Checking if file_field is empty?

[Jen]

Hi,
I am writing some simple upload functionality for an application. I
can't figure out how to check if file@field is empty. Currently I am
trying to use an if statement, so the post action will only occure if
'upload' is not nil. I have also tried using the .blank method with no
success.

Any advice would be great.
Thanks in advance,
Jen.

If statement:
#posts to the data model.
if !:upload.nil?
post = Upload.save(params[:upload])
puts "file uploaded"
render 'upload'
repo.commit_all('params[:message]')
else
redirect_to 'upload'
end

[Colin Law]

On 21 June 2011 13:31, Jen <jen.b...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Hi,
> I am writing some simple upload functionality for an application. I can't
> figure out how to check if file@field is empty. Currently I am trying to use
> an if statement, so the post action will only occure if 'upload' is not nil.
> I have also tried using the .blank method with no success.
>
> Any advice would be great.
> Thanks in advance,
> Jen.
>
> If statement:
> #posts to the data model.
> if !:upload.nil?

Are you trying to check whether param[:upload] has a value? Is so
then you can use
if !params[:upload].blank?

blank? returns true for nil or an empty string. nil? returns true for
nil but false for empty string.

Colin

>    post = Upload.save(params[:upload])
> puts "file uploaded"
> render 'upload'
> repo.commit_all('params[:message]')
> else
> redirect_to 'upload'
>  end
>

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[Chirag Singhal]

It would be better to delegate that job to Upload model.

Then you could write something like this:

#posts to the data model.

post = Upload.new(params[:upload])

if post.save

  puts "file uploaded"

  render 'upload'

  repo.commit_all(params[:message])

else

  redirect_to 'upload'

end

[Jen]

Hi,
I have been experimenting with the code from the replies to this post so far, but still can't achieve what I want. If a file is selected it is uploaded just fine. However if no file is selected the application spits out the following error:
NoMethodError in UploadController#create

undefined method `original_filename' for nil:NilClass

Rails.root: /home/resource_portal/website

Application Trace | Framework Trace | Full Trace

rake-0.8.7/ruby/1.9.1/gems/activesupport-3.0.3/lib/active_support/whiny_nil.rb:48:in `method_missing'
app/models/upload.rb:13:in `save'
app/controllers/upload_controller.rb:13:in `create'
rake-0.8.7/ruby/1.9.1/gems/actionpack-3.0.3/lib/action_controller/metal/implicit_render.rb:4:in `send_action'
rake-0.8.7/ruby/1.9.1/gems/actionpack-3.0.3/lib/abstract_controller/base.rb:151:in `process_action'
rake-0.8.7/ruby/1.9.1/gems/actionpack-3.0.3/lib/action_controller/metal/rendering.rb:11:in `process_action'

...

I'm guessing I therefore need to be able to validate whether there is something in 'file_field' before the post action happens, but I'm not sure how to do this. Any other suggestions would be great!

Also Now I'm confused about the best place for this code to go. I was originally just putting one if statement in my controller, but as this is validation I guess it should go in the model.

I should probably also point out that files are not being stored in a database. Instead I am using GIT to version them and keep track of their history.
My current code is attached.

Thanks,
Jen.

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[Colin Law]

On 21 June 2011 19:14, Jen <jen.b...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Hi,
> I have been experimenting with the code from the replies to this post so
> far, but still can't achieve what I want. If a file is selected it is
> uploaded just fine. However if no file is selected the application spits out
> the following error:
> NoMethodError in UploadController#create
>
> undefined method `original_filename' for nil:NilClass
>
> Rails.root: /home/resource_portal/website
>
> Application Trace | Framework Trace | Full Trace
>
> rake-0.8.7/ruby/1.9.1/gems/activesupport-3.0.3/lib/active_support/whiny_nil.rb:48:in
> `method_missing'
> app/models/upload.rb:13:in `save'
> app/controllers/upload_controller.rb:13:in `create'

You said that you have taken note of the previous replies, but looking
at the code in upload_controller.rb you have not tested
params[:upload] before calling Upload.save in the create action, which
was the point of your original question I think. As I previously
suggested you need to use something like
if !params[:upload].blank?
to prevent save being called when params[:upload] is nil or empty.
What else you need to do in that action when it is empty I do not know
as I do not know the details of what you want to achieve.

Colin

[Jen]

Hi Colin,
I did try implementing your suggestion in a previous experiment, which
game me the same result. If I click the 'save upload' button and have
not selected a file to upload the application falls over with the same
error as in my previous post. I need some way of checking whether
file_field is blank, and if it is prompting the user to select a file.

I am not sure where in the process of attempting to submit a file this
check needs to happen, though I assume it is before the post occurs.

If this explanation is not clear enough please let me know and I will
attempt to explain it better.

I am not sure if the fact that I am not using a database impacts on
this. As stated in my previous post the files are uploaded to a
directory, then committed to a git repo.

Thanks in advance for any further help,
Jen.

Note the code below does work, as long as a file is selected for upload.
Controller code:
def create
repo = Grit::Repo.new("/home/resource_portal/website/public/data/upload")
if !params[:upload].blank?

#posts to the data model.

post = Upload.save(params[:upload]), (params[:message])
puts "file uploaded"
repo.commit_all(:message)
render 'upload'
else
flash.now[:error] = "Please select a file to upload"
redirect_to 'upload'
end
end
end

[Colin Law]

On 21 June 2011 22:11, Jen <jen.b...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Hi Colin,
> I did try implementing your suggestion in a previous experiment, which game
> me the same result.
> If I click the 'save upload' button and have not
> selected a file to upload the application falls over with the same error as
> in my previous post. I need some way of checking whether file_field is
> blank, and if it is prompting the user to select a file.

It could not possibly give you exactly the same error on the same line
of code, as the test would have prevented that line from being
executed. It may have been a similar error on a different line of
code. As I said before you can test for the field blank or nil using
params[:upload].blank?

Colin

[Chirag Singhal]

As Colin said, you shouldn't be getting the exact same error at the exact same place. Would be good to check it out.

Based on the code you posted, you are not using ActiveRecord features in Upload model, so do away with it and use ActiveModel instead.

Here's a great Railscast on this - http://railscasts.com/episodes/219-active-model

I have modified the code a little bit to use ActiveModel instead of ActiveRecord. This should work fine.

Here it is - https://gist.github.com/1039543

There are still some issue with the code with respect to following standards. You should rename the index action to be 'new', because that's what it is doing. Similarly, change the view file from upload.rhtml to new.html.erb

Name of the controller should be plural, so it should be uploads controller.

I am also assuming that you have a route in place in your routes.rb for upload, if not, it should have something like this:

resource :upload

[Jen]

Thanks for the tip on active models!
I don't know much about the different types but I think this may be the
answer to my problems. Though I have not been very exact with giving
exact line nums etc for my errors I do understand if statements and what
I am trying to do.

Thanks to everyone else for help and suggestions so far. Hopefully I'll
solve it tomorrow!

Thanks,
Jen.

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