Rspec - Should we use fixtures to test a database query? - ruby-on-rails

Using ruby(1.8.7), rails(2.3.8), rspec(1.3.1) and rspec-rails(1.3.3) how do I test a method that is full of complex SQL queries? Is there a way to make use of stubs and mocks. For example, a method like:
class Bucket << ActiveRecord::Base
attr_accessor :students
def populate_students_subassesmentwise(subassesment, mentor)
student_ids = Mark.find(:all,
:joins => "#{self.student_current_klass} #{self.current_mentors}",
:conditions => ["marks.subject_id = ? AND st.klass_id = ? AND
IF(sub.is_elective IS TRUE,
(se.student_id = st.id AND se.subject_klass_id = marks.klass_id AND se.student_klass_id = st.klass_id AND marks.subject_id = se.subject_id),
(marks.klass_id = st.klass_id))
AND u.account_enabled IS TRUE AND sub.active IS TRUE AND k.active IS TRUE AND marks.markable_id = ? AND marks.markable_type = ?
AND ROUND(marks_obtained/marks_total*100) BETWEEN ? AND ? ",
mentor.subject_id, mentor.klass_id, subassesment.id, "Subassesment", min_range, max_range],
:group => "marks.id").collect(&:student_id)
self.assign_students(student_ids) # This is a call to another instance method that runs a query to find the students having ids equal to student ids and assign it to the students attr_accessor
end
end
As you can see there are a lot of JOIN, IF and WHERE clauses, that are more of talking in 'DBMS' terms, how do I write tests in Rspec that would mock this query? Or should we use fixtures?

Personally I would test this using fixtures (or rather, FactoryGirl). Since you're really testing your sql/database code it seems silly to me not to test this in the database. Unless you have a seperate sql unittesting setup or something (which seems like overkill to me ;) (in most scenarios))

I'm not a big fan of spaghetti SQL like this, because it becomes painfully difficult to test. I would say the easiest way to test this would be to do something like the following:
Add "Buckets" to your test database
Make sure you put some of them in states that these conditions will/will not pass
Test results, making sure you did get what you wanted and didn't get what you didn't
That's how I would do it, anyway.
Hope this helps!

Related

Spec for class method - preserving order and returns an ActiveRecord relation

Pretty new on Rails and currently learning out how to tackle class methods, scope and spec...
Initially this was written as a scope in a model but it seems a bit bloated so I've taken it out and made it into class method like below:
class OrderedByIds
scope :for_ids_with_order, lambda { |ids|
order = sanitize_sql_array(
["position((',' || id::text || ',') in ?)", ids.join(',') + ',']
)
where(id: ids).order(order)
}
end
# usage:
OrderedByIds.for_ids_with_order([1, 3, 2])
What's the best way to unit test for this class method?
You can't really Unit test this, because it's tightly coupled with the database.
So Rails model test are not really unit tests.
So with that out of the way, you can test it and it's pretty simple. (I'll assume you're using FactoryBot and your rspec is Aggregating failures )
let!(:order) { create(:order) }
let!(:other_order) { create(:order) }
specify do
expect(describe_class.for_ids_with_order([order.id])).to eq [order]
expect(describe_class.for_ids_with_order([other_order.id])).to eq [other_order]
end
Then, you can do another context that will test the ordering: I'd create 3 or more items, with specified positions and make an expectation like above but you're expecting an array of few items with a particular order (I'm not 100% sure what "position((',' || id::text || ',') in ?)" is doing there, hence no example. But this should get you going).
BTW. if it was a scope, I'd test it exactly the same way.
EDIT: I missed the part about retutning AR relation.
expect(describe_class.for_ids_with_order([order.id])).to be_a(ActiveRecord::Relation)

Batch search for named_scope

This is an existing code written by someone else and am trying to enhance it. I am a java developer working on Ruby on Rails, so kindly be considerate.
I have entities like this
User
Delivery entity,
Delivery
belongs_to :user
named_scope :for_abcs, :conditions => {'deliveries.xyz_type' => ['Xyz1', 'Xyz2']},
many such named-scopes are defined.
Now to fetch the deliveries its written like this
#deliveries = current_user.deliveries.send("for_abcs").with(:xyz, :sender, :receiver)
...
...
...
# few other conditions added to #deliveries
finally
#deliveries.sort(...)
This sort is taking huge sql and giving performance issues. I want to use find_each, but find_each is only for Active Entity in Ruby on Rails, How can I achieve this (if possible) without much code change)
Earlier I used to do
Delevery.find_each
wherever it is
Delivery.find
Now I cant do as it is an array, what is the workaround or right procedure to do that in Ruby on Rails.
EDIT :
What I tried :
deliveries_temp = []
#deliveries.find_each(:batch_size=>999) do |delivery_temp|
deliveries_temp.push(delivery_temp)
end
This gave me error
undefined method `find_each' for []:Array
type(#deliveries) returned ActiveRecord::NamedScope::Scope , rails version 2.3.18
find_each should work on anything that returns a Relation (which includes scopes).
#deliveries = current_user.deliveries.for_abcs(:xyz, :sender, :receiver).find_each
Update
It sounds like you're using Rails 2.3. find_each is a class method in 2.3, so you'll need a way to extract the conditions from your scope and pass them to find_each. I found an article that looks promising, so give this a try:
Delivery.find_each(current_user.deliveries.for_abcs.scope(:find))
Also, I'm still not sure what that #with is doing. Maybe it's supposed to be #includes?
After lot of research for a week and learning about named_scopes by checking its source code. I understood what the problem was. The #deliveries is an object of class ActiveRecord::NamedScope::Scope . This class do not have find_each method. So I wrote a new named_scope for limit and offset in Delivery model file as follows :
named_scope :limit_and_offset, lambda { |lim,off| { :limit => lim, :offset=>off } }
After this , I called it in a loop passing offset and limit , for ex. first loop has offset=0, limit=999 , second loop has offset=999, limit=999 . I will add all the results into an emptry array. This loop continues till the result size is less than the limit value . This is working exactly the way I wanted , in batches.
set = 1
total_deliveries = []
set_limit=999
original_condition = #deliveries
loop do
offset = (set-1) * set_limit
temp_condition = original_condition.limit_and_offset(set_limit,offset)
temp_deliveries = temp_condition.find(:all)
total_deliveries+= temp_deliveries
set += 1
break if temp_deliveries.size < set_limit
end
#deliveries = total_deliveries.sort do |a, b|

Rails Test Unit: How to find an unused id for a model

When testing a model with a foreign key, I'd like to assert the model can't be saved with an inexistent foreign key.
Example class for testing:
class Wheel
belongs_to: car
end
So, a unit test would look like this:
def test "a wheel must belong to an existent car"
#wheel = Wheel.new
#wheel.car_id = INEXISTENT_CAR_ID
assert !#wheel.save
end
What is the best way to find a valid INEXISTENT_CAR_ID (knowing fixtures are loaded with random ids)?
I like Chowlett's approach. But it fails, if there is no record at all, so you might want to write
#wheel.car_id = Car.order("id").last.try(:id).to_i + 1
Not sure if there's an easier way, but you could go for:
#wheel.car_id = Car.find(:last, :order => :id).id + 1
The best way would be to arrange it so that your fixture or your mock actually has ids you can control. Say if you were using factorygirl, you can say:
#car1 = Factory(:car, :id => 1)
#car2 = Factory(:car, :id => 2)
so you are sure that in your test db you only have 2 ids, 1 and 2. That way you can set up that given a Wheel with an id of 3, then it should not save.

How to test a scope in Rails 3

What's the best way to test scopes in Rails 3. In rails 2, I would do something like:
Rspec:
it 'should have a top_level scope' do
Category.top_level.proxy_options.should == {:conditions => {:parent_id => nil}}
end
This fails in rails 3 with a "undefined method `proxy_options' for []:ActiveRecord::Relation" error.
How are people testing that a scope is specified with the correct options? I see you could examine the arel object and might be able to make some expectations on that, but I'm not sure what the best way to do it would be.
Leaving the question of 'how-to-test' aside... here's how to achieve similar stuff in Rails3...
In Rails3 named scopes are different in that they just generate Arel relational operators.
But, investigate!
If you go to your console and type:
# All the guts of arel!
Category.top_level.arel.inspect
You'll see internal parts of Arel. It's used to build up the relation, but can also be introspected for current state. You'll notice public methods like #where_clauses and such.
However, the scope itself has a lot of helpful introspection public methods that make it easier than directly accessing #arel:
# Basic stuff:
=> [:table, :primary_key, :to_sql]
# and these to check-out all parts of your relation:
=> [:includes_values, :eager_load_values, :preload_values,
:select_values, :group_values, :order_values, :reorder_flag,
:joins_values, :where_values, :having_values, :limit_value,
:offset_value, :readonly_value, :create_with_value, :from_value]
# With 'where_values' you can see the whole tree of conditions:
Category.top_level.where_values.first.methods - Object.new.methods
=> [:operator, :operand1, :operand2, :left, :left=,
:right, :right=, :not, :or, :and, :to_sql, :each]
# You can see each condition to_sql
Category.top_level.where_values.map(&:to_sql)
=> ["`categories`.`parent_id` IS NULL"]
# More to the point, use #where_values_hash to see rails2-like :conditions hash:
Category.top_level.where_values_hash
=> {"parent_id"=>nil}
Use this last one: #where_values_hash to test scopes in a similar way to #proxy_options in Rails2....
Ideally your unit tests should treat models (classes) and instances thereof as black boxes. After all, it's not really the implementation you care about but the behavior of the interface.
So instead of testing that the scope is implemented in a particular way (i.e. with a particular set of conditions), try testing that it behaves correctly—that it returns instances it should and doesn't return instances it shouldn't.
describe Category do
describe ".top_level" do
it "should return root categories" do
frameworks = Category.create(:name => "Frameworks")
Category.top_level.should include(frameworks)
end
it "should not return child categories" do
frameworks = Category.create(:name => "Frameworks")
rails = Category.create(:name => "Ruby on Rails", :parent => frameworks)
Category.top_level.should_not include(rails)
end
end
end
If you write your tests in this way, you'll be free to re-factor your implementations as you please without needing to modify your tests or, more importantly, without needing to worry about unknowingly breaking your application.
This is how i check them. Think of this scope :
scope :item_type, lambda { |item_type|
where("game_items.item_type = ?", item_type )
}
that gets all the game_items where item_type equals to a value(like 'Weapon') :
it "should get a list of all possible game weapons if called like GameItem.item_type('Weapon'), with no arguments" do
Factory(:game_item, :item_type => 'Weapon')
Factory(:game_item, :item_type => 'Gloves')
weapons = GameItem.item_type('Weapon')
weapons.each { |weapon| weapon.item_type.should == 'Weapon' }
end
I test that the weapons array holds only Weapon item_types and not something else like Gloves that are specified in the spec.
Don't know if this helps or not, but I'm looking for a solution and ran across this question.
I just did this and it works for me
it { User.nickname('hello').should == User.where(:nickname => 'hello') }
FWIW, I agree with your original method (Rails 2). Creating models just for testing them makes your tests way too slow to run in continuous testing, so another approach is needed.
Loving Rails 3, but definitely missing the convenience of proxy_options!
Quickly Check the Clauses of a Scope
I agree with others here that testing the actual results you get back and ensuring they are what you expect is by far the best way to go, but a simple check to ensure that a scope is adding the correct clause can also be useful for faster tests that don't hit the database.
You can use the where_values_hash to test where conditions. Here's an example using Rspec:
it 'should have a top_level scope' do
Category.top_level.where_values_hash.should eq {"parent_id" => nil}
end
Although the documentation is very slim and sometimes non-existent, there are similar methods for other condition-types, such as:
order_values
Category.order(:id).order_values
# => [:id]
select_values
Category.select(:id).select_values
# => [:id]
group_values
Category.group(:id).group_values
# => [:id]
having_values
Category.having(:id).having_values
# => [:id]
etc.
Default Scope
For default scopes, you have to handle them a little differently. Check this answer out for a better explanation.

