**DO NOT READ THIS FILE ON GITHUB, GUIDES ARE PUBLISHED ON http://guides.rubyonrails.org.** A Guide to Testing Rails Applications ===================================== This guide covers built-in mechanisms in Rails for testing your application. After reading this guide, you will know: * Rails testing terminology. * How to write unit, functional, integration, and system tests for your application. * Other popular testing approaches and plugins. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Why Write Tests for your Rails Applications? -------------------------------------------- Rails makes it super easy to write your tests. It starts by producing skeleton test code while you are creating your models and controllers. By simply running your Rails tests you can ensure your code adheres to the desired functionality even after some major code refactoring. Rails tests can also simulate browser requests and thus you can test your application's response without having to test it through your browser. Introduction to Testing ----------------------- Testing support was woven into the Rails fabric from the beginning. It wasn't an "oh! let's bolt on support for running tests because they're new and cool" epiphany. ### Rails Sets up for Testing from the Word Go Rails creates a `test` directory for you as soon as you create a Rails project using `rails new` _application_name_. If you list the contents of this directory then you shall see: ```bash $ ls -F test controllers/ helpers/ mailers/ system/ test_helper.rb fixtures/ integration/ models/ application_system_test_case.rb ``` The `helpers`, `mailers`, and `models` directories are meant to hold tests for view helpers, mailers, and models, respectively. The `controllers` directory is meant to hold tests for controllers, routes, and views. The `integration` directory is meant to hold tests for interactions between controllers. The system test directory holds system tests, which are used for full browser testing of your application. System tests allow you to test your application the way your users experience it and help you test your JavaScript as well. System tests inherit from Capybara and perform in browser tests for your application. Fixtures are a way of organizing test data; they reside in the `fixtures` directory. A `jobs` directory will also be created when an associated test is first generated. The `test_helper.rb` file holds the default configuration for your tests. The `application_system_test_case.rb` holds the default configuration for your system tests. ### The Test Environment By default, every Rails application has three environments: development, test, and production. Each environment's configuration can be modified similarly. In this case, we can modify our test environment by changing the options found in `config/environments/test.rb`. NOTE: Your tests are run under `RAILS_ENV=test`. ### Rails meets Minitest If you remember, we used the `rails generate model` command in the [Getting Started with Rails](getting_started.html) guide. We created our first model, and among other things it created test stubs in the `test` directory: ```bash $ bin/rails generate model article title:string body:text ... create app/models/article.rb create test/models/article_test.rb create test/fixtures/articles.yml ... ``` The default test stub in `test/models/article_test.rb` looks like this: ```ruby require 'test_helper' class ArticleTest < ActiveSupport::TestCase # test "the truth" do # assert true # end end ``` A line by line examination of this file will help get you oriented to Rails testing code and terminology. ```ruby require 'test_helper' ``` By requiring this file, `test_helper.rb` the default configuration to run our tests is loaded. We will include this with all the tests we write, so any methods added to this file are available to all our tests. ```ruby class ArticleTest < ActiveSupport::TestCase ``` The `ArticleTest` class defines a _test case_ because it inherits from `ActiveSupport::TestCase`. `ArticleTest` thus has all the methods available from `ActiveSupport::TestCase`. Later in this guide, we'll see some of the methods it gives us. Any method defined within a class inherited from `Minitest::Test` (which is the superclass of `ActiveSupport::TestCase`) that begins with `test_` (case sensitive) is simply called a test. So, methods defined as `test_password` and `test_valid_password` are legal test names and are run automatically when the test case is run. Rails also adds a `test` method that takes a test name and a block. It generates a normal `Minitest::Unit` test with method names prefixed with `test_`. So you don't have to worry about naming the methods, and you can write something like: ```ruby test "the truth" do assert true end ``` Which is approximately the same as writing this: ```ruby def test_the_truth assert true end ``` However only the `test` macro allows a more readable test name. You can still use regular method definitions though. NOTE: The method name is generated