n00b here, rake error: Expected x.rb to define x

rubyonrails-talk
#1

I've searched through the forum and google, and to no avail. I cannot
seem to find the solution to my problem. No one has ever defined this
as a rake problem. Anyway, it's when my db:migrate tries to process
this migration:

class AddPaymentTypeData < ActiveRecord::Migration
  def self.up
    Payment_type.delete_all

    Payment_type.create(:type => 'Check')
    Payment_type.create(:type => 'Credit Card')
    Payment_type.create(:type => 'Purchase Order')
  end

  def self.down
    Payment_type.delete_all
  end
end

that it gives me the error:
rake aborted!
Expected /Users/joel/Sites/depot/app/models/payment_type.rb to define
Payment_type

I have a payment_type.rb file:

class PaymentType < ActiveRecord::Base

  has_many :orders

end

This is in the right place, in the path that the rake task is
complaining that it isn't. Does anyone have any idea why this is
happening? I'm sure someone has run into this before. I'm using
rails 2.2.2, ruby 1.8.

Thanks in advance.

Groove

#2

Hi --

I've searched through the forum and google, and to no avail. I cannot
seem to find the solution to my problem. No one has ever defined this
as a rake problem. Anyway, it's when my db:migrate tries to process
this migration:

class AddPaymentTypeData < ActiveRecord::Migration
def self.up
   Payment_type.delete_all

   Payment_type.create(:type => 'Check')
   Payment_type.create(:type => 'Credit Card')
   Payment_type.create(:type => 'Purchase Order')
end

def self.down
   Payment_type.delete_all
end
end

that it gives me the error:
rake aborted!
Expected /Users/joel/Sites/depot/app/models/payment_type.rb to define
Payment_type

I have a payment_type.rb file:

class PaymentType < ActiveRecord::Base

has_many :orders

end

This is in the right place, in the path that the rake task is
complaining that it isn't. Does anyone have any idea why this is
happening? I'm sure someone has run into this before. I'm using
rails 2.2.2, ruby 1.8.

The short answer is: change Payment_type to PaymentType in your create
statments (and everywhere else).

Longer answer:

Rails has a "magic" way of resolving references to unknown constants.
If you refer, say, to PaymentType, without having defined it, Rails
does the following:

   1. convert "PaymentType" to its canonical "underscore" equivalent,
     "payment_type"
   2. add ".rb" to the end
   3. search the file load-path for a file called that
     ("payment_type.rb")
   4. load the file
   5. confidentally assume that PaymentType is now defined

You made it as far as 4 (it found app/models/payment_type.rb), but
only by coincidence: you used "Payment_type", which also turns into
"payment_type.rb". So the file was found -- but at no point inside the
file did you define a constant called "Payment_type". What you really
want is for Rails to be looking for the constant PaymentType, not
Payment_type, and that's why you need to correct your Payment_type
references to PaymentType. (And in any case, you need to use the same
name for the same constant consistently :slight_smile:

David

#3

I've searched through the forum and google, and to no avail. I cannot
seem to find the solution to my problem. No one has ever defined this
as a rake problem. Anyway, it's when my db:migrate tries to process
this migration:

class AddPaymentTypeData < ActiveRecord::Migration
def self.up
   Payment_type.delete_all

That should be PaymentType

Fred

#4

Hi --

I've searched through the forum and google, and to no avail. I cannot
seem to find the solution to my problem. No one has ever defined this
as a rake problem. Anyway, it's when my db:migrate tries to process
this migration:

In addition to David's answer below, let me add two cautions:

1. Whenever you're using the model inside a migration, it is a good idea to define a minimal copy of the model actually within the migration. This guards against future changes to the model class (including the model going away!).

  1.a. If you ever use the model to manipulate data after changing the underlying table (e.g., add_column), you need to call Model.reset_column_information so ActiveRecord takes a fresh look at the database columns.

2. Having a column named "type" in ActiveRecord signifies the actual class name when using Single-Table Inheritance (STI). If you get errors later because it can't find a class called "Check", remember this (and pick a different name; it's easier than struggling with ActiveRecord).

-Rob

Rob Biedenharn http://agileconsultingllc.com
Rob@AgileConsultingLLC.com

class AddPaymentTypeData < ActiveRecord::Migration

     class PaymentType < ActiveRecord::Base; end

#5

That did it!

@David, changed Payment_type to PaymentType in my migration file so it
now looks like:

class AddPaymentTypeData < ActiveRecord::Migration
  def self.up
    PaymentType.delete_all

    PaymentType.create(:payment_type => 'Check')
    PaymentType.create(:payment_type => 'Credit Card')
    PaymentType.create(:payment_type => 'Purchase Order')
  end

  def self.down
    PaymentType.delete_all
  end
end

@Rob also, changed (obviously) the "type" column to "payment_type".

This may be a superfluous question, but does that mean the the actual
object defined by the payment_type.rb file will ALWAYS be called
PaymentType?

Thank you for all of your help.

Groove

#6

That did it!

@David, changed Payment_type to PaymentType in my migration file so it
now looks like:

class AddPaymentTypeData < ActiveRecord::Migration
def self.up
   PaymentType.delete_all

   PaymentType.create(:payment_type => 'Check')
   PaymentType.create(:payment_type => 'Credit Card')
   PaymentType.create(:payment_type => 'Purchase Order')
end

def self.down
   PaymentType.delete_all
end
end

@Rob also, changed (obviously) the "type" column to "payment_type".

This may be a superfluous question, but does that mean the the actual
object defined by the payment_type.rb file will ALWAYS be called
PaymentType?

You probably could have made the change to "class Payment_type" in the
model file, too, but the naming conventions expect that the model
class is in CamelCase and the file is in under_score.rb (ok,
camel_case.rb, but you get the idea).

-Rob