extra object being created in rails

Question

EDIT: THIS IS HAPPENING IN DEVELOPMENT, BUT NOT IN PRODUCTION. The reason why it's a problem is because I when I add school.tuition + school.room_and_board for my table, it says that '+' is an invalid operator an an object named nil. Again, this only happens in development, not production. Still, it's a problem because I'd like to be able to still work in the development environment.

See http://www.collegeanswerz.com/colleges, and then go to size. You'll see that under national universities, there's an extra College object being created. I can't figure out why.

(Note: you don't see this in alphabetical or rank because that code is manual html, rather than rails iteration)

I just added 100 more schools today. Previously, there wasn't an extra object being created. Now there is.

seeds.rb

@college = College.find_or_create_by_name!('University of Pittsburgh')
if @college.update_attributes(
    url: 'university-of-pittsburgh',
    public: 'Public',
    years: '4-year',
    category: 'National University',
    calendar: 'Semester',
    location: 'Pittsburgh, PA',
    setting: 'Large City (250-500k)',
    degrees: 'Certificate, Bachelors, Masters, Doctoral',
    rotc: 'Air Force, Army, Navy',
    very_important: 'Academic GPA|Rigor of secondary school record|Standardized Test Scores',
    considered: 'Application Essay|Character/Personal Qualities|Class Rank|Extracurricular Activities|First Generation College Student|Geographical Residence|Level of Applicant\'s Interest|Racial/Ethnic Status|Recommendations|State Residency|Talent/Ability|Volunteer Work|Work Experience',
    student_faculty: '14 to 1',
    retention: '90',
    graduation4: '57',
    graduation6: '79',
    sat_submit: '89',
    act_submit: '41',
    sat_math_25: '600',
    sat_math_75: '690',
    sat_reading_25: '570',
    sat_reading_75: '690',
    sat_writing_25: '560',
    sat_writing_75: '660',
    sat_composite_25: '1130',
    sat_composite_75: '1320',
    act_math_25: '25',
    act_math_75: '30',
    act_english_25: '25',
    act_english_75: '31',
    act_writing_25: '7',
    act_writing_75: '9',
    act_composite_25: '25',
    act_composite_75: '30',
    acceptance_rate: '58',
    enrolled: '32',
    gpa375: '71',
    gpa35: '15',
    gpa325: '8',
    gpa3: '4',
    gpa25: '2',
    high_school_tenth: '54',
    high_school_quarter: '86',
    high_school_half: '99',
    sat_math_700: '25',
    sat_math_600: '53',
    sat_math_500: '21',
    sat_math_400: '1',
    sat_math_300: '0',
    sat_reading_700: '24',
    sat_reading_600: '42',
    sat_reading_500: '32',
    sat_reading_400: '2',
    sat_reading_300: '0',
    sat_writing_700: '14',
    sat_writing_600: '45',
    sat_writing_500: '37',
    sat_writing_400: '4',
    sat_writing_300: '0',
    act_composite_30: '33',
    act_composite_24: '58',
    act_composite_18: '8',
    act_composite_12: '1',
    act_math_30: '40',
    act_math_24: '46',
    act_math_18: '13',
    act_math_12: '1',
    act_english_30: '0',
    act_english_24: '0',
    act_english_18: '0',
    act_english_12: '0',
    class_20: '42',
    class_49: '39.6',
    class_50: '18.4',
    majors: 'business/marketing: 15%|social sciences: 14%|health professions: 11%|english: 10%|engineering: 9%|psychology: 8%|biology: 7%|history: 5%',
    law: '3',
    business: '1',
    medical: '4',
    other_grad: '28',
    us_news_ranking: '58',
    top_25_grad: 'Physical Therapy (3)|Speech-Language Pathology (8)|Library and Information Studies (10)|Social Work (11)|Medicine (15)|Education (24)',
    requirements: 'http://www.asundergrad.pitt.edu/requirements/gened.html',
    majors_offered_link: 'http://www.pitt.edu/academics/undergraduate',
    ap_credit: 'http://www.oafa.pitt.edu/pdf/CreditAPIBExam.pdf',
    enrollment: '18427',
    graduate_enrollment: '10339',
    in_state: '68',
    out_of_state: '32',
    male: '49',
    female: '51',
    ethnicity: 'white: 77%|hispanic/latino: 2%|asian: 8%|black: 5%|2 or more races: 3%|non-resident aliens: 3%|other: 2%',
    frats: '12',
    sororities: '10',
    on_campus: '45',
    freshman_on_campus: '97',
    in_state_tuition: '16590',
    out_of_state_tuition: '26280',
    room_and_board: '9870',
    with_need_got_aid: '68',
    got_need_fully_met: '7',
    percent_need_met: '59',
    scholarships: '41',
    loans: '59',
    cost_30: '17326',
    cost_48: '19950',
    cost_75: '23636',
    cost_110: '26410',
    cost_111: '26985',
    scholarships_link: 'http://www.oafa.pitt.edu/universityschlrs.aspx',
    map: '',
    street_view: '
View Larger Map',
    housing: '',
    food: '',
    weather: '',
    dorms: 'Towers (fr.)|Sutherland (fr.)|Lothrop (fr.)|Nordenberg (fr.)|Holland (fr.)|Forbes (fr.; honors)|McCormick|Brackenridge|Amos|Bruce|Panther|Pennsylvania|Ruskin|Bouquet Gardens|Oakwood Apartments|Centre-Plaza Apartments|Forbes-Craig Apartments (honors)',
    dorm_urls: 'towers|sutherland|lothrop|nordenberg|holland|forbes|mccormick|brackenridge|amos|bruce|panther|pennsylvania|ruskin|bouquet-gardens|oakwood-apartments|centre-plaza-apartments|forbes-craig-apartments',
    science_majors: 'Actuarial Science|Agriculture|Applied Math|Astronomy|Biology|Chemistry|Computer Science|Earth Science|Geology|Linguistics|Mathematics|Neuroscience|Physics|Statistics',
    social_science_majors: 'Anthropology|Criminology|Economics|History|Political Science|Psychology|Sociology|Urban Studies|Women\'s Studies',
    humanities_majors: 'Art|Classics|English|Film|History and Philosophy of Science|Literature|Music|Philosophy|Religious Studies|Theatre',
    business_majors: 'Accounting|Finance|Management|Marketing',
    engineering_majors: 'Bioengineering|Chemical|Civil|Computer|Electrical|Engineering Science|Industrial|Materials Science and Engineering|Mechanical|Nuclear',
    professional_majors: 'Architecture|Athletic Training|Communications/ Journalism|Information Science|Nursing|Nutrition|Pharmacy|Public Health|Rehab Science|Social Work',
    area_studies_majors: 'African|Chinese|French|German|Italian|Japanese|Jewish|Latin American|Middle Eastern|Russian|Spanish|Other')
else
  # handle validation errors
end

