Rails console returns nil for column that contains a value

Rails console returns nil for column that contains a value

I am developing an app that uses the CanCanCan gem, which is an update of Ryan Bates’ CanCan, for authorization. CanCan uses a :role attribute to assign Abilities. My User model also uses STI, containing Admins and another role called “Agents.” To avoid redundancy, and keep things DRY, I utilize the :role attribute as the inheritance_column as well.

class User < ActiveRecord::Base
  has_secure_password
  attr_reader :role
  scope :profile, -> { includes(:address, :city, :state, :zip, :phone, :email)}
  scope :office_use, -> { includes(:username, :role, :type, :last_name, :first_name, :password_digest)}
  self.inheritance_column = :role

  def self.roles
     %w[Admin Agent]
  end
end

In the Rails console, I create a new user. I removed the choice to assign roles from the input form, figuring I’d create Admins manually since there won’t be many, so it enters the default, “Agent”:

(63.4ms) COMMIT
 => #<User id: 2, username: "ff001", role: "Agent", password_digest: "$2a$10$osm9oEB51GKilUkX64sV7eMlt6pEfuzEfKIf3gRo/az...", last_name: "Flintstone", first_name: "Fred", address: nil, city: nil, state: nil, zip: nil, phone: nil, email: nil, created_at: "2015-01-01 19:01:11", updated_at: "2015-01-01 19:01:11"> 2.1.4 :019 >

Retrieving the row:

> User.last User Load (0.6ms) SELECT `users`.* FROM `users` ORDER BY `users`.`id` DESC LIMIT 1
=> #<Agent id: 2, username: "ff001", role: "Agent", password_digest: "$2a$10$osm9oEB51GKilUkX64sV7eMlt6pEfuzEfKIf3gRo/az...", last_name: "Flintstone", first_name: "Fred", address: nil, city: nil, state: nil, zip: nil, phone: nil, email: nil, created_at: "2015-01-01 19:01:11", updated_at: "2015-01-01 19:01:11"> 2.1.4 :020 >

Now a query for the :role attribute:

> User.last.role
User Load (0.4ms) SELECT `users`.* FROM `users` ORDER BY `users`.`id` DESC LIMIT 1
=> nil

This happens ONLY in the case of the role attribute–all, other columns when queried return their correct value. The role is used not only for authorization in the app, but also for routing to different resources for Admins. Since ActiveRecord is returning nil in the controller, my routing is not working properly either. I haven’t even reached the point where authorization comes into play. Until the routes work correctly, authorization is kinda moot.

Why would this be happening? The :role attribute is the only one behaving this way.

Remove attr_reader :role - this should already be outlined in your schema.

Then try User.last.role in your console, and you’ll get back what you’ve assigned.