Receiving the error PG::UndefinedColumn: ERROR: column mymodels.distance does not exist when using Geocoder's near method

Question

When using this query (the same as in Railscasts episode #273):

@locations = Location.near(params[:search], 50, :order => :distance)

Or, to be more concise:

@mymodels = MyModel.near(address, distance, order: :distance)

I get the error:

PG::UndefinedColumn: ERROR:  column mymodels.distance does not exist

The distance column is supposed to be added to the results by the Geocoder gem but it does not appear to appear in the results (so I get the above error).

Answer 1

When using Postgres along with the Geocoder gem, your queries cannot use symbolized keys (in this case, :distance) in the query. Using the string 'distance' in this case avoids the problem.

@mymodels = MyModel.near(address, distance, order: 'distance')