by replacing spaces with underscores. The result does not need to be a valid Ruby identifier though, the name may contain punctuation characters etc. That's because in Ruby technically any string may be a method name. This may require use of `define_method` and `send` calls to function properly, but formally there's little restriction on the name. Next, let's look at our first assertion: ```ruby assert true ``` An assertion is a line of code that evaluates an object (or expression) for expected results. For example, an assertion can check: * does this value = that value? * is this object nil? * does this line of code throw an exception? * is the user's password greater than 5 characters? Every test may contain one or more assertions, with no restriction as to how many assertions are allowed. Only when all the assertions are successful will the test pass. #### Your first failing test To see how a test failure is reported, you can add a failing test to the `article_test.rb` test case. ```ruby test "should not save article without title" do article = Article.new assert_not article.save end ``` Let us run this newly added test (where `6` is the number of line where the test is defined). ```bash $ bin/rails test test/models/article_test.rb:6 Run options: --seed 44656 # Running: F Failure: ArticleTest#test_should_not_save_article_without_title [/path/to/blog/test/models/article_test.rb:6]: Expected true to be nil or false bin/rails test test/models/article_test.rb:6 Finished in 0.023918s, 41.8090 runs/s, 41.8090 assertions/s. 1 runs, 1 assertions, 1 failures, 0 errors, 0 skips ``` In the output, `F` denotes a failure. You can see the corresponding trace shown under `Failure` along with the name of the failing test. The next few lines contain the stack trace followed by a message that mentions the actual value and the expected value by the assertion. The default assertion messages provide just enough information to help pinpoint the error. To make the assertion failure message more readable, every assertion provides an optional message parameter, as shown here: ```ruby test "should not save article without title" do article = Article.new assert_not article.save, "Saved the article without a title" end ``` Running this test shows the friendlier assertion message: ```bash Failure: ArticleTest#test_should_not_save_article_without_title [/path/to/blog/test/models/article_test.rb:6]: Saved the article without a title ``` Now to get this test to pass we can add a model level validation for the _title_ field. ```ruby class Article < ApplicationRecord validates :title, presence: true end ``` Now the test should pass. Let us verify by running the test again: ```bash $ bin/rails test test/models/article_test.rb:6 Run options: --seed 31252 # Running: . Finished in 0.027476s, 36.3952 runs/s, 36.3952 assertions/s. 1 runs, 1 assertions, 0 failures, 0 errors, 0 skips ``` Now, if you noticed, we first wrote a test which fails for a desired functionality, then we wrote some code which adds the functionality and finally we ensured that our test passes. This approach to software development is referred to as [_Test-Driven Development_ (TDD)](http://c2.com/cgi/wiki?TestDrivenDevelopment). #### What an error looks like To see how an error gets reported, here's a test containing an error: ```ruby test "should report error" do # some_undefined_variable is not defined elsewhere in the test case some_undefined_variable assert true end ``` Now you can see even more output in the console from running the tests: ```bash $ bin/rails test test/models/article_test.rb Run options: --seed 1808 # Running: .E Error: ArticleTest#test_should_report_error: NameError: undefined local variable or method 'some_undefined_variable' for # test/models/article_test.rb:11:in 'block in ' bin/rails test test/models/article_test.rb:9 Finished in 0.040609s, 49.2500 runs/s, 24.6250 assertions/s. 2 runs, 1 assertions, 0 failures, 1 errors, 0 skips ``` Notice the 'E' in the output. It denotes a test with error. NOTE: The execution of each test method stops as soon as any error or an assertion failure is encountered, and the test suite continues with the next method. All test methods are executed in random order. The [`config.active_support.test_order` option](configuring.html#configuring-active-support) can be used to configure test order. When a test fails you are presented with the corresponding backtrace. By default Rails filters that backtrace and will only print lines relevant to your application. This eliminates the framework noise and helps to focus on your code. However there are situations when you want to see the full backtrace. Simply set the `-b` (or `--backtrace`) argument to enable this behavior: ```bash $ bin/rails test -b test/models/article_test.rb ``` If we want this test to pass we can modify it to use `assert_raises` like so: ```ruby test "should report error" do # some_undefined_variable is not defined elsewhere in the test case assert_raises(NameError) do some_undefined_variable end end ``` This test should now pass. ### Available Assertions By now you've caught a glimpse of some of the assertions that are available. Assertions are the worker bees of testing. They are the ones that actually perform the checks to ensure that things are going as planned. Here's an extract of the assertions you can use with [`Minitest`](https://github.com/seattlerb/minitest), the default testing library used by Rails. The `[msg]` parameter is an optional string message you can specify to make your test failure messages clearer. | Assertion | Purpose | | ---------------------------------------------------------------- | ------- | | `assert( test, [msg] )` | Ensures that `test` is true.