undefined method `unread_messages' in controller - ruby-on-rails

Question

I am working on the unread folder for my inbox messaging system. I received a undefined method `unread_messages' when going to /users/1/messages?mailbox=unread and it's pointing to the messages controller. However I have unread_messages defined in the user.rb so that it shows unread messages in the inbox, so I'm assuming the code should also work for the unread folder. Any help would be appreciated.
user.rb:
class User < ActiveRecord::Base
has_secure_password
attr_accessible :role, :age, :age_end, :password_confirmation, :about_me, :feet, :inches, :password, :birthday, :career, :children, :education, :email, :ethnicity, :gender, :height, :name, :password_digest, :politics, :religion, :sexuality, :user_drink, :user_smoke, :username, :zip_code
validates_uniqueness_of :email
validates_format_of :email, with: /^[-a-z0-9_+\.]+\#([-a-z0-9]+\.)+[a-z0-9]{2,4}$/i
validates_presence_of :password, :on => :create
has_many :galleries
has_many :photos, :through => :galleries
before_create { generate_token(:auth_token) }
ROLES = %w[admin user guest banned]
# models/user.rb
after_create :setup_gallery
def received_messages
Message.received_by(self)
end
def unread_messages?
unread_message_count > 0 ? true : false
end
def sent_messages
Message.sent_by(self)
end
# Returns the number of unread messages for this user
def unread_message_count
eval 'messages.count(:conditions => ["recipient_id = ? AND read_at IS NULL", self.user_id])'
end
def to_s; username
end
def has_role?(role_name)
role.present? && role.to_sym == role_name.to_sym
end
def send_password_reset
generate_token(:password_reset_token)
self.password_reset_sent_at = Time.zone.now
save!
UserMailer.password_reset(self).deliver
end
def generate_token(column)
begin
self[column] = SecureRandom.urlsafe_base64
end while User.exists?(column => self[column])
end
private
def setup_gallery
self.galleries << Gallery.create
end
end
messages_controller:
def index
if params[:mailbox] == "sent"
#messages = #user.sent_messages
elsif params[:mailbox] == "inbox"
#messages = #user.received_messages
#elsif params[:mailbox] == "archieved"
# #messages = #user.archived_messages
end
if params[:mailbox] == "unread"
#messages = #user.unread_messages
end
end
def new
#message = Message.new
if params[:reply_to]
#reply_to = User.find_by_user_id(params[:reply_to])
unless #reply_to.nil?
#message.recipient_id = #reply_to.user_id
end
end
end
def create
#message = Message.new(params[:message])
#message.sender_id = #user.id
if #message.save
flash[:notice] = "Message has been sent"
redirect_to user_messages_path(current_user, :mailbox=>:inbox)
else
render :action => :new
end
end
def show
#message = Message.find(params[:id])
#message.readingmessage if #message.recipient == current_user
end
def destroy
#message = Message.find(params[:id])
#message.destroy
flash[:notice] = "Successfully deleted message."
redirect_to user_messages_path(#user, #messages)
end
def delete_multiple
if params[:delete]
params[:delete].each { |id|
#message = Message.find(id)
#message.mark_message_deleted(#message.id,#user.id) unless #message.nil?
}
flash[:notice] = "Messages deleted"
end
redirect_to user_messages_path(#user, #messages)
end
private
def set_user
#user = current_user
end
end
message.rb:
attr_accessible :subject, :body, :sender_id, :recipient_id, :read_at,:sender_deleted,:recipient_deleted
validates_presence_of :subject, :message => "Please enter message title"
belongs_to :sender,
:class_name => 'User',
:foreign_key => 'sender_id'
belongs_to :recipient,
:class_name => 'User',
:foreign_key => 'recipient_id'
# marks a message as deleted by either the sender or the recipient, which ever the user that was passed is.
# When both sender and recipient marks it deleted, it is destroyed.
def mark_message_deleted(id,user_id)
self.sender_deleted = true if self.sender_id == user_id
self.recipient_deleted = true if self.recipient_id == user_id
(self.sender_deleted && self.recipient_deleted) ? self.destroy : self.save!
end
# Read message and if it is read by recipient then mark it is read
def readingmessage
self.read_at ||= Time.now
save
end
# Based on if a message has been read by it's recipient returns true or false.
def read?
self.read_at.nil? ? false : true
end
def self.received_by(user)
where(:recipient_id => user.id)
end
def self.not_recipient_deleted
where("recipient_deleted = ?", false)
end
def self.sent_by(user)
Message.where(:sender_id => user.id)
end
end

Answer 1

First of all, you've defined unread_messages? method, not unread_messages
Secondly, you should not use ? : in unread_messages? method:
unread_messages_count > 0
is enough.
You should define unread_messages method in your User model. I can't show the inner code in this method because I don't know your models relations.

Answer 2

You defined
unread_messages? # note the question mark
Then referred to it as
#user.unread_messages # no question mark
You probably want a method
def unread_messages ## which holds the actual unread messages and does not return boolean