Example rspec test for a view

view_spec.rb

describe "events/index" do
  it "renders _event partial for each event" do
    assign(:events, [stub_model(Event), stub_model(Event)])
    render
    view.should render_template(:partial => "_event", :count => 2)
  end
end

describe "events/show" do
  it "displays the event location" do
    assign(:event, stub_model(Event,
      :location => "Chicago"
    ))
    render
    rendered.should contain("Chicago")
  end
end

#View specs infer the controller name and path from the path to the view template. e.g. if the template is "events/index.html.erb" then:
controller.controller_path == "events"
controller.request.path_parameters[:controller] == "events"

#This means that most of the time you don't need to set these values. When spec'ing a partial that is included across different controllers, #you may need to override these values before rendering the view.

#To provide a layout for the render, you'll need to specify both the template and the layout explicitly. For example:
render :template => "events/show", :layout => "layouts/application"

assign(key, val)

#Use this to assign values to instance variables in the view:
assign(:widget, stub_model(Widget))
render


#The code above assigns stub_model(Widget) to the @widget variable in the view, and then renders the view.

#Note that because view specs mix in ActionView::TestCase behavior, any instance variables you set will be transparently propagated into your #views (similar to how instance variables you set in controller actions are made available in views). For example:
@widget = stub_model(Widget)
render # @widget is available inside the view


#RSpec doesn't officially support this pattern, which only works as a side-effect of the inclusion of ActionView::TestCase. Be aware that it #may be made unavailable in the future.

#Upgrade note
# rspec-rails-1.x
assigns[key] = value

# rspec-rails-2.x
assign(key, value)


#rendered

#This represents the rendered view.
render
rendered.should =~ /Some text expected to appear on the page/


#Upgrade note
# rspec-rails-1.x
render
response.should xxx

# rspec-rails-2.x
render
rendered.should xxx