observe_field with select throwing javascript error

Using the following simple form with a select box, the observe_field is throwing a javascript error related to the "getValue()" method in the prototype library. Any ideas as to why? Everything that I can tell is well formed syntactically. I'm running Rails 2.1.0.

<% form_tag :action => :new do %>   <%= select_tag 'transaction_type', "<option></option><option>Tuition Reimbursement</option><option>Schools & Seminars</option>" %><br /><br />

  <%= observe_field('transaction_type',            :url => { :action => "display_alternate_fields" },            :update => "transaction_specific",            :with => "'transaction_type=' + encodeURIComponent(value)") %>

  <div id="transaction_specific">&nbsp;</div>   <div><%= submit_tag "Create" %></div> <% end %>

The error points to the following line (-->) within the serialize portion of "Form.Element.Methods" in "prototype.js":

  getValue: function(element) {     element = $(element);     var method = element.tagName.toLowerCase(); --> return Form.Element.Serializers[method](element);   },

Corey Murphy wrote:

Using the following simple form with a select box, the observe_field is throwing a javascript error related to the "getValue()" method in the prototype library. Any ideas as to why? Everything that I can tell is well formed syntactically. I'm running Rails 2.1.0.

<% form_tag :action => :new do %>   <%= select_tag 'transaction_type', "<option></option><option>Tuition Reimbursement</option><option>Schools & Seminars</option>" %><br /><br />

  <%= observe_field('transaction_type',            :url => { :action => "display_alternate_fields" },            :update => "transaction_specific",            :with => "'transaction_type=' + encodeURIComponent(value)") %>

  <div id="transaction_specific">&nbsp;</div>   <div><%= submit_tag "Create" %></div> <% end %>

The problem is that "value" is not defined in this context.

You should be able to just eliminate the :with option.

Corey Murphy wrote:

Using the following simple form with a select box, the
observe_field is throwing a javascript error related to the "getValue()" method in the prototype library. Any ideas as to why? Everything that I can
tell is well formed syntactically. I'm running Rails 2.1.0.

<% form_tag :action => :new do %> <%= select_tag 'transaction_type', "<option></option><option>Tuition Reimbursement</option><option>Schools & Seminars</option>" %><br / ><br />

<%= observe_field('transaction_type',           :url => { :action => "display_alternate_fields" },           :update => "transaction_specific",           :with => "'transaction_type=' + encodeURIComponent(value)") %>

<div id="transaction_specific">&nbsp;</div> <div><%= submit_tag "Create" %></div> <% end %>

The problem is that "value" is not defined in this context.

You should be able to just eliminate the :with option.

That's not actually true. The with clause is evaluated in a context
where value is defined. Are there any other objects on the page with id transaction_type ? (or
to put things another way, if you evaluate $('transaction_type') in
the firebug console, what do you get?)

Fred

Are there any other objects on the page with id transaction_type ? (or to put things another way, if you evaluate $('transaction_type') in the firebug console, what do you get?)

Fred

You nailed it Fred. I had stripped out the rest of the page to simplify what was going on to see if there were any other underlying objects getting in the way and there was another <div> on the page with an id of "transaction_type". Once I removed it, everything worked fine.

Thanks again,