Active Model Errors

Provides a modified Hash that you can include in your object for handling error messages and interacting with Action View helpers.

A minimal implementation could be:

class Person
  # Required dependency for ActiveModel::Errors
  extend ActiveModel::Naming

  def initialize
    @errors = ActiveModel::Errors.new(self)
  end

  attr_accessor :name
  attr_reader   :errors

  def validate!
    errors.add(:name, :blank, message: "cannot be nil") if name.nil?
  end

  # The following methods are needed to be minimally implemented

  def read_attribute_for_validation(attr)
    send(attr)
  end

  def self.human_attribute_name(attr, options = {})
    attr
  end

  def self.lookup_ancestors
    [self]
  end
end

The last three methods are required in your object for Errors to be able to generate error messages correctly and also handle multiple languages. Of course, if you extend your object with ActiveModel::Translation you will not need to implement the last two. Likewise, using ActiveModel::Validations will handle the validation related methods for you.

The above allows you to do:

person = Person.new
person.validate!            # => ["cannot be nil"]
person.errors.full_messages # => ["name cannot be nil"]
# etc..

Methods

Included Modules

Constants

CALLBACKS_OPTIONS = [:if, :unless, :on, :allow_nil, :allow_blank, :strict]
MESSAGE_OPTIONS = [:message]

Attributes

[R] details
[R] messages

Class Public methods

new(base)

Pass in the instance of the object that is using the errors object.

class Person
  def initialize
    @errors = ActiveModel::Errors.new(self)
  end
end
📝 Source code
# File activemodel/lib/active_model/errors.rb, line 74
    def initialize(base)
      @base     = base
      @messages = apply_default_array({})
      @details = apply_default_array({})
    end
🔎 See on GitHub

Instance Public methods

[](attribute)

When passed a symbol or a name of a method, returns an array of errors for the method.

person.errors[:name]  # => ["cannot be nil"]
person.errors['name'] # => ["cannot be nil"]
📝 Source code
# File activemodel/lib/active_model/errors.rb, line 149
    def [](attribute)
      messages[attribute.to_sym]
    end
🔎 See on GitHub

add(attribute, message = :invalid, options = {})

Adds message to the error messages and used validator type to details on attribute. More than one error can be added to the same attribute. If no message is supplied, :invalid is assumed.

person.errors.add(:name)
# => ["is invalid"]
person.errors.add(:name, :not_implemented, message: "must be implemented")
# => ["is invalid", "must be implemented"]

person.errors.messages
# => {:name=>["is invalid", "must be implemented"]}

person.errors.details
# => {:name=>[{error: :not_implemented}, {error: :invalid}]}

If message is a symbol, it will be translated using the appropriate scope (see generate_message).

If message is a proc, it will be called, allowing for things like Time.now to be used within an error.

If the :strict option is set to true, it will raise ActiveModel::StrictValidationFailed instead of adding the error. :strict option can also be set to any other exception.

person.errors.add(:name, :invalid, strict: true)
# => ActiveModel::StrictValidationFailed: Name is invalid
person.errors.add(:name, :invalid, strict: NameIsInvalid)
# => NameIsInvalid: Name is invalid

person.errors.messages # => {}

attribute should be set to :base if the error is not directly associated with a single attribute.

person.errors.add(:base, :name_or_email_blank,
  message: "either name or email must be present")
person.errors.messages
# => {:base=>["either name or email must be present"]}
person.errors.details
# => {:base=>[{error: :name_or_email_blank}]}
📝 Source code
# File activemodel/lib/active_model/errors.rb, line 295
    def add(attribute, message = :invalid, options = {})
      message = message.call if message.respond_to?(:call)
      detail  = normalize_detail(message, options)
      message = normalize_message(attribute, message, options)
      if exception = options[:strict]
        exception = ActiveModel::StrictValidationFailed if exception == true
        raise exception, full_message(attribute, message)
      end

      details[attribute.to_sym]  << detail
      messages[attribute.to_sym] << message
    end
🔎 See on GitHub

added?(attribute, message = :invalid, options = {})

Returns true if an error on the attribute with the given message is present, or false otherwise. message is treated the same as for add.

person.errors.add :name, :blank
person.errors.added? :name, :blank           # => true
person.errors.added? :name, "can't be blank" # => true

If the error message requires an option, then it returns true with the correct option, or false with an incorrect or missing option.

person.errors.add :name, :too_long, { count: 25 }
person.errors.added? :name, :too_long, count: 25                     # => true
person.errors.added? :name, "is too long (maximum is 25 characters)" # => true
person.errors.added? :name, :too_long, count: 24                     # => false
person.errors.added? :name, :too_long                                # => false
person.errors.added? :name, "is too long"                            # => false
📝 Source code
# File activemodel/lib/active_model/errors.rb, line 324
    def added?(attribute, message = :invalid, options = {})
      message = message.call if message.respond_to?(:call)

      if message.is_a? Symbol
        details[attribute.to_sym].include? normalize_detail(message, options)
      else
        self[attribute].include? message
      end
    end
🔎 See on GitHub

as_json(options = nil)

