Dynamically test each method in a controller - ruby-on-rails

I have an Ruby on Rails 3 admin_controller with the default set of CRUD, index and so on methods. I'd like to test each of these for certain assertions with rspec.
Like response.should render_template("layouts/some_layout") or tests that it should require login.
Copy-pasting that test into the group of tests for each method is a lot of duplication. IMO it makes little sense to have an
it 'should require login' do
Duplicated several times troughout that test.
Is there a simple way to run a test on a list of methods? Say defined_methods.each do |method| it 'should' .... of some sort?
Is this a good way in the first place? Or am I taking a wrong route in the first place?

Given that you really want all those assertions, have you considered shared example groups?
shared_examples_for "an action that requires authentication" do
it "should render successfuly" do
sign_in(user)
response.should be_success # or whatever
end
it "should deny access" do
# don't sign_in the user
# assert access was denied
end
end
shared_examples_for "another behaviour" do
# ...
end
let(:user) { create_user }
describe "#index" do
before(:each) { get :index }
it_behaves_like "an action that requires authentication"
it_behaves_like "another behaviour"
end
describe "#show" do
before(:each) { get :show }
it_behaves_like "an action that requires authentication"
end
# ...
Of course before writing large number of specs for a basic functionality you should always check if it isn't already tested by the library that is providing the functionality (e.g. checking for the rendered template, if it is handled by rails's implicit rendering, might be a bit overkill).

If you wanted to go down the route of iteratively testing each public method in the controller, you could do something like:
SomeController.public_instance_methods(false).each do |method|
it "should do something"
end
However, I think a shared example group (see about half way down this page: http://rspec.info/documentation/) would be prettier. If it were extracted so it could be used across all your controller specs, it'll be even nicer..
shared_examples_for "admin actions" do
it "should require login"
end
Then in each controller spec:
describe SomeController do
it_should_behave_like "admin actions"
end

Just add it to your test_helper.rb, something like:
def requires_login
...
end

Related

Testing Controllers in Rails 4

I am looking for clarification and an understanding on how to effectively test my controllers with Rspec, I don't want to write tests that are not testing the potential issues at hand.
My scenario is as follows.
I am using Active Admin to create a Category, to do so you must obviously be logged into Active Admin.
What I want to ensure is that
1) A logged in user can create a Category
2) A Category cannot be created if you are not logged in
3) Attempts to create a Category outside of active admin are met with a 404 template
So what i have so far (and i really want to check i haven't gone over the top or performing unnecessary tests) is as follows.
spec/controllers/categories_controller_spec.rb
require 'rails_helper'
include Warden::Test::Helpers
# Ensure 404 pages are returned when requesting URLS
RSpec.describe CategoriesController, type: :request do
describe 'Routes' do
context 'All CRUD actions render 404' do
it '#create' do
post '/categories'
expect(response.status).to eq(404)
expect(response).to render_template(:file => "#{Rails.root}/public/404.html.erb")
end
# All other actions here
end
end
end
RSpec.describe Admin::CategoriesController, type: :request do
describe 'No Authorised Login' do
context 'All CRUD actions redirect correctly' do
it 'redirects when accessing #index' do
get '/admin/categories'
expect(response.status).to eq(302)
expect(response).to redirect_to(admin_root_path + '/login')
end
# All other actions here
end
end
end
# Ensure actions in admin can be carried out if logged in
RSpec.describe Admin::CategoriesController, type: :request do
before(:each) do
#user = FactoryGirl.create(:admin_user)
login_as #user
end
after(:each) do
#user.destroy
end
describe 'Authorised Login' do
context 'All CRUD actions perform as expected' do
it 'navigates to Categories #index' do
get '/my_admin_panel/categories'
expect(response.status).to eq(200)
expect(response).to render_template(:index)
end
# All other actions here
end
end
spec/routing/categories_routing.spec
RSpec.describe CategoriesController, type: :routing do
describe 'Routes' do
it 'does not get #index' do
expect(get: '/categories').to route_to(
controller: 'application',
action: 'raise_not_found',
unmatched_route: 'categories'
)
end
end
end
Should I be testing post /categories without supplying params, is that a wasted test? Am I over complicating what should be a simple set of tests ?
This is a judgement/style question and, as such, is not ideal for the StackOverflow format. That said, I don't think your testing is over the top. Some other thoughts:
Some people choose treat their controller tests as integration tests.
You can take advantage of RSpec's shared examples to DRY up your tests
In the default RSpec configuration, the database will be cleaned after each test, so you don't need to explicitly destroy the ActiveRecord objects you create if it's the database you're worried about
In general, I think testing behavior for programmatic actions you don't expect to happen (e.g. posting to undefined routes) is worthwhile unless you are trying to test specific error handling code

I'm DRYing my specs, but have a issue with making dynamic requests for controller tests

I was noticing that I kept repeating the same spec for actions prohibited to certain users. Especially when the action is not allowed, the redirect and flash should always be the same (more or less), so I tried writing a shared_example like this:
shared_examples_for "no access" do |action|
it "redirects the user to the homepage" do
get action
subject.should redirect_to('/')
end
it "sets a flash message" do
get action
expect(controller).to set_flash[:alert]
end
end
But then quickly realised that get doesn't accept the action variable as a variable.
Any idea on fixing this, or achieving something like this some other way?
Specify your shared example as follows...
shared_examples "no access" do
it "redirects the user to the homepage" do
action
expect(response).to redirect_to('/')
end
end
Then in your tests you pass action as a let block...
it_behaves_like "no access" do
let(:action) {get :show, id: my_record.id}
end

