Insert some value into a result of a find in a db.

rubyonrails-talk
#1

Hi,
I'm trying to insert a string component into what was found by a find
search.
E.g.
do a
@version = Version.find("270")
@path = "somestring"
And I would like to stick the @path string into @version
then later do a
render :xml => @version
in order to produce
<versions>
    <version>
        <id>"270"</id>
        .
        .
        .
        <path>"somestring"</path>
    </version>
    <version/>
</versions>

Is this possible? The value of @path is not necessarily a result from
a search in the db so I can't combine two searches via something like
a find_by_sql or include.

#2

Should be no problem. You can add an attribute to @version and it will
be emitted when you render.

Try it in the console.

@version = Version.find(...)
@version['path'] = 'somestring'
@version.to_xml

#3

Hey that's great!
Simple and sweet.
Can I set the type?
As it stands it's coming out as type=\"NilClass\"
On the flip side, can I also remove the type info?
thanks