How to set a default value in a text_field?

Question

I know this question has been asked a zillion times, but I still feel I'm missing something obvious. Given a model `Address` with a field `city` which we want to be initialized with a default value, say `Awesome City`. What I've tried so far: 1) Default value in the view: ``` # @file: /app/views/addresses/_form.html.erb

<%= f.label :city %>

<%= f.text_field :city, :value => 'Awesome city' %>

``` This works but doesn't feel right. Also the user cannot change it, the value will still be `Awesome city`. 2) Overwriting the `city` method: ``` # @file: app/models/address.rb def city self[:city] ||= 'Awesome city' end ``` The field is rendered empty, so for some reason it doesn't work. If you try `Address.new.city` you get the default value though. 3) Assign the default value in the controller: ``` # address doesn't have a controller, we use nested forms # belongs_to :parent # @file: /app/controllers/parents_controller.rb def new @parent = Parent.new @parent.build_address @…

Accepted Answer

You can define it in your migration file:

```
class CreateAddress < ActiveRecord::Migration
  def change
    create_table :addresses do |t|
      ...
      t.string :city, default: "Awesome City"
      ...

t.timestamps
    end
  end
end
```

Other option is to define it in the `new` action, in your controller, which is more flexible... So, when you create a new `address` it will be started with the default value....

```
 def new
   @address = Address.new
   @address.city ||= "Awesome City"
   ...
 end
```

EDIT - possible solution to define default value in the model:

```
before_save :set_default_city
def set_default_city
   self.city ||= 'Awesome city'
end
```

How to set a default value in a text_field?

Solution

Problem