Getting rid of repetitive rspec tests across contexts

Let's say I have various RSpec context blocks to group tests with similar data scenarios.
feature "User Profile" do
context "user is active" do
before(:each) { (some setup) }
# Various tests
...
end
context "user is pending" do
before(:each) { (some setup) }
# Various tests
...
end
context "user is deactivated" do
before(:each) { (some setup) }
# Various tests
...
end
end
Now I'm adding a new feature and I'd like to add a simple scenario that verifies behavior when I click a certain link on the user's page
it "clicking help redirects to the user's help page" do
click_on foo_button
expect(response).to have('bar')
end
Ideally I'd love to add this test for all 3 contexts because I want to be sure that it performs correctly under different data scenarios. But the test itself doesn't change from context to context, so it seems repetitive to type it all out 3 times.
What are some alternatives to DRY up this test set? Can I stick the new test in some module or does RSpec have some built in functionality to let me define it once and call it from each context block?
Thanks!
You can use shared_examples ... define them in spec/support/shared_examples.rb
shared_examples "redirect_help" do
it "clicking help redirects to the user's help page" do
click_on foo_button
expect(response).to have('bar')
end
end
Then in each of your contexts just enter...
it_behaves_like "redirect_help"
You can even pass a block to it_behaves_like and then perform that block with the action method, the block being unique to each context.
Your shared_example might look like...
shared_examples "need_sign_in" do
it "redirects to the log in" do
session[:current_user_id] = nil
action
response.should render_template 'sessions/new'
end
end
And in your context you'd call it with the block...
describe "GET index" do
it_behaves_like "need_sign_in" do
let(:action) {get :index}
end
...

Change the order of before hooks in rspec

I have a controller spec like this :
describe "#create" do
before { post 'create', params }
context "when the artist is valid" do
before { allow(artist).to receive(:save).and_return(true) }
it { expect(page).to redirect_to(root_path) }
it { expect(notifier).to have_received(:notify) }
end
end
This is a simple spec but It doesn't work because the describe's before block is executed before the context's before block. So, the result of artist.save is not stubed when the create action is called.
It tried to do this :
describe "first describe" do
before { puts 2 }
describe "second describe" do
before { puts 1 }
it "simple spec" do
expect(1).to eq 1
end
end
end
I see the "2" before the "1". I'm not sure but I think it was working with previous versions.
I know, I can do this :
describe "#create" do
context "when the artist is valid" do
before { allow(artist).to receive(:save).and_return(true) }
it "redirect to the root path" do
post 'create', params
expect(page).to redirect_to(root_path)
end
it "do notifications" do
post :create, params
expect(notifier).to have_received(:notify)
end
end
end
But I think it's less clean.
I found, on this page, http://rubydoc.info/github/rspec/rspec-core/RSpec/Core/Hooks#before-instance_method than the order should be this :
before(:suite) # declared in RSpec.configure
before(:all) # declared in RSpec.configure
before(:all) # declared in a parent group
before(:all) # declared in the current group
before(:each) # declared in RSpec.configure
before(:each) # declared in a parent group
before(:each) # declared in the current group
It's not the case on this example.
I'm not sure but I think it was working with older versions of rspec.
Is there a solution?
I would strongly recommend against you changing the order of hooks in rspec. That will make your app non-standard and Rails is build on standards and having things work as expected.
Everything you're describing it "as designed". Outer before blocks are always called before inner blocks.
Your example that you feel is "less clean" is the standard way to do controller specs. I actually encourage you to do it this way so that it is more maintainable/readable. It does not look unclean to me at all.
That said, there are some options:
You can use a method. I have more than once had a method that was do_post or something similar
You can use a let block which is initialized lazily. I would find it unlcean if it relied on other before blocks running first, but it's an option.
You can define subject. https://www.relishapp.com/rspec/rspec-core/v/2-6/docs/subject/explicit-subject

Why i can not get current_user while writing test case with Rspec and Capybara

I have to write integration test case for my one feature listing page and that feature index method has code like below
def index
#food_categories = current_user.food_categories
end
Now when i try to write a test case for this it throws an error
'undefined method features for nil class' because it can not get the current user
Now what i have do is below
I have write the login process in the before each statement and then write the test case for the features listing page
Can you please let me know that how i can get the current_user ?
FYI, I have used devise gem and working on integration test case with Rspec
Here is my spec file
And here is my food_categories_spec.rb
Update: you confuse functional and integration tests. Integration test doesn't use get, because there's no controller action to test, instead you must use visit (some url). Then you have to examine content of a page, not response code (latter is for functional tests). It may look like:
visit '/food_categories'
page.should have_content 'Eggs'
page.should have_content 'Fats and oils'
In case you'll need functional test, here's an example:
# spec/controllers/your_controller_spec.rb
describe YourController do
before do
#user = FactoryGirl.create(:user)
sign_in #user
end
describe "GET index" do
before do
get :index
end
it "is successful" do
response.should be_success
end
it "assings user features" do
assigns(:features).should == #user.features
end
end
end
# spec/spec_helper.rb
RSpec.configure do |config|
#...
config.include Devise::TestHelpers, :type => :controller
end

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