Rspec method is being called 2X, but can't find second time - ruby-on-rails

Question

Here is my controller spec
before do
#order = Order.new
end
it "should call find & assign_attributes & test delivery_start methods" do
Order.should_receive(:find).with("1").and_return(#order)
Order.any_instance.should_receive(:assign_attributes).with({"id"=>"1", "cancel_reason" => "random"}).and_return(#order)
Order.any_instance.should_receive(:delivery_start).and_return(Time.now)
post :cancel, order: {id:1, cancel_reason:"random"}
end
The failure is this:
Failure/Error: Unable to find matching line from backtrace
(#<Order:0x007fdcb03836e8>).delivery_start(any args)
expected: 1 time with any arguments
received: 2 times with any arguments
# this backtrace line is ignored
But I'm not sure why delivery_start is being called twice based on this controller action:
def cancel
#order = Order.find(cancel_params[:id])
#order.assign_attributes(cancel_params)
if (#order.delivery_start - Time.now) > 24.hours
if refund
#order.save
flash[:success] = "Your order has been successfully cancelled & refunded"
redirect_to root_path
else
flash[:danger] = "Sorry we could not process your cancellation, please try again"
render nothing: true
end
else
#order.save
flash[:success] = "Your order has been successfully cancelled"
redirect_to root_path
end
end

Answer 1

I would suggest you test the behavior and not the implementation. While there are cases where you would want to stub out the database doing it in a controller spec is not a great idea since you are testing the integration between your controllers and the model layer.
In addition your test is only really testing how your controller does its job - not that its actually being done.
describe SomeController, type: :controller do
let(:order){ Order.create } # use let not ivars.
describe '#cancel' do
let(:valid_params) do
{ order: {id: '123', cancel_reason: "random"} }
end
context 'when refundable' do
before { post :cancel, params }
it 'cancels the order' do
expect(order.reload.cancel_reason).to eq "random"
# although you should have a model method so you can do this:
# expect(order.cancelled?).to be_truthy
end
it 'redirects and notifies the user' do
expect(response).to redirect_to root_path
expect(flash[:success]).to eq 'Your order has been successfully cancelled & refunded'
end
end
end
end

Answer 2

I would suggest more expectations and returning true or false depending on your use. Consider the following changes
class SomeController < ApplicationController
def cancel
...
if refundable?
...
end
end
private
def refundable?
(#order.delivery_start - Time.now) > 24.hours
end
end
# spec/controllers/some_controller_spec.rb
describe SomeController, type: :controller do
describe '#cancel' do
context 'when refundable' do
it 'cancels and refunds order' do
order = double(:order)
params = order: {id: '123', cancel_reason: "random"}
expect(Order).to receive(:find).with('123').and_return(order)
expect(order).to receive(:assign_attributes).with(params[:order]).and_return(order)
expect(controller).to receive(:refundable?).and_return(true)
expect(controller).to receive(:refund).and_return(true)
expect(order).to receive(:save).and_return(true)
post :cancel, params
expect(response).to redirect_to '/your_root_path'
expect(session[:flash]['flashes']).to eq({'success'=>'Your order has been successfully cancelled & refunded'})
expect(assigns(:order)).to eq order
end
end
end
end

Answer 3

Sorry, this is a very unsatisfactory answer, but I restarted my computer and the spec passed...
One thing that has been a nuisance for me before is that I've forgotten to save the code, i.e., the old version of the code the test is running against called delivery_start twice. But in this case, I definitely checked that I had saved. I have no idea why a restart fixed it...