Errata

As printed:

... without turning "this is <b>bold</b>" into "this is <b>bold</b>."

should be

... without turning "this is <b>bold</b>" into "this is <b>bold</b>."

I was reading the safari version, so this may be an example of an HTML transcription error.

Note from the Author or Editor:
I think this a case of the Safari conversion not quite working. The original on page 25 in the printed version looks fine.

Using the code from the code repository, or the version I'd built up from the beginning of the book, when editing, or creating a new person, all the fields are labelled 'Label'.

Note from the Author or Editor:
In this case, the recommendation of the note on 137 appears to have become mandatory.

Please replace (in DocBook) from the private on 136 to the end of the note on 137 with:

<programlisting format="linespecific" id="I_programlisting8_d1e11062">private

def label_for(method, options={})
label(options.delete(:label) || method) + "&lt;br /&gt;"
end</programlisting>

<para>The <literal moreinfo="none">label</literal> method is the same
as usual and is concatenated to a <literal moreinfo="none">&lt;br
/&gt;</literal> tag, but there?s something tricky going on in the
arguments:</para>

<programlisting format="linespecific" id="I_programlisting8_d1e11073">(:label || method)</programlisting>

<para>This looks for an option named <literal moreinfo="none">:label</literal>, letting you specify label text for
the field through a <literal moreinfo="none">:label</literal>
parameter. Accessing the <literal moreinfo="none">:label</literal> value
through <literal moreinfo="none">delete</literal> <indexterm id="I_indexterm8_d1e11113" significance="normal">
<primary>delete method</primary>

<secondary sortas="label parameter with">:label parameter
with</secondary>
</indexterm>seems strange, but <literal moreinfo="none">delete</literal> does two things: it removes the
<literal moreinfo="none">:label</literal> parameter from the
<literal moreinfo="none">options</literal> array, which will keep it
from passing through to the <literal moreinfo="none">super</literal>
call, and it also returns the <literal moreinfo="none">:label</literal> parameter?s value, if there is
one. (This was optional in Rails 2.1, but appears to be mandatory in Rails 2.2 and later.) If there isn?t a <literal moreinfo="none">:label</literal>,
the <literal moreinfo="none">||</literal> <indexterm id="I_indexterm8_d1e11089" significance="normal">
<primary sortas="@pipe@pipe">|| syntax</primary>
</indexterm>will fall through to <literal moreinfo="none">method</literal>, which will create a label with the
default?the internal name of the field.</para>

... "!@name.blank? will test for both nil values and blank entries. (blank is a Ruby method of String objects." ...

The #blank? method is actually a Rails (ActiveSupport) extension applied to several classes in /core_ext/blank.rb. See also http://api.rubyonrails.org/classes/Object.html.

Note from the Author or Editor:
On page 51, para below Example 4-6, replace "blank is a Ruby method of" with "blank is a Rails method extending Ruby's "

xviii | Preface states:
We?ll post updates in new versions of this electronic book
and at http://www.excursionsonrails.com.

but that URL gives the default Apache page ("It works!"). Dropping the "www" from the URL gives the Excursions on Rails site. Please either update the electronic version or add a redirect to the correct site. Thanks.

Note from the Author or Editor:
I fixed this in the website config, and it works now. Thanks for letting me know!

No need to change the book.

When you're describing the parameters date_select can accept, you list :include_seconds and its description twice.

Note from the Author or Editor:
This is correct, and appears on page 98 of the print edition. Please delete the second entry for :include_seconds, which is right above the tip. And please delete the tip as well - the "Chapter 17" it refers to is incorrect.

In describing how to pass parameters to the stylesheet_link_tag, the following is written:

<%= stylesheet_link_tag :media => "all", :type => "text/css", :href => "/stylesheets/hello.css" %>

When the page is reloaded in the browser, the style does not take. This is confirmed by the lack of a link tag for the style sheet in the browser's source code window.

I tried this instead:

<%= stylesheet_link_tag 'hello', :media => "all", :type => "text/css", :href => "/stylesheets/hello.css" %>

Later on the page, in the fourth paragraph, it mentions that providing an href parameter overrides the first, unnamed parameter. I assume this to mean the missing 'hello' but that does not appear to be the case.

I tested this in both Safari and Firefox.

I believe this is an error in the text, but perhaps I am missing something?

