OK, how do I make file_column work? I did the following (after installing file_column) which seems like it could be correct, however, it doesn’t work.

1.) Added a database migration

class AddOpmlFileColumn < ActiveRecord::Migration
  def self.up
    create_table :opmlfiles do |table|
      table.column :id, :integer, :null=>false
      table.column :file_name, :string, :null=>false
      table.column :created_at, :datetime
      table.column :user_id, :integer, :null=>false, :default=>'0'
    end
  end

def self.down
  drop_table :opmlfiles
end

end

2.) Created an Opmlfile model

class Opmlfile < ActiveRecord::Base
  file_column :opmlfile
end

3.) Updated the generated controller’s constructor

class OpmlfilesController < ApplicationController
  def new
    if request.get?
      @opmlfile = Opmlfile.new
    else
    	@opmlfile = Opmlfile.new(params[:opmlfile])
    	@opmlfile.save
    end
  end

4.) Designed an upload form

<%= start_form_tag :action => 'create', :multipart => true %>
<p>Upload file:
<%= file_field('opmlfile', 'file_name') %>
<%= submit_tag('Upload file') %>
<%= end_form_tag %>
<%= link_to 'Back', :action => 'list' %>
</p>

OK, the thing is, it looks like it is uploading during the HTTP POST, however, I don’t get any files in my public directory. An opmlfiles directory was created, but nothing ever gets there. Also, the filename is always blank in the model and database. What the heck am I doing wrong?

Update: SOLVED!!!!

BLARGH! The last problem was that my form needed to be defined as this:

<%= start_form_tag({ :action => 'create' }, :multipart => true) %>

and NOT this:

<%= start_form_tag(:action => 'create', :multipart => true) %>

Rails was erroring with “Do not know how to handle a string with value ‘hoyhoy.opml’ that was passed to a file_column” before I made the change.

Also, dopplertx was indeed correct, I needed to have a column in my database table for the filename. It is called file_column after all. Thanks everyone.