#16 Virtual Attributes

Keep your controllers clean and forms flexible by adding virtual attributes to your model. This very powerful technique allows you to create form fields which may not directly relate to the database.

<!-- users/new.rhtml -->
<%= f.text_field :full_name %>


# models/user.rb
def full_name
  [first_name, last_name].join(' ')
end

def full_name=(name)
  split = name.split(' ', 2)
  self.first_name = split.first
  self.last_name = split.last
end