Note from the Author or Editor:
On page 31, please replace the first (bold) code example with:

<%= stylesheet_link_tag 'hello', :media => "all", :type => "text/css", :href => "/stylesheets/hello.css" %>

The href parameter in the stylesheet_link_tag statement should be "/stylesheets/hello.css" not just "/stylesheets/"

Note from the Author or Editor:
In line 4 of Example 3-3, please change:

:href => "/stylesheets/"

to:

:href => "/stylesheets/hello.css"

"The structure created by the <% content_for(:name) do %> code in Example 3-9" should read "The structure created by the <% content_for(:list) do %> code in Example 3-9."

Note from the Author or Editor:
This is correct - please do as suggested:

The structure created by the <% content_for(:name) do %> code in Example 3-9" should read "The structure created by the <% content_for(:list) do %> code in Example 3-9."

Implementing the book's example in Heroku Garden, I got this error when I went to http://myapp.herokugarden.com/entries/sign_in :

Routing Error
No route matches "/entries/sign_in" with {:method=>:get}

I fixed the problem by inserting this line into config/routes.rb :

map.connect ':controller/:action'

Unless I'm missing something, you might want to alert readers about this.

(BTW if you would show date stamps on the errata, that would let me know which ones are new since the last time I wrote them into my copy of the book.)

Note from the Author or Editor:
This appears to be a bug that came into Heroku (then Heroku Garden) after the book was published.

However, as Heroku Garden closed, and none of this functionality is available any longer, I'm afraid there isn't much we can do.

This is not really a mistake per se...so much as perhaps needing more details. Since Mark Latham also posted about this I will put my .02 cents in.

This example fails to work and gives you this error:

Routing Error
No route matches "/entries/sign_in" with {:method=>:get}

if you do not start the server. There should maybe be a step explicitly explaining starting and stopping servers. It would help if there were a few lines explaining to stop the "hello" server and start the "guestbook" server (or just leave the "hello" server running and run two servers).

This may trip up some users, particularly if you read these chapters all in a row without stopping.

Note from the Author or Editor:
This appears to be a bug that came into Heroku (then Heroku Garden) after the book was published.

However, as Heroku Garden closed, and none of this functionality is available any longer, I'm afraid there isn't much we can do.

The second paragraph on page 45 refers to the 'entry' controller, but the script/generate command used on page 41 created an 'entries' controller and figure 4-3 on the same page shows the controller as being 'entries'.

Another reference to 'entry' is in the 3rd paragraph, first sentence on page 45.

Note from the Author or Editor:
On page 45, at line 3 of paragraph 2, and line 1 of paragraph 3, please replace entry with entries.

text reads "Both of these operate on a table called People [...]" Shouldn't it read "Both of these operate on a table called Entries [...]"

Note from the Author or Editor:
Please replace "People" with "Entries". Somehow this slipped through.

"People table" should be "Entry table" [similar to previously submitted errata on Page 48, 5th paragraph].

Note from the Author or Editor:
"People table" should change to "Entry table" as described.

"People table" should be "Entries table" [similar to previously submitted errata on pages 48 and 50].

Note from the Author or Editor:
Please change "People table" in the second text paragraph of page 51 to "Entries table".

To the end of the first sentence, add the phrase, "named people", so that it reads "To get started, create a new application named people" For clarity, add the command

$rails people

Note from the Author or Editor:
Please add 'named people' to the first sentence of the last para. Then insert a paragraph break and put in:

$ rails people

Then continue.

text reads "[...] the problem is likely that you're starting in the same guestbook application described in the previous chapter, and the Person model there is blocking the creation of the Person model here."

The previous chapter, Chapter 4, features an Entry model, not a Person model, so there shouldn't be a conflict at all.

Note from the Author or Editor:
Entire warning should be deleted. This is what we get for changing examples.

CRUD doesn't really map to CREATE, SELECT, UPDATE, and DELETE in SQL terms.

CREATE should be INSERT

"you've worked with SQL, you're already familiar with INSERT, SELECT, UPDATE, and DELETE"

Note from the Author or Editor:
This is correct - I'm not sure quite what I was thinking, or not thinking, at the time. It's definitely INSERT.

On page 65 of the printed book, in the 4th paragraph from the bottom, near the end of the third line, "CREATE, SELECT," should be "INSERT, SELECT,"

There seems to be nothing in the text that suggests that Example 8-2 should be named "tidy_form_builder.rb". Of course, the class name is a clue, and there is a reference to the sample code, but most of the previous additions to the example rails application are quite specific about the file(s) to which code is to be added and/or what files need to be created.

Note from the Author or Editor:
The caption to Example 8-2 should be modified to say "A form builder, stored in app/helpers/tidy_form_builder.rb, providing a method more tightly bound to the expectations of the country field."

