Capybara issue: #request must be an ActionDispatch::Request - ruby-on-rails

Question

I'm having problems making Capybara work with Rails. Just testing that suposedly interesting test thing. OK, in the attached code there are a couple of equivalent tests. The first one is made with shoulda-context + Test::Unit that comes with Rails. The second test is made with capybara and shoulda-context too.
require 'integration_test_helper'
class UsersTest < ActionDispatch::IntegrationTest
fixtures :all
context "signup" do
context "failure" do
setup do
#attr = { :name => "", :email => "", :password => "", :password_confirmation => "" }
end
should "not make a new user" do
assert_no_difference 'User.count' do
post_via_redirect "users", :user =>#attr # enviem les dades d'un nou usuari via create (POST /users)
assert_template 'users/new' # ens retorna a users/new, que significa que no s'ha creat l'usuari
assert_select "div#error_explanation" # comprovem que conte missatges d'error
end
end
should "not make a new user (capybara)" do
assert_no_difference 'User.count' do
visit '/signup'
fill_in 'Name', :with => #attr[:name]
fill_in 'Email', :with => #attr[:email]
fill_in 'Password', :with => #attr[:password]
fill_in 'Confirmation', :with => #attr[:password_confirmation]
click_button 'Sign Up!'
assert_template 'users/new' # ens retorna a users/new, que significa que no s'ha creat l'usuari
assert_select "div#error_explanation" # comprovem que conte missatges d'error
end
end
end
end
While the first one works OK, the capybara one throws this error message:
================================================================================
Error:
test: signup failure should not make a new user (capybara). (UsersTest):
ArgumentError: #request must be an ActionDispatch::Request
test/integration/users_test.rb:30:in `block (4 levels) in <class:UsersTest>'
test/integration/users_test.rb:23:in `block (3 levels) in <class:UsersTest>'
================================================================================
the required *integration_test_helper.rb* file is an accumulator of all suposed solutions I've found googling around and that don't work for me.
require 'test_helper'
require 'capybara/rails'
require 'database_cleaner'
# Transactional fixtures do not work with Selenium tests, because Capybara
# uses a separate server thread, which the transactions would be hidden
# from. We hence use DatabaseCleaner to truncate our test database.
DatabaseCleaner.strategy = :truncation
class ActionDispatch::IntegrationTest
# Make the Capybara DSL available in all integration tests
include Capybara::DSL
# Stop ActiveRecord from wrapping tests in transactions
self.use_transactional_fixtures = false
teardown do
DatabaseCleaner.clean # Truncate the database
Capybara.reset_sessions! # Forget the (simulated) browser state
Capybara.use_default_driver # Revert Capybara.current_driver to Capybara.default_driver
end
end
Has anybody a solution? Should I try another Integration frmawork such as webrat?
My setup is:
marcel#pua:~/Desenvolupament/Rails3Examples/ror_tutorial$ rake about
About your application's environment
Ruby version 1.9.2 (x86_64-linux)
RubyGems version 1.8.15
Rack version 1.3
Rails version 3.1.3
JavaScript Runtime therubyracer (V8)
Active Record version 3.1.3
Action Pack version 3.1.3
Active Resource version 3.1.3
Action Mailer version 3.1.3
Active Support version 3.1.3
Middleware ActionDispatch::Static, Rack::Lock, #<ActiveSupport::Cache::Strategy::LocalCache::Middleware:0x00000002b9bac0>, Rack::Runtime, Rack::MethodOverride, Rails::Rack::Logger, ActionDispatch::ShowExceptions, ActionDispatch::RemoteIp, Rack::Sendfile, ActionDispatch::Reloader, ActionDispatch::Callbacks, ActiveRecord::ConnectionAdapters::ConnectionManagement, ActiveRecord::QueryCache, ActionDispatch::Cookies, ActionDispatch::Session::CookieStore, ActionDispatch::Flash, ActionDispatch::ParamsParser, ActionDispatch::Head, Rack::ConditionalGet, Rack::ETag, ActionDispatch::BestStandardsSupport
Application root /mnt/dropbox/Dropbox/DESENVOLUPAMENT/Rails3Examples/ror_tutorial
Environment development
Database adapter sqlite3
Database schema version 20120127011330
Also
shoulda-context (1.0.0)
capybara (1.1.2)
Thanks

Answer 1

You're mixing up your test types and attempting to assert a template in the wrong type of test. You should only be asserting templates within your Functional tests, where you're just directly testing a controller and not actually simulating a user interaction.
Capybara is meant specifically for Integration testing, which is essentially running tests from the viewpoint of an end-user interacting with a browser. In these tests, you should not be asserting templates because an end-user can't see that deep into your application. What you should instead be testing is that an action lands you on the correct path.
current_path.should == new_user_path
page.should have_selector('div#error_explanation')
See "The DSL" section in Capybara's README on git: https://github.com/jnicklas/capybara
Official explanation for your issue: https://github.com/jnicklas/capybara/issues/240

Answer 2

For my completeness, because i'll know that I'll come back to this link over and over:
Those using test unit and capybara this is a good primer too: from techiferous.
Notice the use of assert page.has_content?("something")
This is good to use as well as assert_equal some_path, current_path for testing routes.
Is it the most complete, don't know, but you don't need much more.

Answer 3

Thanks for your tips #Ryan. I was trying to figure out how to translate some RSpec Integration test examples from http://ruby.railstutorial.org/chapters/sign-up#sec:rspec_integration_tests into Test::Unit + Capybara. The original RSpec Integration test was
it "should not make a new user" do
lambda do
visit signup_path
fill_in "Name", :with => ""
fill_in "Email", :with => ""
fill_in "Password", :with => ""
fill_in "Confirmation", :with => ""
click_button
response.should render_template('users/new')
response.should have_selector("div#error_explanation")
end.should_not change(User, :count)
end
end
So, after your answer, I supose that the original example should not contain response.should render_template('users/new')