NoMethodError in StaticPages#manager

Question

I'm rails noob. I have a problem with contact form. I have an error: undefined method 'name' for nil:NilClass

<p>
  <strong>Name:</strong>
  <%= @contact_forms.name %>
</p>

My manager.html.erb is:

<div>
    <p>
      <strong>Name:</strong>
      <%= @contact_forms.name %>
    </p>

    <p>
      <strong>Text:</strong>
      <%= @contact_forms.text %>
    </p>
</div>

My contact_form_controller.rb is:

class ContactFormController < ApplicationController
  def new
  end

  def create
    @contact_forms = Contact_form.new(params[:contact_form])

  @contact_forms.save

      redirect_to root_path
      end

      def show
        @contact_forms = Contact_form.all
      end
  end

My file with migrates:

class CreateContactForms < ActiveRecord::Migration
  def change
    create_table :contact_forms do |t|
      t.string :name
      t.string :phone
      t.string :email
      t.text :text

      t.timestamps null: false
    end
  end
end

my static_pages_controller.rb is

class StaticPagesController < ApplicationController
  def home
  end

  def manager
  end
end

Thanks

Answer 1

undefined method `name' for nil:NilClass

You didn't defined @contact_forms in the manager method of static_pages controller, so is the error. Defining it like below should solve your problem.

class StaticPagesController < ApplicationController
  def home
  end

  def manager
    @contact_forms = ContactForm.all
  end
end

Update:

You should also iterate over @contact_forms like below in the manager.html.erb

<div>
  <% @contact_forms.each do |contact_form| %>
    <p>
      <strong>Name:</strong>
      <%= contact_form.name %>
    </p>

    <p>
      <strong>Text:</strong>
      <%= contact_form.text %>
    </p>
  <% end %>
</div>

Answer 2

I'm rails noob

Welcome to the family! You're a newb, not noob :)

Pavan's answer is right; since you're new I wanted to give you some context:

---

undefined method 'name' for nil:NilClass

This error means you're trying to call a method on a variable which has not been defined / populated.

In your case, @contact_forms is not defined.

The confusing part for many new Ruby developers is that instead of halting the entire program, Ruby populates the NilClass & claims there to be an error with it

So whilst you'd expect it to say the variable was undeclared, it gives you a message about how a method doesn't work.

--

To resolve your issue, you need to use the following:

#config/routes.rb
resources :contact_forms
resources :static_pages

#app/controllers/static_pages_controller.rb
class StaticPagesController < ApplicationController
   def manager
      @contact_forms = ContactForm.all
   end
end

To steal from Pavan, this has to be backed up by looping through the @contact_forms variable (unless you've populated it with a single instance of the ContactForm model):

#app/views/static_pages/manager.html.erb
<% @contact_forms.each do |form| %>
    <%= form.name %>
<% end %>

---

As an aside, I would never recommend calling a controller StaticPages.

When you get more into Ruby, you'll find out about the object orientated nature of the language:

I explain this a lot; basically, it means you have to keep your program centered around objects, in the case of Rails, are populated by the Models.

As such, you need to think about what data object you're trying to manipulate when showing this view. At present, it seems you want to show a contact form -- I'd put it in its own method in the ApplicationController:

#config/routes.rb
match "contact", to: "application#contact_form", via: [:get, :post]

#app/controllers/application_controller.rb
class ApplicationController < ActionController::Base
   def contact_form
     if request.post? 
         #post contact form
     else
         #load contact form
     end
   end
end