Rails Active Record Instance Variables

Question

My questions is in regards to this AR and its instance variable @saved

 class PhoneNumber < ActiveRecord::Base
has_one :user
validates_presence_of :number

def self.create_phone_number( user, phone_hash )
    @new_phone = PhoneNumber.new(phone_hash)
    @user = user
    PhoneNumber.transaction do
        @user.phone_numbers << @new_phone
        @new_phone.save!
        @user.save!
    end
    @saved = true
    return  @new_phone
rescue ActiveRecord::RecordInvalid => invalid
    @saved = false
    return  @new_phone
end

def saved?
    @saved ||= false
end
 end

It is my understanding that the instance variables will keep their values through the existence of the instance.

When using this AR in my controller, saved? always returns false..

@phone_number = PhoneNumber.create_phone_number(@active_user, params[:phone_number])
puts "add_phone_number"
if @phone_number.saved? => always false

What am I missing in regards to these instance variables? Thank you

Answer 1

you're using the instance variable @saved inside a class method, the @saved var then belongs to the class, not to its instances, so you cannot call it from an instance method like #saved?.

what you can do, is, at the top of the class add:

  attr_accessor :saved

and inside the create_phone_number method, replace:

  @saved = true

with:

  @new_phone.saved = true

then it should work