Syntax error in partial

Question

I am receiving a syntax error, unexpected =>, expecting '}' in my the following view code:

<%= render :partial => 'form', :locals => { :message => @message, :user => @user} %>

I am rendering the partial from my new.html page. The partial looks right to my eyes but perhaps I am missing something?

_form.html.erb:

<%= form_for message, :url => user_messages_path(user), :html => {:class => "MainForm"} do |f| %>

  <%if message.reply_to%>
    <%=f.hidden_field :to%>
    <%=f.hidden_field :parent_id%>
  <%else%>
    <%label{:for => 'message_to'} %>
      <%=:to.l%>
      <%em= "(" + :type_a_username.l + ")"%>
    <%= text_field_tag 'message[to]', @message.to, {:autocomplete => "off", :size => 35, :id => "message_to"}%>
    <% auto_complete%>#message_to_auto_complete
    <%content_for :end_javascript do%>
      <%= auto_complete_field 'message_to', {:url => auto_complete_for_username_user_messages_path(@user), :tokens=>','}%>

  <%if @reply  %>
    <%= f.hidden_field :subject  %>
  <%else%>
    <%label{:for => 'message_subject'}= :subject.l + ":"%>
    <%= f.text_field :subject%>

  <%label{:for => "message_body"}= :message.l + ":"%>
  <%= f.text_area :body%>

  <%p%>
    <%= submit_tag :send.l%>

As Vimsha said, we'll need to see a bit more; the error might not be on that line. Alternatively (I doubt it will resolve the issue), if you're using Ruby... 2.0 I believe it is, you can try the new hash syntax (for example: render partial: 'form', locals: {message: @message, user: @user}) — Paul Richter
– Paul Richter, Commented Feb 25, 2014 at 16:34
@PaulRichter, while the JSON-style notation has come into vogue as of Ruby 2.0, I don't think the hash-rocket notation has been deprecated... yet. — zeantsoi
– zeantsoi, Commented Feb 25, 2014 at 16:37
@zeantsoi Nope, you're right its still perfectly valid. Twas merely a general suggestion. Might help to remove a bit of noise to more easily spot syntax errors and omissions. — Paul Richter
– Paul Richter, Commented Feb 25, 2014 at 16:38

zeantsoi · Accepted Answer · 2014-02-25 17:05:41Z

2

The label tag does not contain a hash. From the docs:

<% f.label :message_to %>

The following line from your code looks particularly suspicious, and it certainly will throw an error. What are you trying to do with this exactly?

<%label{:for => 'message_subject'}= :subject.l + ":"%> # THIS WON'T WORK

If you want custom text for your label, you can accomplish it in the following manner:

<%= f.label :message_subject, "#{subject.l} :" %>

Which outputs the following markup:

<label for="message_subject">THE MESSAGE SUBJECT</label>

edited Feb 25, 2014 at 17:05

answered Feb 25, 2014 at 16:47

zeantsoi

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Paul Richter · Accepted Answer · 2014-02-25 16:52:21Z

1

This syntax here (and in similar places throughout your view):

<%label{:for => 'message_subject'}= :subject.l + ":"%>

is invalid.

A (generally) correct label element would be:

<%= f.label :subject %>

Remember a couple of things:

Symbols (which is what that :subject is), are a special kind of object that ultimately represents an immutable string; it doesn't have that .l method you're expecting
Assuming :subject is a field of message, ensure you're using the form builder object (the f variable in this case) so the form element is properly bound to the message object
Form elements are echoed to the page using the = syntax in the ERB tag. It should always look like <%= ... %> if you want your code to render (or <% ... %> to suppress).

answered Feb 25, 2014 at 16:52

Paul Richter

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1 Comment

pwz2000 Over a year ago

Thank you for explaining. I noticed that was throwing the error and now I understand how it all went wrong. Great notes!

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