How to mock a logged in user

Testing RSpec
1

I need to update something for a logged in user. My controller code for
the action is:

def som_action
@_current_user.save_choice(params)
end

My application_controller.rb contains the following:

class ApplicationController < ActionController::Base
before_filter :current_user

def current_user
@_current_user ||= session[:current_user_id] &&
User.find(session[:current_user_id])
end
end

In my controller spec, I am trying something like this:

let(:user) { mock_model(“User”, :id => 1001) }
let(:item) { mock_model(“Item”, :id => 1010) }

before(:each) do
controller.stub!(:current_user).and_return(user)
end

describe “POST create” do
context “when the user chooses an item” do
it ‘creates a item_choice’ do
ItemChoice.should_receive(:new).
with(“requester_id” => user.id, “item_id” => item.id).
and_return(item_choice)
post :create, :item_choice => { “item_id” => item.id }
response.should redirect_to(home_path)
end
end
end

I get nil object error when I run this spec, as there is no
@_current_user set. How do I stub such that there is a user with an id
to do this?

raghu

2

On Mon, Nov 22, 2010 at 1:24 PM, Raghunandan Somaraju
[email protected] wrote:

I need to update something for a logged in user. My controller code for the
action is:

def som_action
@_current_user.save_choice(params)
end
you are stubbing current_user, not @_current_user, thus this will
fail. Maybe it would be more idiomatic to change this to

def some_action
current_user.save_choice( params )
end

this should solve your setup problem too.

end
describe “POST create” do
context “when the user chooses an item” do
it ‘creates a item_choice’ do
ItemChoice.should_receive(:new).
with(“requester_id” => user.id, “item_id” => item.id).
and_return(item_choice)
Maybe i missed something here, but where does item_choice come from,
should that not be item?
post :create, :item_choice => { “item_id” => item.id }
response.should redirect_to(home_path)
end
end
end

I get nil object error when I run this spec, as there is no @_current_user
set. How do I stub such that there is a user with an id to do this?

HTH
Cheers
Robert

–
The 1,000,000th fibonacci number contains ‘42’ 2039 times; that is
almost 30 occurrences more than expected (208988 digits).
N.B. The 42nd fibonacci number does not contain ‘1000000’ that is
almost the expected 3.0e-06 times.

3

Thank you Robert. That works. I should have used the “current_user”
instead
of @_current_user in the first place.

But, if I do want to use @_current_user, how do I pass on that instance
variable to the controller from spec?

Ignore the item_choice. It is a remnant of a piece that I edited off to
simplify the question and concentrate on what I wanted.

raghu

Robert D. wrote:

you are stubbing current_user, not @_current_user, thus this will

class ApplicationController < ActionController::Base
let(:user) { mock_model(“User”, :id => 1001) }
with(“requester_id” => user.id, “item_id” => item.id).
I get nil object error when I run this spec, as there is no
N.B. The 42nd fibonacci number does not contain ‘1000000’ that is
almost the expected 3.0e-06 times.

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http://rubyforge.org/mailman/listinfo/rspec-users

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4

Robert D. wrote:

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Thank you once again Robert, for answering my question.

I understand the reasoning. I realized it when you gave the solution to
my
original problem of this thread. But, out of curiosity wanted to know if
it
was possible.

raghu

View this message in context:
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5

On Tue, Nov 23, 2010 at 1:04 PM, Raghu S. [email protected]
wrote:

Thank you Robert. That works. I should have used the “current_user” instead
of @_current_user in the first place.

But, if I do want to use @_current_user, how do I pass on that instance
variable to the controller from spec?

Short answer: Do not do it: Mocking is here to simulate behavior and
ivars are here to implement state. (caching state in our case)

Long answer: Although I believe that the above said is often true
there must be exceptions, I adapted a relish test to show you how it
works:

Cheers
Robert