Question

For some reason I cannot use render in a one line conditional.

Example, this works:

@key = Key.find_by_patient_id(5).nil? ? @key : @key

But this does not:

@key = Key.find_by_patient_id(5).nil? ? render :index : render :index

Error message:

syntax error, unexpected tSYMBEG,
expecting keyword_do or ‘{‘ or ‘(‘
…y_patient_id(5).nil? ? render
:index : render :index

Answer 1

It’s because the colon is ambiguous whether it represents a symbol or the separator. Grouping each condition should fix the syntax error:

@key = Key.find_by_patient_id(5).nil? ? (render :index) : (render :index)