My seeds file is basically that for 300 schools. I looked through it a ton of times and I don't see anything that should create an empty object. I used cmd + f to look for variations of @college = College.find_or_create_by_name!(''), but there's nothing. I manually went through all the cmd + f 's for @college = College.find_or_create_by_name!(, and they all are creating an actual college with a name (the empty object doesn't have a name).

Here are some relevant excerpts of code. Let me know if you want to see more.

Any ideas about what the problem is?

static_pages_controller.rb

def colleges
    @national_university = College.where("category = 'National University'").order("enrollment DESC")
    @liberal_arts_college = College.where("category = 'Liberal Arts College' OR category = 'Military College'").order("enrollment DESC")
  end

colleges.html.erb


        National Universities
        
            
                <% @national_university.each do |school| %>
                    <%= link_to "#{school.name} (#{(number_with_delimiter(school.enrollment, :delimiter => ',') )})", "/#{school.url}" %>
                <% end %>
            
        

        Liberal Arts Colleges
        
            
                <% @liberal_arts_college.each do |school| %>
                    <%= link_to "#{school.name} (#{(number_with_delimiter(school.enrollment, :delimiter => ',') )})", "/#{school.url}" %>
                <% end %>
            
        
    
    
        
            
                National Universities
                Liberal Arts Colleges
            
        
        
            
                
                        <% @national_university.each do |school| %>
                            
                        <% end %>
                    
                    
                        
                            Name
                            Rank
                            Location
                            Setting
                            Size
                            Cost*
                            Math SAT
                            Reading SAT
                            ACT Composite
                        
                    
                    