Also, on page 135, the first line under the first code piece should say "Rails will know to look for /app/helpers/tidy_form_builder.rb."

Though there is a reference in passing to a "WrappingTidyBuilder" which "builds on the prior TidyBuilder..." there is no indication where this code goes. Moreover, since there is the reference that it "...builds on the prior TidyBuilder..." which would imply this is a new class that inherits from TidyBuilder? Again, there is simply no mention of this, directly. Asking the reader to infer all this makes me think the authors were not targeting this book at beginners at all, and assumes a great deal of knowledge for the user must know. My assumption is that the authors meant this to a new class that inherits from WrappingTidyBuilder -- however, there is no evidence of this in the sample code that is provided. This makes for pretty rough sledding for us beginners! (sure enough, these changes do _not_ show up in my form, as the text explains it)...

Note from the Author or Editor:
Excellent catch! The writing assumed the code was available, which has not always been the case. I've updated the text and will make sure the code bundle is also correct.

I feel you should let the reader know that they should restart the server as I got:
NoMethodError (undefined method `validates_existence_of' for #<Class:0x23d0e08>):
app/models/award.rb:7
app/controllers/awards_controller.rb:5:in `index'
in the logs until I restarted.

Note from the Author or Editor:
Please change "Now, if you try to save an award record" to "Now, if you restart the server and try to save an award record"

On the user's first visit, with no cookie named "name", this condition:

<% if @previous_name != '' %>

is true because nil is not the same as blank (at least in Heroku Garden; not sure about other environments).

So user sees the message:
"Hmmm... the last time you were here, you said you were ."

Here's one way to fix it:

<% if !@previous_name.nil? and @previous_name != '' %>

Note from the Author or Editor:
On page 225, Example 13-2, please replace:

<% if @previous_name != '' %>

with:

<% unless @previous_name.blank? %>

After rake db:sessions:create, two more steps needed to make SessionStore work:

rake db:migrate

uncomment secret in controllers/application.rb

Note from the Author or Editor:
Please change:

database support for session storage.

to:

database support for session storage, and should then also run <literal moreinfo="none">db:migrate</literal>. You'll also need to edit the <filename moreinfo="none">app/controllers/application.rb</filename> file to uncomment the <literal moreinfo="none">:secret</literal>.

"accessible through the :specs parameter"

Shouldn't :specs be :steps?

Note from the Author or Editor:
Yes indeed! In the paragraph in the middle of the page, starting with "The asterisk" please change :specs in the second line to :steps.

This line prevented page from loading
<% form_tag(course_remove_student_path(@student)), :html => {:id => 'removal_form'} do %>

fixed by moving closing parentheses
<% form_tag(course_remove_student_path(@student), :html => {:id => 'removal_form'}) do %>

Note from the Author or Editor:
Please move closing parens so line reads:

<% form_tag(course_remove_student_path(@student), :html => {:id => 'removal_form'}) do %>

The following code:
:html => {:id => 'enrollment_form'}
Should be:
{:id => 'enrollment_form'}

*remove the :html =>

Note from the Author or Editor:
Correct.

page << "alert("I entered this code myself")
inconsistent quotation marks and no closing quote for the whole alert. This worked:
page << "alert('I entered this code myself')"

Note from the Author or Editor:
Please change page << "alert("I entered this code myself") to page << "alert('I entered this code myself')"

Figure 18-4 should show an empty list of students (instead of the listing with student 'Dylan Wonkatoni Chazwick').

Note from the Author or Editor:
This is correct, and I'll need to submit a new figure. I'd originally meant to show more of the application running, and apparently deleted the wrong figure.

on line 3, where it says "and visit http://localhost:3000/testbed/", it should make clear that you also need to add 'testbed' to the end of whatever URL Heroku gives you after you press the >> button.

Note from the Author or Editor:
Please add a sentence after "a mostly blank response." that says:

(In Heroku Garden, you may need to add 'testbed' right after the URL that Heroku Garden sends you to when you've pressed >>.)

def index
my_array = [5,4,3,2,1]
@result = ''
for i in *myArray*
@result = @result + i.to_s + ""
end
end

The myArray variable should be my_array.

Note from the Author or Editor:
This is correct. Please change myArray to my_array.

(For consistency, please make that change throughout the appendix.)

sentence =~ /Ruby/
# => 2 - There are two instances of

Note from the Author or Editor:
Please change '# => 2 - There are two instances of "Ruby".' to:

# => 0 - The first instance of 'Ruby' appears at position 0.