Question

I am using a hash to fill out some forms. One of them is the user information. I am using this Hash successfully in the user registration form. The idea was to use the same Hash to fill out the edit form, as follows:

<% NEW_USER_HASH.each do |column_name,field_info|  %>
    <div class="field">
      <% if field_info["type"] != "hidden_field" %>
          <%= f.label field_info["label"] %>
      <% end %>
      <%= f.send(field_info["type"].to_sym, column_name , :value => @user.column_name) %>
    </div>
<% end %>

But I am getting the following error message:

undefined method `column_name'

I tried the following variations with the same results:

:value => @user.column_name.to_s
:value => @user.column_name.to_sym

Any ideas?

ANSWER:

column_name is not an @user method, so the answer is to use the send method, with the variable column_name as a parameter.

So, replace:

:value => @user.column_name

With

:value => @user.send(column_name)    

Answer 1

I think the culprit is @user.column_name. One way is to use eval(“@user.” + column_name). Better way is what I have shown below.

Try this:

<% NEW_USER_HASH.each do |column_name,field_info|  %>
    <div class="field">
      <% if field_info["type"] != "hidden_field" %>
          <%= f.label field_info["label"] %>
      <% end %>
      <%= f.send(field_info["type"].to_sym, column_name , :value => @user.send(column_name)) %>
    </div>
<% end %>

Let me know if this works.

Good luck!