With a model where the name is the same single as plural, `has_many, :through` isn't working in one direction

initialization, ruby, ruby-on-rails, ruby-on-rails-4

Solution

After hours of tinkering with it, I figured out the issue. I removed any extra changes I made to the inflections.rb file so it looked like this:

ActiveSupport::Inflector.inflections(:en) do |inflect|
    inflect.uncountable %w( species )
end

Then I went through and double checked all of the models to make sure the syntax was correct, the relationships made sense and things of that nature. Turns out, I was using `has_many :species, :through => :species_characteristics` when it should have been `has_many :species, through: :species_characteristics`. Once I fixed those issues in the Species and the Characteristics models and did `reload!` in the console, everything started working.

Characteristic Model:

class Characteristic < ActiveRecord::Base
    has_many :species_characteristics
    has_many :species, through: :species_characteristics
end

Species Model:

class Species < ActiveRecord::Base
    has_many :species_characteristics
    has_many :characteristics, through: :species_characteristics
end

SpeciesCharacteristic Model:

class SpeciesCharacteristic < ActiveRecord::Base
    belongs_to :characteristic
    belongs_to :species
end

Thus ends this issue's reign of terror.

Problem

I am building an app to generate a character for the Star Wars RPG. I added the `Species` model. `Species` is the same singular as it is plural, which is throwing me for a loop. I can get the routes to work fine in the app by using `species_index_path`, but for some reason, the `has_many :characteristics, :through => :species_characteristics` isn't working in one direction. For instance, I have two models that are properly seeded (and work) in the console: `Characteristics` and `Species`. `Characteristics` is setup in the following way: ``` class Characteristic < ActiveRecord::Base has_many :species_characteristics has_many :species, :through => :species_characteristics has_many :skills end ``` `Species` is setup in the following way: ``` class Species < ActiveRecord::Base has_many :species_characteristics has_many :characteristics, :through => :species_characteristics end ``` The model between them just has a `belongs_to` for each of them. If I call `Characteristic.first.species` from the console, I get the list of species related to that characteristic. If I call `Species.first.characteristics`, however, I get the following: ``` NameError: uninitialized constant Species::Characteristics ``` I looking in to adding a new inflection, or some way around this but I'm coming up with nothing. Does anyone have a better method short of renaming the model to something like Race? TLDR: `has_many` relationship doesn't work only in one direction due to an uninitialized constant error, likely because of an inflection issue. Is there any way to fix it other than renaming the model?

Original source

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