Rails won't recognize setting a variable to 'false'?

Question

I have the following (simplified) model and migration:

Model:

class User < ActiveRecord::Base
  attr_readonly :contacted

  validates :contacted, :inclusion => { :in => [true, false] }

  def set_contacted
    self.contacted = true
  end

  def unset_contacted
    # self.contacted = false
    self.contacted = "0"
  end
end

Migration:

class CreateUsers < ActiveRecord::Migration
  def change
    create_table :users do |t|
      t.boolean :contacted,     :null => false, :default => false

      t.timestamps
    end
  end
end

As you can kind of see in the comment in my model, setting the variable contact to false results in an error - I can only set it to "0". Why? I don't see how "false" would violate the null constraint, right?

Edit: For clarification, I am using PostgreSQL and ActiveRecord. The error that I'm getting is this:

C:/Ruby193/lib/ruby/gems/activerecord-3.2.8/lib/active_record/validations.rb:56:in 'save!' Validation failed: ActiveRecord::RecordInvalid)

I get that error even if I remove the "validates" statement from my model, and even if I remove the NULL constraint from the migration. It's something to do with setting the value of the attribute to be false. Is there some odd constraint on ActiveRecord booleans?

What database system are you using? Also, please add the error message to your question. — , Nov 30 '12 at 08:40
I'm using Postgresql. I get a whole string of messages basically saying that ActiveRecord "save!" failed. — Bryce, Nov 30 '12 at 09:02
Even if you don't think it'll help, it's always a good idea to paste your error message into the question. — , Nov 30 '12 at 09:37

score 1 · Answer 1 · answered Nov 30 '12 at 09:01

It's a bit difficult answering your question without having the specific error information.

First I'd change attr_readonly to attr_accessible - So the field will be updatable.

Secondly, I'd re-write your method:

  def unset_contacted
    self.contacted = false
    self.save! # Saving your methods (the ! is for throwing an exception if it fails).
  end

score 0 · Accepted Answer · answered Dec 08 '12 at 06:42

0

No one seems able to solve this, but it' no longer an issue for me. My model is better served by using a state_machine gem, so I removed this field altogether.

answered Dec 08 '12 at 06:42

Bryce

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Rails won't recognize setting a variable to 'false'?

2 Answers2