CODEWITHSUNDEEP
ruby-on-railsrubyruby-on-rails-3testingrspec
Backo
Backo

Reputation: 18881

How to use an instance variable throughout an Example Group, even if it is outside a Example?

I am using Ruby on Rails 3.2.2 and rspec-rails-2.8.1. I would like to use an instance variable (initialized in a before hook) throughout an Example Group, even if it is outside a Example. That is, I would like to make the following:

describe "..." do
  before(:each) do
    @user = User.create(...)
  end

  # Here I would like to use the instance variable but I get the error:
  # "undefined method `firstname' for nil:NilClass (NoMethodError)"
  @user.firstname

  it "..." do
    # Here it works.
    @user.firstname
    ...
  end
end

Is it possible? If so, how?

Note: I would like to do that because I am trying to output more information about tests that are going to be run, this way:

# file_name.html.erb
...

# General idea
expected_value = ...

it "... #{expected_value}" do
  ...
end

# Usage that i am trying to implement
expected_page_title =
  I18n.translate(
    'page_title_html'
    :user => @user.firstname # Here is the instance variable that is called and that is causing me problems
  )

it "displays the #{expected_page_title} page title" do
  view.content_for(:page_title).should have_content(expected_page_title)
end

Upvotes: 0

Views: 298

Answers (1)

Peter Brown
Peter Brown

Reputation: 51717

You shouldn't need to access the instance variables outside of one of the RSpec setup, teardown or test blocks. If you need to modify the subject of the test, you may want to create an explicit subject and then use before to access it:

describe "..." do
  subject { User.create(... }

  before(:each) do
    subject.firstname #whatever you plan on doing
  end

  it "..." do
    # Here it works.
    subject.firstname
    ...
  end
end

Upvotes: 1

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