Returns a Hash that can be used as the JSON representation for this object. You can pass the :full_messages option. This determines if the json object should contain full messages or not (false by default).

person.errors.as_json                      # => {:name=>["cannot be nil"]}
person.errors.as_json(full_messages: true) # => {:name=>["name cannot be nil"]}
📝 Source code
# File activemodel/lib/active_model/errors.rb, line 235
    def as_json(options = nil)
      to_hash(options && options[:full_messages])
    end
🔎 See on GitHub

blank?()

Alias for: empty?

clear()

Clear the error messages.

person.errors.full_messages # => ["name cannot be nil"]
person.errors.clear
person.errors.full_messages # => []
📝 Source code
# File activemodel/lib/active_model/errors.rb, line 115
    def clear
      messages.clear
      details.clear
    end
🔎 See on GitHub

count()

Alias for: size

delete(key)

Delete messages for key. Returns the deleted messages.

person.errors[:name]        # => ["cannot be nil"]
person.errors.delete(:name) # => ["cannot be nil"]
person.errors[:name]        # => []
📝 Source code
# File activemodel/lib/active_model/errors.rb, line 138
    def delete(key)
      attribute = key.to_sym
      details.delete(attribute)
      messages.delete(attribute)
    end
🔎 See on GitHub

each()

Iterates through each error key, value pair in the error messages hash. Yields the attribute and the error for that attribute. If the attribute has more than one error message, yields once for each error message.

person.errors.add(:name, :blank, message: "can't be blank")
person.errors.each do |attribute, error|
  # Will yield :name and "can't be blank"
end

person.errors.add(:name, :not_specified, message: "must be specified")
person.errors.each do |attribute, error|
  # Will yield :name and "can't be blank"
  # then yield :name and "must be specified"
end
📝 Source code
# File activemodel/lib/active_model/errors.rb, line 167
    def each
      messages.each_key do |attribute|
        messages[attribute].each { |error| yield attribute, error }
      end
    end
🔎 See on GitHub

empty?()

Returns true if no errors are found, false otherwise. If the error message is a string it can be empty.

person.errors.full_messages # => ["name cannot be nil"]
person.errors.empty?        # => false
Also aliased as: blank?
📝 Source code
# File activemodel/lib/active_model/errors.rb, line 209
    def empty?
      size.zero?
    end
🔎 See on GitHub

full_message(attribute, message)

Returns a full message for a given attribute.

person.errors.full_message(:name, 'is invalid') # => "Name is invalid"
📝 Source code
# File activemodel/lib/active_model/errors.rb, line 367
    def full_message(attribute, message)
      return message if attribute == :base
      attr_name = attribute.to_s.tr(".", "_").humanize
      attr_name = @base.class.human_attribute_name(attribute, default: attr_name)
      I18n.t(:"errors.format",
        default:  "%{attribute} %{message}",
        attribute: attr_name,
        message:   message)
    end
🔎 See on GitHub

full_messages()

Returns all the full error messages in an array.

class Person
  validates_presence_of :name, :address, :email
  validates_length_of :name, in: 5..30
end

person = Person.create(address: '123 First St.')
person.errors.full_messages
# => ["Name is too short (minimum is 5 characters)", "Name can't be blank", "Email can't be blank"]
Also aliased as: to_a
📝 Source code
# File activemodel/lib/active_model/errors.rb, line 344
    def full_messages
      map { |attribute, message| full_message(attribute, message) }
    end
🔎 See on GitHub

full_messages_for(attribute)

Returns all the full error messages for a given attribute in an array.

class Person
  validates_presence_of :name, :email
  validates_length_of :name, in: 5..30
end

person = Person.create()
person.errors.full_messages_for(:name)
# => ["Name is too short (minimum is 5 characters)", "Name can't be blank"]
📝 Source code
# File activemodel/lib/active_model/errors.rb, line 359
    def full_messages_for(attribute)
      attribute = attribute.to_sym
      messages[attribute].map { |message| full_message(attribute, message) }
    end
🔎 See on GitHub

generate_message(attribute, type = :invalid, options = {})

Translates an error message in its default scope (activemodel.errors.messages).

Error messages are first looked up in activemodel.errors.models.MODEL.attributes.ATTRIBUTE.MESSAGE, if it's not there, it's looked up in activemodel.errors.models.MODEL.MESSAGE and if that is not there also, it returns the translation of the default message (e.g. activemodel.errors.messages.MESSAGE). The translated model name, translated attribute name and the value are available for interpolation.

