Nil Reference when Update

Question

I am trying to get Paperclip working with MiniExiftool.

I finally wrote this:

# Photo model

  belongs_to :user

  has_attached_file :picture

  after_picture_post_process :copy_exif_data

private

  def copy_exif_data
    exif = MiniExiftool.new picture.queued_for_write[:original].path
    self.date = exif['date_time_original']

    save!
  end

I get:

Mysql::Error: Column 'user_id' cannot be null ...

Without save! all works well, but self.date remains null (even if exif['date_time_original'] is NOT null).

I am really frustrated. How can I get Paperclip working with MiniExiftool?

Answer 1

Not sure, but you might check whether exif['date_time_original'] is giving you a date, or a string, and if it is a string, whether it can be parsed properly.

you also might try using

update_attribute(:date, exif['date_time_original'])

in place of

self.date = exif['date_time_original']
save!

That will bypass validation, and just save the updated attribute.