm still fairly new to ruby syntax, do the true/false need "return"?

[calkie_f]

I'm still fairly new to ruby syntax, do the true/false need "return"?

Nope. The last expression evaluated automatically becomes the return value of the method.

As I've been caught out with unexpected return values I now use return with more complicated code since there's a chance to accidentally change a return value later.

[crankin]

Thanks for your advice guys, I tried adjusting the protected function but it made no difference, so I commented out the entire contents and went through each function 1 by 1. Even with everything commented out except the class declaration and it's end tag- it still threw out the same error.

It's a strange one

[Mittineague]

I just noticed a discrepency in the controller name i.e. "n"

argumets_controller .rb:49: syntax error, unexpected kEND, expecting $end

class ArgumentsController < ApplicationController

Although I'm a bit surprised the error message doesn't say "not exists" or whatever instead of unexpected end. But I guess like most error messages, once you know what they mean, you know what they mean.

[crankin]

I believe that was just my typing error in my first post. I still have no idea what is causing this error but it's still persisting.

Like I said even with
class ArgumentsController < ApplicationController
end

application controller works fine too because other controllers are working as expected.

[Delameko]

Copy and paste the error you get when the controller is empty.

Thanks.

[crankin]

If I empty the class and just leave class

ArgumentsController < ApplicationController 
end

SyntaxError in ArgumentsController#create  C:/Documents and Settings/Jaap/BitNami RubyStack projects/debate/app/controllers/arguments_controller.rb:2: syntax error, unexpected kEND, expecting $end

Keeping in mind there is no create method, If I add one so the controller looks like this

class ArgumentsController < ApplicationController 
     def create         
@argument = Argument.create!(params[:id])                  
flash[:notice] = "Argument created"         
redirect_to :back     
end  
end

Then I receive pretty much the same error

SyntaxError in ArgumentsController#create  C:/Documents and Settings/Jaap/BitNami RubyStack projects/debate/app/controllers/arguments_controller.rb:10: syntax error, unexpected kEND, expecting $end

[Mittineague]

Not that I'm an expert, but everything looks fine to me. This is a real puzzle all right. Might it be some stray "white-space" somewhere like a tab or newline? i.e. "invisible".
Did you save the file using a plain-text editor, without a BOM?

[Delameko]

That fact it's still trying to pull in a create method even when it's empty is very suspect.

What's the stack trace say that comes with the error? Might lead us to the source of the problem.

[calkie_f]

The whinge about #create method looks like a red herring from something Rails is doing (it happens for me too). The keyword 'class' is missing from the empty controller. That is,

ArgumentsController < ApplicationController
end

should be

class ArgumentsController < ApplicationController
end

[crankin]

Do you think it could have something to do with my associations or routes?

[calkie_f]

Hi crankin,

Had a look at the files you sent me.

Copy and paste content from arguments_controller.rb to another file.

Delete the file arguments_controller.rb and create it again as a new file and paste your content back in.

Worked for me -- maybe a file encoding issue like Mittineague was suggesting in the original file. Using Textmate nothing I did to that original file would stop Ruby complaining.

Good luck!

[crankin]

Well, haha thanks man, it worked instantly. About a weeks worth of trouble.

Solved.