Question

The relevant piece of code in the controller is the following:

    logger.info("Dumping params")
    logger.info(params)
    logger.info("Dumping initial cost:")
    logger.info(@cost)
    logger.info("entering if statement")
    if params.has_key?("special_edition") && params["special_edition"] == 'yes'
      @cost = @cost + 50000
    end
    logger.info("If we get to here then the first conditional executed correctly")
    if params.has_key?("number_of_lids") && params["number_of_lids"].to_i > 0
      @cost = @cost + (params["number_of_lids"].to_i * 5000)
    end
    logger.info("If we get to here then the second conditional executed correctly")
    logger.info("printing final cost:")
    logger.info(@cost)

When I run the app, I get a 500 error. Checking into the log file (test log file), I see the following:

Dumping params
{"utf8"=>"✓", "special_edition"=>"yes", "number_of_lids"=>"3", "action"=>"create"}
Dumping initial cost:
350000
entering if statement
Completed 500 Internal Server Error in 1922ms

If I enter the console (rails console), and run this code (values taken from the log file:

params = {"utf8"=>"✓", "special_edition"=>"yes", "number_of_lids"=>"3", "action"=>"create"}
@cost = 350000
if params.has_key?("special_edition") && params["special_edition"] == 'yes'
    @cost = @cost + 50000
end
if params.has_key?("number_of_lids") && params["number_of_lids"].to_i > 0
    @cost = @cost + (params["number_of_lids"].to_i * 5000)
end

Then I get the correct result for @cost: 415000

Any ideas why I might be getting a 500 error?

Clarification:

Several responses mentioned that the difference is that the difference is that I’m initializing @cost but not doing it in the controller. The code that’s initializing @cost is not included, because it is already initializing properly. I included the piece of code that logs @cost to the log file and I am initializing it in the console using the value I am getting for @cost from the log file (see my code, lines 3 & 4 and then the output from the log file lines 3 & 4)

I tried to use the comment feature, but stackoverlfow is giving me an error message.

Resolution

It turns out that another module in the app was reading the interget @cost and turning it into a string. This was masked by another bug in the app, so an earlier test failed. Moral of the story: regression testing is essential. Using @cost.to_i fixed the problem

Answer 1

Just try

if params.has_key?(:special_edition) && params[:special_edition] == "yes"

if the error persists, just check if the @cost is an integer by assigning a value or with the to_i method.