Remember to reload your associations in your tests

Save time by reloading your associations when using RSpec.

    1 # your_object.rb
    2 class YourObject < ActiveRecord::Base
    3   def your_method
    4     self.your_association << TestObject.new
    5   end
    6 end
    7 
    8 # your_object_spec.rb
    9 it "should test your_method" do
   10   lambda { your_object.your_method }.should change(your_object.your_association, :size)   # => no change, test fails....
   11 end
   12 

Just put a reload after your association call:

    1 # your_object_spec.rb
    2 it "should test your_method" do
    3   lambda { your_object.your_method }.should change(your_object.your_association.reload, :size)   # => association reloads and the test succeeds
    4 end

ordered method testing with rspec

Since I am learning RSpec for Rails I wonder how to write a test which tests the order of the methods called by my method. Now I found a solution which works. The answer is simple: should_receive takes a block which is called after the assertion of the should_receive ran.

Your code may look like this:

    1 # user.rb
    2 def change_my_attributes(name,login,password)
    3   self.name = name
    4   self.login = login
    5   self.password = password
    6   save!
    7 end
    8 
    9 # user_spec.rb
   10 it "should run my methods in #change_my_attributes in the correct order" do
   11   @user = User.new
   12   @user.should_receive(:name=) do
   13     @user.should_receive(:login=) do
   14       @user.should_receive(:password=) do
   15         @user.should_receive(:save!)
   16       end
   17     end
   18   end
   19   @user.change_my_attributes('foo','bar','foobar')
   20 end

Looks kind of ugly but it works...

test/unit, test/spec, RSpec, shoulda

Who has experience with two of these test frameworks, and can tell about this? Which one is better, and why?

Keep your tests small

Keeping your tests small sounds a bit odd, but it's quite easy to get in a test flow and to write spaghetti tests, testing too much at once. Stay focussed on what to test, and just test this single aspect of your code!

    1 # don't do this!
    2 describe "A user's display name" do
    3   it "should reflect the user's name" do
    4     user = User.new(:login => 'alto')
    5     user.display_name.should eql('alto')
    6  
    7     user.firstname = 'Thorsten'
    8     user.display_name.should eql('Thorsten')
    9
   10     user.lastname = 'Böttger'
   11     user.display_name.should eql('Thorsten Böttger')
   12   end
   13 end
   14 

This test is hard to read, since it tests three aspects at once. Even the dscription block is a bit ambiguous. The test is unfocused, and as a matter of result, in case your test contains an error itself, it's hard to debug. The following three tests are much better:

    1 # much better
    2 describe "A user's display name" do
    3   before do
    4     @user = User.new(:login => 'alto')
    5   end
    6   it "should equal the login name if no other name is given" do
    7     @user.display_name.should eql('alto')
    8   end
    9   it "should equal his firstname if it is given" do
   10     @user.firstname = 'Thorsten'
   11     @user.display_name.should eql('Thorsten')
   12   end
   13   it "should equal his fullname if firstname and lastname are given" do
   14     @user.firstname = 'Thorsten'
   15     @user.lastname = 'Böttger'
   16     @user.display_name.should eql('Thorsten Böttger')
   17   end
   18 end
   19