CODEWITHSUNDEEP
ruby-on-railsrspec
Starkers
Starkers

Reputation: 10541

Test a view has rendered with spec

Firstly what is the meaning behind the render_template method? What is a template? Is it a view? In which case, in a controller spec, does 

response.should render_template('show')

Mean a request to this controller should render a view named show.html.erb? Or that the controller should contain this 

render 'show'

So if I'm right in thinking this, which is the best way to test that view has been rendered?

Option 1:

it "should render a view" do
    response.should contain("I am the show view") # assuming the text is present in the view
end

Option 2:

it "should render a view" do
    response.should render_template('show')
end

Does Option 2 only pass if you explicitly have render 'show' in your controller? 

def create
    if params[:friend_id]

        @friend = User.find_by_profile_name(params[:friend_id])




    else

    end

    if @friend.profile_name != nil

        @user_friendship = current_user.user_friendships.new(friend: @friend)
        @user_friendship.save
        redirect_to profile_path(@friend.profile_name), status: 302

    else
        flash[:error] = "Friend required!"
        redirect_to root_path, status: 302
    end 
end

When testing the create action with a valid request, the profile_path does indeed lead to the show view, but is this out of the scope of the spec? I get this error you see:

 Failure/Error: response.should render_template('show')
   expecting <"show"> but rendering with <[]>

Or another way?

Also, in order to use methods such as contain in an rspec test, does a headless server such as capybara-webkit, or a headed sever such as the selinium-webdriver need to be installed?

Upvotes: 0

Views: 1108

Answers (1)

JeroenKnoops
JeroenKnoops

Reputation: 383

You should not want to test this in one test. You will find yourself 'fixing' tests allover the place when you decide to change the flow of the application.

Use separate tests:

  • Test create request is redirected to the profile_path
  • Test if the profile_path renders "show"

Example:

describe "POST #create" do
  it "should redirect to profile_path" do
    post 'create', valid_params
    response.should redirect_to profile_path
  end
end

describe "GET #show" do
  it "should render show template" do
    get 'show', valid_params 
    response.should render_template('show')
  end
end

Upvotes: 1

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