Question

I am using rails 3.1.3, postgreql9.1 and ruby 1.9.3.

I would like to add a column to an existing database that is really the concatenation of two existing columns, namely; first_name and last_name.

How does one go about doing this?

The reason I want the fullname is that when it comes time to display the employees, I would like to just show the fullname, but I need the name split up into two parts for other functions.

Also part of this question is that while I only want the fullname of the employee to show on a report, I would also like the employees email and primary position to show and then to have a link, called info, which when clicked will give a detailed report on the employee showing all the attributes in the employee table.

So far, I have a rudimentary employee page.

Any reader have the patience and willingness to share some pointers, guidance and or advice on how to go about this task?

Thanks,

Tom.

Answer 1

If you need to create the real field in your database you can use migrations.

But in this case you can use virtiual attributes:

Create two methods in your model:

def full_name
   [first_name, last_name].joun(' ')
end

def full_name=(name)
    split = name.split(' ', 2)
    self.first_name = split.first
    self.last_name = split.last
end  

And add to your view:

<p> Full name </p>  
<%= f.text_field :full_name %>