title: How do you update attributes in an instance method in a rails model without using different variable names?
body: <p>I would like to update attributes in an instance method in rails without being forced to change the parameters being passed in so that I can advantage of rails automatic attributes. Here is an example.</p>
  
  <p>Ideal:</p>
  
  <pre><code>status = "some_new_status"
  person.update(status)
  
  class Person &lt; ActiveRecord::Base
    def update(status)
      self.status = status
    end
  end
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>What I have to do now:</p>
  
  <pre><code>class Person &lt; ActiveRecord::Base
    def update(new_status)
      self.status = new_status
      self.save
    end
  end
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>I understand in this example it doesn't much matter. But when I have complicated update methods, it would be a lot cleaner if I could eliminate some of that code.</p>