Question

I’m using rails 3.1.0.rc5 while trying to implement a pseudo enum field.

I am trying to validate the value of a field that is bound to a static list. Unfortunately it always fails validation.

model code>

STATUSES = %w( pending active completed )
  validates_inclusion_of :status, :in => STATUSES, :on => :create, :message => "%{value} must be one of #{STATUSES.join ', '}"

form markup>

 <div class="field">
    <%= f.label :status %><br />
    <%= select_tag :status, options_for_select(Task::STATUSES, @task.status) %>
  </div>

unfortunately the validation routine for status always fails. looking at the post data, it contains a value and it is valid.. so i’m not sure what is going on?

i’ve tried adding the following as well based on some googling

def status=(value)
    write_attribute(:status, value.to_s)
  end

  def status
    attributes = attributes_before_type_cast
    if attributes["status"]
      read_attribute(:status).to_sym
    else
      nil
    end
  end

however, the status= (setter) never seems to get called.

Thanks!

Answer 1

I can’t tell without having a look at your controller but i’m assuming your controller is doing something like:

# I'm naming the model User but this would be the name of the model you're using
@user = User.create(params[:user])

Your form is going to post something like this:

{ :status => 'pending' }

When it should be putting the status in the user hash like so:

{ :user => { :status => 'pending' } }

You’ll want to alter your form to post the attributes correctly: