grails domain class save

Question

I get the following error when I try to save a domain class, in grails:

No signature of method: java.lang.String.save() is applicable for argument types: () values: [] Possible solutions: size(), size(), take(int), wait(), any(), wait(long). Stacktrace follows:

I have a service that pareses an XML string into domain objects. I then try to save the domain and get that error. I've debugged and know that all the data is valid. Here is my code:

   def newProfile="";

      newProfile = new LinkedinProfile(
        firstName               :   "${linkedinProfileFeed.'first-name'}",
        lastName                :   "${linkedinProfileFeed.'last-name'}",
        dobYear                 :   "${linkedinProfileFeed.'date-of-birth'.'year'}",
        dobMonth                :   "${linkedinProfileFeed.'date-of-birth'.'month'}",
        dobDay                  :   "${linkedinProfileFeed.'date-of-birth'.'day'}"  ,   
        imgUrl                  :   "${linkedinProfileFeed.'picture-url'}", 
        siteStandardAddress     :   "${linkedinProfileFeed.'site-standard-profile-request'}",           
        oAuthToken              :   accessTokenKey.toString(),
        secretKey               :   accessTokenSecret.toString()
       )
      .id="${linkedinProfileFeed.id}".toString()

      log.debug("${linkedinProfileFeed.id}".toString())
      log.debug("${linkedinProfileFeed.'first-name'}")
      log.debug("${linkedinProfileFeed.'last-name'}")
      log.debug("${linkedinProfileFeed.'date-of-birth'.'year'}")
      log.debug("${linkedinProfileFeed.'date-of-birth'.'month'}")
      log.debug("${linkedinProfileFeed.'date-of-birth'.'day'}")
      log.debug("${linkedinProfileFeed.'picture-url'}")
      log.debug("${linkedinProfileFeed.'site-standard-profile-request'}")
      log.debug(accessTokenKey.toString())
      log.debug(accessTokenSecret.toString())
      log.debug("end debug")





      newProfile.save();

Also, I'm not to familiar with grails and springsource, but in .Net, I can access an objects properties using the dot operator. For example, if I had an object as described above, I could just type newProfile. and would have access to all the properties. In grails this doesnt happen. is this by design or an error in my code?

below is my domain class, as well.

   class LinkedinProfile {
String firstName
String lastName
String dobYear
String dobMonth
String dobDay
String oAuthToken
String secretKey
String id
String imgUrl
String siteStandardAddress
Date dateCreated
Date lastUpdated
long version

static hasMany = [
    linkedinLocation        : LinkedinLocation,
    linkedinSkill           : LinkedinSkill
]

static mapping = {
    cache true
    id generator: 'assigned'

    columns {
        firstName           type:'text'
        lastName            type:'text'         
        oAuthToken          type:'text'
        secretKey           type:'text'         
        dobYear             type:'text'
        dobMonth            type:'text'
        dobDay              type:'text'
        imgUrl              type:'text'
        siteStandardAddress type:'text'
    }


}
static constraints = {
    firstName           (nullable:true)
    lastName            (nullable:true)     
    oAuthToken          (nullable:false)
    secretKey           (nullable:false)
    dobYear             (nullable:true)
    dobMonth            (nullable:true)
    dobDay              (nullable:true)     
    id                  (nullable:false)
    imgUrl              (nullable:true)
    siteStandardAddress (nullable:true)
}


def beforeInsert = {
//to do:  before insert, capture current email that is stored in the db
}

def afterInsert={
    //resave email
}

}

Answer 1

The error indicates you are calling save() on a String. If we investigate, we see that you are. This is because you are assigning

 newProfile = new LinkedinProfile().id="${linkedinProfileFeed.id}".toString()

and so newProfile is actually the String linkedinProfileFeed.id, not a new LinkedinProfile() as one might expect.

Compare

groovy> def foo = new Post().id="1" 
groovy> foo.class 

Result: class java.lang.String

with

groovy> def foo = new Post(id: "1") 
groovy> foo.class 

Result: class test.Post

You probably want to put the id into the constructor arguments. Regardless, you need newProfile to end up as a LinkedinProfile instance. Then you can call save() on it.

Also yes, you can use the dot operator in Groovy.