When using inheritance in your models, it will check all the inherited models too, but only if the model itself hasn't been found. Say you have class Admin < User; end and you wanted the translation for the :blank error message for the title attribute, it looks for these translations:

  • activemodel.errors.models.admin.attributes.title.blank

  • activemodel.errors.models.admin.blank

  • activemodel.errors.models.user.attributes.title.blank

  • activemodel.errors.models.user.blank

  • any default you provided through the options hash (in the activemodel.errors scope)

  • activemodel.errors.messages.blank

  • errors.attributes.title.blank

  • errors.messages.blank

📝 Source code
# File activemodel/lib/active_model/errors.rb, line 401
    def generate_message(attribute, type = :invalid, options = {})
      type = options.delete(:message) if options[:message].is_a?(Symbol)

      if @base.class.respond_to?(:i18n_scope)
        i18n_scope = @base.class.i18n_scope.to_s
        defaults = @base.class.lookup_ancestors.flat_map do |klass|
          [ :"#{i18n_scope}.errors.models.#{klass.model_name.i18n_key}.attributes.#{attribute}.#{type}",
            :"#{i18n_scope}.errors.models.#{klass.model_name.i18n_key}.#{type}" ]
        end
        defaults << :"#{i18n_scope}.errors.messages.#{type}"
      else
        defaults = []
      end

      defaults << :"errors.attributes.#{attribute}.#{type}"
      defaults << :"errors.messages.#{type}"

      key = defaults.shift
      defaults = options.delete(:message) if options[:message]
      value = (attribute != :base ? @base.send(:read_attribute_for_validation, attribute) : nil)

      options = {
        default: defaults,
        model: @base.model_name.human,
        attribute: @base.class.human_attribute_name(attribute),
        value: value,
        object: @base
      }.merge!(options)

      I18n.translate(key, options)
    end
🔎 See on GitHub

has_key?(attribute)

Alias for: include?

include?(attribute)

Returns true if the error messages include an error for the given key attribute, false otherwise.

person.errors.messages        # => {:name=>["cannot be nil"]}
person.errors.include?(:name) # => true
person.errors.include?(:age)  # => false
Also aliased as: has_key?, key?
📝 Source code
# File activemodel/lib/active_model/errors.rb, line 126
    def include?(attribute)
      attribute = attribute.to_sym
      messages.key?(attribute) && messages[attribute].present?
    end
🔎 See on GitHub

key?(attribute)

Alias for: include?

keys()

Returns all message keys.

person.errors.messages # => {:name=>["cannot be nil", "must be specified"]}
person.errors.keys     # => [:name]
📝 Source code
# File activemodel/lib/active_model/errors.rb, line 198
    def keys
      messages.select do |key, value|
        !value.empty?
      end.keys
    end
🔎 See on GitHub

merge!(other)

Merges the errors from other.

other - The ActiveModel::Errors instance.

Examples

person.errors.merge!(other)
📝 Source code
# File activemodel/lib/active_model/errors.rb, line 105
    def merge!(other)
      @messages.merge!(other.messages) { |_, ary1, ary2| ary1 + ary2 }
      @details.merge!(other.details) { |_, ary1, ary2| ary1 + ary2 }
    end
🔎 See on GitHub

size()

Returns the number of error messages.

person.errors.add(:name, :blank, message: "can't be blank")
person.errors.size # => 1
person.errors.add(:name, :not_specified, message: "must be specified")
person.errors.size # => 2
Also aliased as: count
📝 Source code
# File activemodel/lib/active_model/errors.rb, line 179
    def size
      values.flatten.size
    end
🔎 See on GitHub

to_a()

Alias for: full_messages

to_hash(full_messages = false)

Returns a Hash of attributes with their error messages. If full_messages is true, it will contain full messages (see full_message).

person.errors.to_hash       # => {:name=>["cannot be nil"]}
person.errors.to_hash(true) # => {:name=>["name cannot be nil"]}
📝 Source code
# File activemodel/lib/active_model/errors.rb, line 244
    def to_hash(full_messages = false)
      if full_messages
        messages.each_with_object({}) do |(attribute, array), messages|
          messages[attribute] = array.map { |message| full_message(attribute, message) }
        end
      else
        without_default_proc(messages)
      end
    end
🔎 See on GitHub

to_xml(options = {})

Returns an xml formatted representation of the Errors hash.

person.errors.add(:name, :blank, message: "can't be blank")
person.errors.add(:name, :not_specified, message: "must be specified")
person.errors.to_xml
# =>
#  <?xml version=\"1.0\" encoding=\"UTF-8\"?>
#  <errors>
#    <error>name can't be blank</error>
#    <error>name must be specified</error>
#  </errors>
📝 Source code
# File activemodel/lib/active_model/errors.rb, line 225
    def to_xml(options = {})
      to_a.to_xml({ root: "errors", skip_types: true }.merge!(options))
    end
🔎 See on GitHub

values()

Returns all message values.

person.errors.messages # => {:name=>["cannot be nil", "must be specified"]}
person.errors.values   # => [["cannot be nil", "must be specified"]]
📝 Source code
# File activemodel/lib/active_model/errors.rb, line 188
    def values
      messages.select do |key, value|
        !value.empty?
      end.values
    end
🔎 See on GitHub