Error Calling Initialized Variables In Rails - ruby-on-rails

Question

Building a Rails 3.2 app with Ruby 1.9.
I am trying to write a helper method that initializes 3 variables and when i try to call the initialized variables from my view i get an "undefined method" error.
Method In Helper File
module StoreHelper
class Status
def initialize(product)
product_sales = product.line_items.total_product_sale.sum("quantity")
#avoid nil class errors for vol2 and 3. volume 1 can never be nil
if product.volume2.nil?
product.volume2 = 0
end
if product.volume3.nil?
product.volume3 = 0
end
#Promo status logic
if (product_sales >= product.volume2) && (product_sales < product.volume3)
#level3_status = "Active"
#level2_status = "On!"
#level1_status = "On!"
elsif (product_sales >= product.volume3)
#level3_status = "On!"
#level2_status = "On!"
#level1_status = "On!"
else #level3_status = "Pending"
end
end
I then attempt to call the the initialized variable #level3_status like so
<%=level3_status (product)%>
Not sure what i'm doing wrong any help would be appreciated.

Answer 1

How long are you programming with ruby? You have to create a new instance of your class to access the instance outside. Take a look at these basics: http://www.tutorialspoint.com/ruby/ruby_variables.htm
UPDATE
From the link above..
Ruby Instance Variables:
Instance variables begin with #. Uninitialized instance variables have the value nil and produce warnings with the -w option.
Here is an example showing usage of Instance Variables.
class Customer
def initialize(id, name, addr)
#cust_id=id
#cust_name=name
#cust_addr=addr
end
def display_details()
puts "Customer id ##cust_id"
puts "Customer name ##cust_name"
puts "Customer address ##cust_addr"
end
end
# Create Objects
cust1=Customer.new("1", "John", "Wisdom Apartments, Ludhiya")
cust2=Customer.new("2", "Poul", "New Empire road, Khandala")
# Call Methods
cust1.display_details()
cust2.display_details()
That´s how you can work with ruby and instance variables. More details are in the link.
In your case I think you have another "error", you mixed a few things.. where is your helper class? Under the app/helpers/store_helper.rb? In this file you should just add view helpers. If I am right with my intuitions I would solve your problem like following:
app/helpers/store_helper.rb
module StoreHelper
def get_level_states(product)
product_sales = product.line_items.total_product_sale.sum("quantity")
product.volume2 = 0 if product.volume2.nil?
product.volume3 = 0 if product.volume3.nil?
levels = {}
if (product_sales >= product.volume2) && (product_sales < product.volume3)
levels[:1] = "On!"
levels[:2] = "On!"
levels[:3] = "Active!"
elsif product_sales >= product.volume3
levels[:1] = "On!"
levels[:2] = "On!"
levels[:3] = "On!"
else
levels[:3] = "Pending"
end
levels
end
end
app/views/your_views_folder/your_view.html.erb
to get the different level state:
<% levels = get_level_states(product) %>
<%= levels[:1] %> # will print the level 1
<%= levels[:2] %> # will print the level 2
<%= levels[:3] %> # will print the level 3