# What is the right way to access this param value?

**URL:** <https://rubytalk.org/t/what-is-the-right-way-to-access-this-param-value/44007>\
**Category:** ruby-talk\
**Created:** [24 January 2008 06:04 UTC](https://rubytalk.org/t/what-is-the-right-way-to-access-this-param-value/44007 "2008-01-24T06:04:57Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![laredotornado1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3da27b/32.png) [@laredotornado1](https://rubytalk.org/u/laredotornado1)\
**Post date:** [24 January 2008 06:04 UTC](https://rubytalk.org/t/what-is-the-right-way-to-access-this-param-value/44007/1 "2008-01-24T06:04:57Z")

</div>

Hi,

I have several fields on my page, distinguished by numbers in the id:

\<% for i in 1 .. 5 %\>  
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;\<tr\>\<td\>  
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;\<table\>  
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;\<tr\>  
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;\<td\>\<%=  
text\_field\_tag("prescription\_number" + i.to\_s, "") %\>\</td\>  
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;\<td\>\<%= text\_field\_tag("description" +  
i.to\_s, "") %\>\</td\>  
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;\</tr\>  
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;\<tr\>  
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;\<td align="center"\>Prescription  
Number\</td\>  
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;\<td align="center"\>Description\</td\>  
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;\</tr\>  
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;\</table\>  
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;\</td\>\</tr\>  
\<% end %\>

However, when I try and access the values in my controller,

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;i = 0  
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;while params[:prescription\_number + i.to\_s] != nil and  
params[:description + i.to\_s] != nil # line 7  
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;session[:prescription\_number + i.to\_s] =  
params[:prescription\_number + i.to\_s]  
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;session[:description + i.to\_s] =  
params[:description + i.to\_s]  
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;i += 1  
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;end

I get the error

NoMethodError in OrderController#confirm  
undefined method `+' for :prescription\_number:Symbol  
RAILS\_ROOT: ./script/../config/..  
Application Trace | Framework Trace | Full Trace  
/usr/local/apache2/htdocs/easyrx/app/controllers/order\_controller.rb:  
7:in `confirm'

What is the correct way to access my parameter values?

Thanks, - Dave

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![zetetic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/74df32/32.png) [@zetetic](https://rubytalk.org/u/zetetic)\
**Post date:** [24 January 2008 06:34 UTC](https://rubytalk.org/t/what-is-the-right-way-to-access-this-param-value/44007/2 "2008-01-24T06:34:56Z")

</div>

You're trying to concatenate a Symbol with a string. This IRB session  
should help explain the difference:

irb(main):019:0\> "Hello".class  
=\> String  
irb(main):020:0\> "Hello".intern  
=\> :Hello  
irb(main):021:0\> :Hello.class  
=\> Symbol  
irb(main):022:0\> :Hello + " World"  
NoMethodError: undefined method `+' for :Hello:Symbol  
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;from (irb):22  
irb(main):023:0\> :Hello.to\_s + " World"  
=\> "Hello World"

> **···**
>
> On Jan 23, 10:02 pm, laredotornado \<laredotorn...@zipmail.com\> wrote:
> 
> > Hi,
> > 
> > I have several fields on my page, distinguished by numbers in the id:
> > 
> > \<% for i in 1 .. 5 %\>  
> > &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;\<tr\>\<td\>  
> > &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;\<table\>  
> > &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;\<tr\>  
> > &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;\<td\>\<%=  
> > text\_field\_tag("prescription\_number" + i.to\_s, "") %\>\</td\>  
> > &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;\<td\>\<%= text\_field\_tag("description" +  
> > i.to\_s, "") %\>\</td\>  
> > &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;\</tr\>  
> > &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;\<tr\>  
> > &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;\<td align="center"\>Prescription  
> > Number\</td\>  
> > &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;\<td align="center"\>Description\</td\>  
> > &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;\</tr\>  
> > &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;\</table\>  
> > &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;\</td\>\</tr\>  
> > \<% end %\>
> > 
> > However, when I try and access the values in my controller,
> > 
> > &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;i = 0  
> > &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;while params[:prescription\_number + i.to\_s] != nil and  
> > params[:description + i.to\_s] != nil # line 7  
> > &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;session[:prescription\_number + i.to\_s] =  
> > params[:prescription\_number + i.to\_s]  
> > &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;session[:description + i.to\_s] =  
> > params[:description + i.to\_s]  
> > &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;i += 1  
> > &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;end
> > 
> > I get the error
> > 
> > NoMethodError in OrderController#confirm  
> > undefined method `+' for :prescription\_number:Symbol  
> > RAILS\_ROOT: ./script/../config/..  
> > Application Trace | Framework Trace | Full Trace  
> > /usr/local/apache2/htdocs/easyrx/app/controllers/order\_controller.rb:  
> > 7:in `confirm'
> > 
> > What is the correct way to access my parameter values?
> > 
> > Thanks, - Dave

