Turning off transactional fixtures for specific RSpec example groups and a ThinkingSphinx search use-case.

config-initializers-model_tracker.rb

if Rails.env.features? || Rails.env.test?
  ActiveRecord::Base.class_eval do
    class << self
      def delete_all_of_all
        @model_subclasses_for_delete_all_of_all.each do |klass|
          klass.delete_all
        end
      end
      def inherited_with_model_tracker(subclass)
        @model_subclasses_for_delete_all_of_all ||= []
        @model_subclasses_for_delete_all_of_all << subclass
        inherited_without_model_tracker(subclass)
      end
      alias_method_chain :inherited, :model_tracker
    end
  end
end

features-support-env.rb

ENV['RAILS_ENV'] = 'features'

require File.expand_path(File.join(File.dirname(__FILE__), '..', '..', 'config', 'environment'))
require 'cucumber/rails/world'
require 'cucumber/formatter/unicode'
require 'cucumber/rails/rspec'
require 'webrat/integrations/rspec-rails'

# EmailSpec hack...
module EmailSpec
  module Delayed
    class Job
      def self.work_off
        # nothing
      end
    end
  end
end
require 'email_spec/cucumber'

# Include factories and factory_girl's default step definitions.
require 'factories'
require 'factory_girl/step_definitions'

# Include ThinkingSphinx's test search helpers.
require 'cucumber/thinking_sphinx/external_world'
Cucumber::ThinkingSphinx::ExternalWorld.new

# Include feature helper files.
Dir[File.expand_path(File.join(File.dirname(__FILE__), 'helpers', '**', '*.rb'))].each { |f| require f }

ActionController::Base.allow_rescue = false

# Turn off transactions and instruct Cucumber to clean up the database
# manually.
Cucumber::Rails::World.use_transactional_fixtures = false
Before do
  ActiveRecord::Base.delete_all_of_all
end

lib-factories.rb

if defined?(Factory)
  
  Factory.sequence :email do |n|
    "bob-#{n}@foo.com"
  end
  
  Factory.sequence :name do |n|
    "Mr. Bob #{n}"
  end
  
  Factory.define :user do |f|
    f.email                   { Factory.next(:email) }
    f.login                   { Factory.next(:name) }
    f.password                'password'
    f.password_confirmation   { |user| user.password if user.password && !user.password_confirmation }
  end
  
  Factory.define :verified_user, :class => User do |f|
    f.email                   { Factory.next(:email) }
    f.login                   { Factory.next(:name) }
    f.password                'password'
    f.password_confirmation   { |user| user.password if user.password && !user.password_confirmation }
    f.after_create            { |user| user.verify_email! }
  end
  
  # ...
end

spec-models-user_spec.rb

require 'spec_helper'

describe User do
  
  # Using "transactional fixtures" as usual...
  describe "listing and searching" do
    
    def populate
      # Using factory girl...
      @a = Factory(:user, :name => 'Bob')
      @b = Factory(:user, :name => 'Sally')
      @c = Factory(:user, :name => 'John')
      @d = Factory(:user, :name => 'Dan')
    end
    
    describe "listing" do
      
      before(:each) do
        populate
      end
      
      it "should list by name" do
        # Given a named_scope :by_name
        User.by_name.should == [@a, @d, @c, @b]
      end
      
      # ...
    end
    
    # Can't use transactional fixtures when using TS to index...
    describe_with_ts_enabled "searching" do
      
      before(:each) do
        populate
        # only update sphinx indexes for User
        update_indexes(User)
      end
      
      it "should search Bob" do
        # use to_a because search returns a paginated Array subclass...
        User.search('Bob').to_a.should == [@a]
      end
      
       # ...
    end
  end
  
  # ...
end

spec-spec_helper.rb

ENV['RAILS_ENV'] = 'test'

require File.expand_path(File.join(File.dirname(__FILE__), '..', 'config', 'environment'))
require 'spec'
require 'spec/rails'
require 'spec/autorun'

require 'factories'
Dir[File.expand_path(File.join(File.dirname(__FILE__), 'support', '**', '*.rb'))].each { |f| require f }

Spec::Runner.configure do |config|
  config.use_transactional_fixtures = true
  config.use_instantiated_fixtures  = false
  config.fixture_path = "#{Rails.root}/spec/fixtures/"
  config.include Webrat::Matchers, :type => :views
  config.extend  ControllerHelper, :type => :controller
  config.include CustomSimpleMatchers
  config.include MocksHelper
  config.include ScopifyHelper
  config.include SearchHelper
  config.extend  TransactionHelper
  config.before(:all) do
    ActionMailer::Base.delivery_method = :test
    ActionMailer::Base.perform_deliveries = true
    ActionMailer::Base.deliveries = []
  end
  config.before(:each, :behaviour_type => :controller) do
    controller.instance_eval { flash.stub!(:sweep) }
  end
end

spec-support-search_helper.rb

module SearchHelper
  
  def update_indexes(*models)
    ThinkingSphinx::Test.index(*models.collect { |model| ["#{model.to_s.underscore}_core", "#{model.to_s.underscore}_delta"] }.flatten)
    sleep(0.25)
  end
  
  module ClassMethods
    
    def describe_with_ts_enabled(desc, &block)
      
      before(:all) do
        ThinkingSphinx::Test.start
      end
      
      after(:all) do
        ThinkingSphinx::Test.stop
      end
      
      describe_without_transactional_fixtures(desc, &block)
    end
  end
  
  def self.included(base)
    base.extend(ClassMethods)
  end
end

spec-support-transaction_helper.rb

module TransactionHelper
  
  def describe_without_transactional_fixtures(desc, &block)
    
    describe "#{desc} (without transactional fixtures)" do
      
      before(:all) do
        ActiveSupport::TestCase.use_transactional_fixtures = false
      end
      
      after(:each) do
        # Clean up manually with custom test/feature-only AR method.
        ActiveRecord::Base.delete_all_of_all
      end
      
      instance_eval(&block)
      
      after(:all) do
        ActiveSupport::TestCase.use_transactional_fixtures = true
      end
    end
  end
end