[LRUG] Rspec help

[Tom ten Thij]

> A friend has a question regarding how can they parameterise RSpec tests so they can test the same behaviour under slightly different conditions
>  soo... if anyone can help:
>
> http://stackoverflow.com/questions/3595168

I responded:

The way I would do it in this case is to specify the request as a
lambda that performs it. That way I can refer to it in my shared specs
and set a different one for each type of request.

I like using rspec describe blocks when its sets an expectation, in
this case that a particular request method is used. The whole thing
will look something like this:

    describe FooController do
      shared_examples_for "any request" do
        it "assigns foo" do
          @request.call
          assigns[:foo].should ==  "bar"
        end

        it "does not change the number of bars" do
          @request.should_not change(Bar, :count)
        end
      end

      context "using GET" do
        before do
          @request = lambda { get "index" }
        end

        it_should_behave_like "any request"
      end
    end

An even cleaner way is to use the 'let' construct, although it may be
a step too deep in rSpec magic for a novice:

    describe FooController do
      shared_examples_for "any request" do
        it "assigns foo" do
          request.call
          assigns[:foo].should ==  "bar"
        end

        it "does not change the number of bars" do
          request.should_not change(Bar, :count)
        end
      end

      context "using GET" do
        let(:request) { lambda { get "index" } }

        it_should_behave_like "any request"
      end
    end

Tom.

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 Tom ten Thij
 Unboxed Consulting, http://unboxedconsulting.com
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