undefined method 'created_events' for nil:NilClass

Question

I'm coding a project from "The Odin Project" about Rails Associations. I thought I had get the topic pretty well, but I hit a block.

I'm getting a NoMethodError in EventsController#new // Undefined method 'created_events' for nil:NilClass

Here's my User Model:

class User < ApplicationRecord
  has_secure_password

  has_many :created_events, :foreign_key => :creator_id, :class_name => 'Event', :dependent => :destroy
end

Event Model:

class Event < ApplicationRecord
  belongs_to :creator, :class_name => 'User'
end

EventsController:

class EventsController < ApplicationController
  def index
    @events = Event.all
  end

  def show
    @event = Event.find(params[:id])
  end

  def new
    @user = User.find_by_email(params[:email])
    @created_event = @user.created_events.build
  end

  def create
    @user = User.find_by_email(params[:email])
    @created_event = @user.created_events.build(event_params)

    if @created_event.save
      flash[:notice] = "Event was successfully created!"
      redirect_to @created_event
    else
      render 'new'
    end
  end

  private
    def event_params
      params.require(:event).permit(:name, :location, :date, :description)
    end
end

And my 'new' view, which I'm not sure it's 100% correct given I've messed with it a bit.

<h1>New Event</h1>
<%= form_for @created_event do |f| %>
  <p>
    <%= f.label :name %><br>
    <%= f.text_field :name %>
  </p>
  <p>
    <%= f.label :location %><br>
    <%= f.text_field :location %>
  </p>
  <p>
    <%= f.label :date %><br>
    <%= f.text_field :date %>
  </p>
  <p>
    <%= f.label :description %><br>
    <%= f.text_area :description %>
  </p>
  <p>
    <%= f.submit %>
  </p>
<% end %>

For simplicity, I've included the form on the page, although in my project I've it stashed in a partial.

I've tested 'created_events' in the rails console, and it worked but on the site, it gives me the error.

If someone can tell me how to fix this, and what I'm doing wrong it would be much appreciated.

It says the problem is in EventsController#new and the error means @user is nil, so User.find_by_email(params[:email]) doesn't return a user. — Michael Kohl

neznidalibor neznidalibor · Accepted Answer · 2018-02-14T17:10:50

User.find_by_email(params[:email]) does not find a user with the email parameter you pass to it so there's your problem.

undefined method 'created_events' for nil:NilClass

2 Answers