Question

I am using filter to set the primary key of an instance before saving it.

Here is my controller method:

class ReferencesController < ApplicationController

before_filter :set_primary_key, :only => [:create_sub_reference]

    def create_sub_reference    
    @reference = Reference.new(params[:reference])
    respond_to do |format|
    if @reference.save
      format.js
    else
      flash[:notice] = "Reference failed to save."
    end
    end
    end


    private

    def set_primary_key
    result = ActiveRecord::Base.connection.execute('SELECT REF_ID FROM SEQUENCES')
    inc_result = (result.fetch_row.first)
    self.REF_ID = inc_result
    end

    end 

end

I am getting the following error message in the log file when i click on the ‘Save button’:

NoMethodError (undefined method `REF_ID=' for #<ReferencesController:0xb69f4ca8>):

Thanks for any suggestion on this matter

Answer 1

You’re trying to set the REF_ID attribute – which I assume is a database column – on your Controller, not your model. That code will be invoked every time a web request for ReferencesController reaches your app.

Perhaps you wanted to move the logic to a before_create hook in the References model?