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Error

can't find string "TEMPLATE" anywhere before EOF (SyntaxError)

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Context

In a Ruby application, the error occurs when there is a syntax issue with the heredoc usage in the code, regardless of whether it is in a server or any other Ruby application.

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Situation

def self.create(attrs)        
        hash = {}
        hash["submitter"] = attrs["submitter"] || ""
        hash["quote"] = attrs["quote"] || ""
        hash["attribution"] = attrs["attribution"] || ""

        files = Dir["db/quotes/*.json"]
        names = files.map { |f| File.split(f)[-1]}
        highest = names.map { |b| b.to_i }.max
        id = highest + 1

        File.open("db/quotes/#{id}.json", "w") do |f|
          f.write <<TEMPLATE
        {
          "submitter": "#{hash["submitter"]}",
          "quote": "#{hash["quote"]}",
          "attribution": "#{hash["attribution"]}"
        }
        TEMPLATE
        end
        FileModel.new "db/quotes/#{id}.json"          
      end

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Solution

The solution is to place the multiline string at the beginning of the code, ensuring that there are no spaces between the closing } bracket and the closing TEMPLATE identifier."

     def self.create(attrs)        
        hash = {}
        hash["submitter"] = attrs["submitter"] || ""
        hash["quote"] = attrs["quote"] || ""
        hash["attribution"] = attrs["attribution"] || ""

        files = Dir["db/quotes/*.json"]
        names = files.map { |f| File.split(f)[-1]}
        highest = names.map { |b| b.to_i }.max
        id = highest + 1

        File.open("db/quotes/#{id}.json", "w") do |f|
          f.write <<TEMPLATE
{
  "submitter": "#{hash["submitter"]}",
  "quote": "#{hash["quote"]}",
  "attribution": "#{hash["attribution"]}"
}
TEMPLATE
        end
        FileModel.new "db/quotes/#{id}.json"          
      end

---

Explanation

The issue in the code was related to the incorrect usage of the heredoc syntax. In Ruby, heredoc is a way to define a multiline string literal using a special syntax with <<.

In this case, the <<TEMPLATE syntax is used to start a heredoc block with the identifier TEMPLATE, and it allows you to define a multiline JSON string.

The error occurred because the closing TEMPLATE identifier was not properly aligned or formatted. The closing identifier should be the only content on its line, without any leading or trailing whitespace or other characters.

By aligning the closing TEMPLATE identifier as the only content on its line, the Ruby interpreter can correctly identify the end of the heredoc block and treat the multiline string as intended.

With this correction, the TEMPLATE identifier is placed as the only content on the line immediately after the closing } bracket, without any leading or trailing whitespace. This ensures that the Ruby interpreter can correctly parse the multiline string and eliminate the syntax error.

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Celebrate

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Final thoughts

I hope this article helped you. Let me know if you have any questions. Your thoughts, suggestions and corrections are more than welcome.

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Hope to see you next time.

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