Question

How would I avoid nil checks using Object.try for the following?

<%= image_tag(PeriodState.where("sla_id = ?", sla.id).last.state.image_file) %>

I’ve tried .try many different ways, but still receive errors, so my syntax is off. Thanks in advance!

Answer 1

try isn’t really appropriate for this: whatever the outcome image_tag will always be called – so you might end up calling it with nil. You need to check whether the image exists first then create an image tag only in this case. So I would get the PeriodState in your controller and have a simple if in your view:

# in controller
@period_state = PeriodState.where("sla_id = ?", sla.id).last

# in view 
<%= image_tag(@period_state.state.image_file) if @period_state %>

Of course this won’t work if either state or image_file could also be nil.