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Rob\_Biedenharn1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/57b2e6/32.png) [@Rob\_Biedenharn1](https://rubytalk.org/u/Rob_Biedenharn1)\
**Post date:** [24 January 2008 13:10 UTC](https://rubytalk.org/t/what-is-the-right-way-to-access-this-param-value/44007/3 "2008-01-24T13:10:20Z")

</div>

While that is a valid explanation of the error, the real problem is better solved with:

\<% for i in 1 .. 5 %\>  
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;\<tr\>\<td\>  
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;\<table\>  
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;\<tr\>  
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;\<td\>\<%= text\_field\_tag("prescription\_number", "") %\>\</td\>  
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;\<td\>\<%= text\_field\_tag("description, "") %\>\</td\>  
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;\</tr\>  
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;\<tr\>  
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;\<td align="center"\>Prescription Number\</td\>  
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;\<td align="center"\>Description\</td\>  
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;\</tr\>  
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;\</table\>  
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;\</td\>\</tr\>  
\<% end %\>

Note the addition of the "" at the end of the name. If you need to have an id on these, too, then add an :id=\>"my\_id" to the text\_field\_tag.

Then you get back the parameter values in an Array and in the controller can do something like:

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;params[:prescription\_number].each\_with\_index do |prescription\_number, i|  
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;break if prescription\_number.blank? || params[:description][i].blank?  
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;(session[:prescription\_number] ||= )[i] = prescription\_number  
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;(session[:description] ||= )[i] = params[:description][i]  
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;end

The '||= ' part is to initialize the value of the session hash to be an empty Array if it starts nil.

Having said this, I'd recommend that you consider creating a model to hold this data and then you just have one object to store in the session (if you really have to do that, of course). This model does not have to be backed by ActiveRecord. (Note that I'm going out on a limb assuming that you're using Rails even though you've asked in the Ruby list 😉

-Rob

Rob Biedenharn [http://agileconsultingllc.com](http://agileconsultingllc.com)  
Rob@AgileConsultingLLC.com

> **···**
>
> On Jan 24, 2008, at 1:34 AM, zetetic wrote:
> 
> > On Jan 23, 10:02 pm, laredotornado \<laredotorn...@zipmail.com\> wrote:
> > 
> > > Hi,
> > > 
> > > I have several fields on my page, distinguished by numbers in the id:
> > > 
> > > \<% for i in 1 .. 5 %\>  
> > > &nbsp;&nbsp;\<tr\>\<td\>  
> > > &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;\<table\>  
> > > &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;\<tr\>  
> > > &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;\<td\>\<%= text\_field\_tag("prescription\_number" + i.to\_s, "") %\>\</td\>  
> > > &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;\<td\>\<%= text\_field\_tag("description" + i.to\_s, "") %\>\</td\>  
> > > &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;\</tr\>  
> > > &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;\<tr\>  
> > > &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;\<td align="center"\>Prescription Number\</td\>  
> > > &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;\<td align="center"\>Description\</td\>  
> > > &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;\</tr\>  
> > > &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;\</table\>  
> > > &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;\</td\>\</tr\>  
> > > \<% end %\>
> > > 
> > > However, when I try and access the values in my controller,
> > > 
> > > &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;i = 0  
> > > &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;while params[:prescription\_number + i.to\_s] != nil and  
> > > params[:description + i.to\_s] != nil # line 7  
> > > &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;session[:prescription\_number + i.to\_s] =  
> > > params[:prescription\_number + i.to\_s]  
> > > &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;session[:description + i.to\_s] =  
> > > params[:description + i.to\_s]  
> > > &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;i += 1  
> > > &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;end
> > > 
> > > I get the error
> > > 
> > > NoMethodError in OrderController#confirm  
> > > undefined method `+' for :prescription\_number:Symbol  
> > > RAILS\_ROOT: ./script/../config/..  
> > > Application Trace | Framework Trace | Full Trace  
> > > /usr/local/apache2/htdocs/easyrx/app/controllers/order\_controller.rb:  
> > > 7:in `confirm'
> > > 
> > > What is the correct way to access my parameter values?
> > > 
> > > Thanks, - Dave
> > 
> > You're trying to concatenate a Symbol with a string. This IRB session  
> > should help explain the difference:
> > 
> > irb(main):019:0\> "Hello".class  
> > =\> String  
> > irb(main):020:0\> "Hello".intern  
> > =\> :Hello  
> > irb(main):021:0\> :Hello.class  
> > =\> Symbol  
> > irb(main):022:0\> :Hello + " World"  
> > NoMethodError: undefined method `+' for :Hello:Symbol  
> > &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;from (irb):22  
> > irb(main):023:0\> :Hello.to\_s + " World"  
> > =\> "Hello World"