                                <%= link_to "#{school.name}", "#{school.url}" %>
                                <%= "#{school.us_news_ranking}" %>
                                <%= "#{school.location}" %>
                                <%= "#{school.setting}" %>
                                <%= number_with_delimiter("#{school.enrollment}", :delimiter => ',') %>
                                $<%= number_with_delimiter("#{school.in_state_tuition}", :delimiter => ',') %>
                                / $<%= number_with_delimiter("#{school.out_of_state_tuition}", :delimiter => ',') %>
                                <%= "#{school.sat_math_25} - #{school.sat_math_75}" %>
                                <%= "#{school.sat_reading_25} - #{school.sat_reading_75}" %>
                                <%= "#{school.act_composite_25} - #{school.act_composite_75}" %>
                            
                
            
 

            
                
                        <% @liberal_arts_college.each do |school| %>
                            
                        <% end %>
                    
                    
                        
                            Name
                            Rank
                            Location
                            Setting
                            Size
                            Cost*
                            Math SAT
                            Reading SAT
                            ACT Composite
                        
                    
                    
                                <%= link_to "#{school.name}", "#{school.url}" %>
                                <%= "#{school.us_news_ranking}" %>
                                <%= "#{school.location}" %>
                                <%= "#{school.setting}" %>
                                <%= number_with_delimiter("#{school.enrollment}", :delimiter => ',') %>
                                $<%= number_with_delimiter("#{school.in_state_tuition + school.room_and_board}", :delimiter => ',') %>
                                / $<%= number_with_delimiter("#{school.out_of_state_tuition + school.room_and_board}", :delimiter => ',') %>
                                <%= "#{school.sat_math_25} - #{school.sat_math_75}" %>
                                <%= "#{school.sat_reading_25} - #{school.sat_reading_75}" %>
                                <%= "#{school.act_composite_25} - #{school.act_composite_75}" %>
                            
                
            
 

            Tip: Sort multiple columns simultaneously by holding down the shift key and clicking a second, third or even fourth column header!
            *cost = tuition + room & board; in state / out of state

console output during attempt to delete empty object

:002 > College.where("name=''")
  College Load (5.6ms)  SELECT "colleges".* FROM "colleges" WHERE (name='')
 => [#] 
1.9.3p429 :003 > College.where("name=''").destroy
ArgumentError: wrong number of arguments (0 for 1)
    from /Users/adamzerner/.rvm/gems/ruby-1.9.3-p429/gems/activerecord-3.2.13/lib/active_record/relation.rb:378:in `destroy'
    from (irb):3
    from /Users/adamzerner/.rvm/gems/ruby-1.9.3-p429/gems/railties-3.2.13/lib/rails/commands/console.rb:47:in `start'
    from /Users/adamzerner/.rvm/gems/ruby-1.9.3-p429/gems/railties-3.2.13/lib/rails/commands/console.rb:8:in `start'
    from /Users/adamzerner/.rvm/gems/ruby-1.9.3-p429/gems/railties-3.2.13/lib/rails/commands.rb:41:in `'
    from script/rails:6:in `require'
    from script/rails:6:in `'
1.9.3p429 :004 > College.where("name=''").delete
ArgumentError: wrong number of arguments (0 for 1)
    from /Users/adamzerner/.rvm/gems/ruby-1.9.3-p429/gems/activerecord-3.2.13/lib/active_record/relation.rb:440:in `delete'
    from (irb):4
    from /Users/adamzerner/.rvm/gems/ruby-1.9.3-p429/gems/railties-3.2.13/lib/rails/commands/console.rb:47:in `start'
    from /Users/adamzerner/.rvm/gems/ruby-1.9.3-p429/gems/railties-3.2.13/lib/rails/commands/console.rb:8:in `start'
    from /Users/adamzerner/.rvm/gems/ruby-1.9.3-p429/gems/railties-3.2.13/lib/rails/commands.rb:41:in `'
    from script/rails:6:in `require'
    from script/rails:6:in `'
1.9.3p429 :005 >

Nick · Accepted Answer

My suggestion from the above comment was to look in the rails console for the object with the empty string as its name. It can help you figure out where/when/how the object was being inserted.

Once you figure that out, you can get rid of all the "nameless" objects by:

College.where("name=''").each { |a| a.destroy }

-Nick

extra object being created in rails

Answers (1)

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