How to validate not blank attributes only?

Rails
1

I created a form to edit user’s information.
In the form there are fields that are optional to fill, like phone
number.
I use some Rails’ validations to validate the form, intending to filter
any bad information when user DO enter something. One of these
validations is
validates_numericality_of :phone

now the problem is:
when the phone number field is left blank, which is acceptable by me,
Rails jumps out and says “Phone is not a number”.

So, how to validate not blank attributes only?

2

Nanyang Z. wrote:

Rails jumps out and says “Phone is not a number”.

So, how to validate not blank attributes only?

You can use the validate method within the user model like is shown at
the top of

You can then use a regular expression or manually check to see if the
phone number meets your requirements.

Matthew M.
blog.mattmargolis.net

3

Thank, Matthew
I thought there were a simpler solution,
like adding a option :allow_nil => true
But why no?

Matthew M. wrote:

You can use the validate method within the user model

4

Nanyang Z. wrote:

Using allow_nil should do the trick as well.
If you would prefer you can use validates_format_of and a regular
expression to match a 0 length string or a string of numbers with phone
number formatting agents like dashes or parenthesis.

Matthew M.
blog.mattmargolis.net