On 2 Nov 2009, at 14:19, David Chelimsky wrote:

On Nov 2, 2009, at 3:35 AM, Amit Kulkarni wrote:

Following is the scenario.

describe BbPostsController, "POST Create" do
context "Admin" do
  fixtures :users, :bb_posts, :user_channels, :channels,
:channel_features
    it "should save post" do
      login_as(:amit)
      # Added to pass before filters in controller
      controller.stub!(:validate_channel).and_return(true)
      controller.stub!(:is_feature_active).and_return(Blog)
      controller.stub!(:load_categories).and_return(1)
      @post = mock_model( BbPost, :body => "test_description", :title
=> "test123", :abstract => "test_abstract", :channel_feature_id => "v1",
:published => "1", :bb_post_category_id => "1" )
      BbPost.stub!(:new).and_return @post
      @post.should_receive( :save )
      post :create, {:bb_post => {:title => 'test123'}}
      response.should redirect_to( blog_bb_posts_url(:channel =>
@channel.brand_name) )
    end

Following is the controller code:
class BbPostsController < ApplicationController
before_filter :login_required
before_filter :validate_channel
before_filter :manager_access_required
before_filter :is_feature_active
before_filter :load_categories, :only => [ :new, :edit, :create,
:update ]

# BEFORE FILTER : Feature must active
def is_feature_active
  @feature = @channel.channel_features.by_name( BLOG ).active.first
  unless @feature
     flash[ :notice ] = 'Blog feature was not active.'
     redirect_to requests_features_path
  end
end

# BEFORE FILTER : Load blog categories
def load_categories
  # manager blog will not have admin specific categories
  @categories = ( params[ :channel ].camelize == ADMIN_CHANNEL ) ?
BbPostCategory.visible : BbPostCategory.visible.without_admin
end

def create
  params[ :bb_post ][ :brand_list ] = ADMIN_CHANNEL if params[
:bb_post ][ :brand_list ].blank?
  p params
  @bb_post = @feature.posts.new( params[ :bb_post ] )
  @bb_post.user = current_user
  # CREATE Channel Blog post
  respond_to do |format|
    if @bb_post.save
      flash[ :notice ] = 'Blog post was successfully created.'
      format.html { redirect_to( blog_bb_posts_url ) }
      format.xml { render :xml => @bb_post, :status => :created,
:location => @bb_post }
    else
load_featured_posts if @bb_post.editorial?
      format.html { render :action => "new" }
      format.xml { render :xml => @bb_post.errors, :status =>
:unprocessable_entity }
    end
  end
end

Now if i run my specs,i get an error which says

NoMethodError in 'BbPostsController POST Crete dmin should sve post'
You hve nil object when you didn't expect it!
The error occurred while evluting nil.posts
Error comes at "@bb_post = @feature.posts.new( params[ :bb_post ] )"

This tells you that @feature is nil. This is because filter that declares @feature and assigns it a value is being stubbed. Although very common, using filters to set instance variables makes it difficult to test in isolation.

I recommend pushing the model concerns to the model, and use filters for application flow control concerns (like authentication/ authorization) in the controller. In this case, that would mean eliminating the validate_channel, is_feature_active, and load_categories filters and simply passing the params to the model. I'm not sure of the models and relationships, but I'm imagining something like:

def create
@bb_post = BbPost.new( params[ :bb_post ].merge(:user => current_user) )
 respond_to do |format|
   if @bb_post.save
     ...

All of the logic in the filters and before the assignment of @bb_post can be managed in the BbPost model, where it is far easier to spec in my experience.

If you don't want to follow that recommendation, you'll have to either set up all the state you need in the database for each example, or do more invasive setup like this:

 controller.instance_eval { @feature = mock('feature') }

I'd just back this up to say that one of the major benefits of test- driven-development is the guidance you get with your design. Mocking, particularly, gives you really clear feedback on whether you have a loosely-coupled OO design or not. If you're finding your specs are hard to write, and your mocks are unwieldy and complex, it's always a good idea to take a step back and think about whether your design needs some work.


Just above that line i tried to print params and i get following values:
#<BbPost:0x44d1cd8 @nme="BbPost_1001">
{"ction"=>"crete", "controller"=>"bb_posts",
"bb_post"=>{"brnd_list"=>"BrndPotio
n", "title"=>"test123"}}

Can somebody help me with this
Also by using controller.stub!(:validate_channel).and_return(true) can somebody tell me actually,what exactly happens here.How does it handle
before filters.

Filters are just methods that get called implicitly by the controller. RSpec's mocking framework doesn't handle them in any special way (nor does any test double frameowrk that I'm aware of). Stubs return values. They do not set state on the object in question, which is why if you stub is_feature_active, for example, that needs to be coupled with code that sets the value of @feature on the controller (per above).

HTH,
David
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cheers,
Matt

http://mattwynne.net
+447974 430184

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