How to apply named_scopes incrementally in Rails

named_scope :with_country, lambad { |country_id| ...}
named_scope :with_language, lambad { |language_id| ...}
named_scope :with_gender, lambad { |gender_id| ...}
if params[:country_id]
Event.with_country(params[:country_id])
elsif params[:langauge_id]
Event.with_state(params[:language_id])
else
......
#so many combinations
end
If I get both country and language then I need to apply both of them. In my real application I have 8 different named_scopes that could be applied depending on the case. How to apply named_scopes incrementally or hold on to named_scopes somewhere and then later apply in one shot.
I tried holding on to values like this
tmp = Event.with_country(1)
but that fires the sql instantly.
I guess I can write something like
if !params[:country_id].blank? && !params[:language_id].blank? && !params[:gender_id].blank?
Event.with_country(params[:country_id]).with_language(..).with_gender
elsif country && language
elsif country && gender
elsif country && gender
.. you see the problem
Actually, the SQL does not fire instantly. Though I haven't bothered to look up how Rails pulls off this magic (though now I'm curious), the query isn't fired until you actually inspect the result set's contents.
So if you run the following in the console:
wc = Event.with_country(Country.first.id);nil # line returns nil, so wc remains uninspected
wc.with_state(State.first.id)
you'll note that no Event query is fired for the first line, whereas one large Event query is fired for the second. As such, you can safely store Event.with_country(params[:country_id]) as a variable and add more scopes to it later, since the query will only be fired at the end.
To confirm that this is true, try the approach I'm describing, and check your server logs to confirm that only one query is being fired on the page itself for events.
Check Anonymous Scopes.
I had to do something similar, having many filters applied in a view. What I did was create named_scopes with conditions:
named_scope :with_filter, lambda{|filter| { :conditions => {:field => filter}} unless filter.blank?}
In the same class there is a method which receives the params from the action and returns the filtered records:
def self.filter(params)
ClassObject
.with_filter(params[:filter1])
.with_filter2(params[:filter2])
end
Like that you can add all the filters using named_scopes and they are used depending on the params that are sent.
I took the idea from here: http://www.idolhands.com/ruby-on-rails/guides-tips-and-tutorials/add-filters-to-views-using-named-scopes-in-rails
Event.with_country(params[:country_id]).with_state(params[:language_id])
will work and won't fire the SQL until the end (if you try it in the console, it'll happen right away because the console will call to_s on the results. IRL the SQL won't fire until the end).
I suspect you also need to be sure each named_scope tests the existence of what is passed in:
named_scope :with_country, lambda { |country_id| country_id.nil? ? {} : {:conditions=>...} }
This will be easy with Rails 3:
products = Product.where("price = 100").limit(5) # No query executed yet
products = products.order("created_at DESC") # Adding to the query, still no execution
products.each { |product| puts product.price } # That's when the SQL query is actually fired
class Product < ActiveRecord::Base
named_scope :pricey, where("price > 100")
named_scope :latest, order("created_at DESC").limit(10)
end
The short answer is to simply shift the scope as required, narrowing it down depending on what parameters are present:
scope = Example
# Only apply to parameters that are present and not empty
if (!params[:foo].blank?)
scope = scope.with_foo(params[:foo])
end
if (!params[:bar].blank?)
scope = scope.with_bar(params[:bar])
end
results = scope.all
A better approach would be to use something like Searchlogic (http://github.com/binarylogic/searchlogic) which encapsulates all of this for you.

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