Question

My app has a type, which is carried consistently through the flow and the type is numbered 1, 2, 3 or 4.

In my application_controller.rb, I have the following code:

before_filter :record_type

and then below that, in protected:

def record_type
 field should go here = @type
end

I’m confused about how to note the field in the User table. It is just User.type = @type?

Answer 1

You’ll have to get your particular record you want to edit first. If it goes on the user, if you have a helper method like current_user (which devise and similar authentication systems provide), you can just use that.

You just want to do current_user.type = @type

But this isn’t really a before_save with what you have now. If you’re trying to store it when you save the User record, move your filter to the User model. Do something like

before_save :add_type_to_user

def add_type_to_user
   self.type = your_type_value_here
end

How you get your type value to the model will depend on where you’re getting it from. You can use a before_filter in application_controller to set a @@ variable. I use this trick sometimes to get the current user when I’m in a model. You just need to make a getter and setter for the @@ variable. THen you’d just do something like:

self.type = User.get_current_type

or something like that.

I know it’s very rough, but I hope this points you in the right direction.