Rails and devise: model attribute not being persisted -

i edited devise's registrationscontroller::create method modify behaviour. i'm trying if there no admin users in database, 1 first signs going assigned admin role, else regular user.

however, role, though assigned correctly object (tested), it's not being persisted database.

model:

class user < activerecord::base   devise :database_authenticatable, :registerable,          :recoverable, :rememberable, :trackable, :validatable    attr_accessor :role    roles = [ :admin, :default ]    def is? requested_role     self.role == requested_role.to_s   end    def self.admin_role     return roles[0]   end    def self.default_role     return roles[1]   end end 

modified devise method:

def create   build_resource(sign_up_params)    admin_user = user.find_by_role(user.admin_role)   if admin_user.nil?     resource.role = user.admin_role   else     resource.role = user.default_role   end    # here puts resource.role shows what's expected indeed being assigned object    if resource.save     ...   end end 

why isn't role being stored in database? why null?

you don't need attr_accessor :role if have defined column on table. activerecord gives database backed accessors having relevant column defined in relevant table.

your attr_accessor overriding these , preventing them persisting changes database.