HowTo: Virtual Attributes

1) rails howto_use_vitual_attributes

2) cd howto_use_virtual_attributes

3) ruby script/generate scaffold Person first_name:string last_name:string

4) rake db:migrate

5) open up person.rb and add these getter and setter methods


def full_name
[first_name, last_name].join(' ')
end

def full_name=(name)
split = name.split(' ', 2)
self.first_name = split.first
self.last_name = split.last
end


6) edit your new.html.erb file


<%= f.label :full_name %>
<%= f.text_field :full_name %>

Note: full_name is not in the db, it’s just a virtual attribute

7) ruby script/server

8) localhost:3000/people/ (note: not persons )

Based on Railscasts ep16.