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@jamesmartin
Created May 25, 2015 01:47
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Testing ApplicationController before_filter methods using RSpec's "anonymous" controller instance
class ApplicationController < ActionControllerBase
helper :do_something
def do_something
@from_do_something = params[:for_do_something]
end
end
require 'rails_helper'
describe ApplicationController do
controller do
before_filter :do_something
def action_requiring_filter
render nothing: true
end
end
before(:each) do
routes.draw do
get 'action_requiring_filter' => 'anonymous#action_requiring_filter'
end
end
context "when an action requires a before filter" do
it "runs the filter" do
get :action_requiring_filter, for_do_something: 'some value'
expect(assigns[:from_do_something]).to eq('some value')
end
end
end
@jamesmartin
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This is not to suggest that it's a good idea to have before filters that set instance variables, but if you do need to test them, this technique at least makes the controller behave more like the real world. Too often I see tests that directly call the filter method on the ApplicationController, which can work in certain circumstances, but normally requires a bunch of stubbing of params and environment details because the method is being called outside of the normal Rails request/response cycle.

This also demonstrates a way to test any actions that depend on "inherited" behavior from ApplicationController, using RSpec's anonymous controller context and some test routes.

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