Rails - Dec 2007 - Nil handling in ActiveRecord et al

My database has a column called birthday.

The model has a method:

  def age
    return (birthday.nil? ? -1 : DateTime.now.year - birthday.year)
  end

When called from a validation method on a new record, I get:

NameError in ''User should be valid''
undefined local variable or method `birthday'' for
#<User:0x3285e58>

My interpretation after some experimenting is that because it''s a new
record and birthday is not initialized, activerecord doesn''t give me
an accessor called birthday.

What is the ''proper'' way to write the age method?

Thanks,

Pito

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On 12/28/07, Pito <pitosalas-Re5JQEeQqe8AvxtiuMwx3w@public.gmane.org>
wrote:
>
> My database has a column called birthday.
>
> The model has a method:
>
>   def age
>     return (birthday.nil? ? -1 : DateTime.now.year - birthday.year)
I think you may want self.birthday here.
>   end

-- 
Greg Donald
http://destiney.com/

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