| | `assert_not( test, [msg] )` | Ensures that `test` is false.| | `assert_equal( expected, actual, [msg] )` | Ensures that `expected == actual` is true.| | `assert_not_equal( expected, actual, [msg] )` | Ensures that `expected != actual` is true.| | `assert_same( expected, actual, [msg] )` | Ensures that `expected.equal?(actual)` is true.| | `assert_not_same( expected, actual, [msg] )` | Ensures that `expected.equal?(actual)` is false.| | `assert_nil( obj, [msg] )` | Ensures that `obj.nil?` is true.| | `assert_not_nil( obj, [msg] )` | Ensures that `obj.nil?` is false.| | `assert_empty( obj, [msg] )` | Ensures that `obj` is `empty?`.| | `assert_not_empty( obj, [msg] )` | Ensures that `obj` is not `empty?`.| | `assert_match( regexp, string, [msg] )` | Ensures that a string matches the regular expression.| | `assert_no_match( regexp, string, [msg] )` | Ensures that a string doesn't match the regular expression.| | `assert_includes( collection, obj, [msg] )` | Ensures that `obj` is in `collection`.| | `assert_not_includes( collection, obj, [msg] )` | Ensures that `obj` is not in `collection`.| | `assert_in_delta( expected, actual, [delta], [msg] )` | Ensures that the numbers `expected` and `actual` are within `delta` of each other.| | `assert_not_in_delta( expected, actual, [delta], [msg] )` | Ensures that the numbers `expected` and `actual` are not within `delta` of each other.| | `assert_throws( symbol, [msg] ) { block }` | Ensures that the given block throws the symbol.| | `assert_raises( exception1, exception2, ... ) { block }` | Ensures that the given block raises one of the given exceptions.| | `assert_instance_of( class, obj, [msg] )` | Ensures that `obj` is an instance of `class`.| | `assert_not_instance_of( class, obj, [msg] )` | Ensures that `obj` is not an instance of `class`.| | `assert_kind_of( class, obj, [msg] )` | Ensures that `obj` is an instance of `class` or is descending from it.| | `assert_not_kind_of( class, obj, [msg] )` | Ensures that `obj` is not an instance of `class` and is not descending from it.| | `assert_respond_to( obj, symbol, [msg] )` | Ensures that `obj` responds to `symbol`.| | `assert_not_respond_to( obj, symbol, [msg] )` | Ensures that `obj` does not respond to `symbol`.| | `assert_operator( obj1, operator, [obj2], [msg] )` | Ensures that `obj1.operator(obj2)` is true.| | `assert_not_operator( obj1, operator, [obj2], [msg] )` | Ensures that `obj1.operator(obj2)` is false.| | `assert_predicate ( obj, predicate, [msg] )` | Ensures that `obj.predicate` is true, e.g. `assert_predicate str, :empty?`| | `assert_not_predicate ( obj, predicate, [msg] )` | Ensures that `obj.predicate` is false, e.g. `assert_not_predicate str, :empty?`| | `flunk( [msg] )` | Ensures failure. This is useful to explicitly mark a test that isn't finished yet.| The above are a subset of assertions that minitest supports. For an exhaustive & more up-to-date list, please check [Minitest API documentation](http://docs.seattlerb.org/minitest/), specifically [`Minitest::Assertions`](http://docs.seattlerb.org/minitest/Minitest/Assertions.html). Because of the modular nature of the testing framework, it is possible to create your own assertions. In fact, that's exactly what Rails does. It includes some specialized assertions to make your life easier. NOTE: Creating your own assertions is an advanced topic that we won't cover in this tutorial. ### Rails Specific Assertions Rails adds some custom assertions of its own to the `minitest` framework: | Assertion | Purpose | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------- | | [`assert_difference(expressions, difference = 1, message = nil) {...}`](http://api.rubyonrails.org/classes/ActiveSupport/Testing/Assertions.html#method-i-assert_difference) | Test numeric difference between the return value of an expression as a result of what is evaluated in the yielded block.| | [`assert_no_difference(expressions, message = nil, &block)`](http://api.rubyonrails.org/classes/ActiveSupport/Testing/Assertions.html#method-i-assert_no_difference) | Asserts that the numeric result of evaluating an expression is not changed before and after invoking the passed in block.| | [`assert_nothing_raised { block }`](http://api.rubyonrails.org/classes/ActiveSupport/TestCase.html#method-i-assert_nothing_raised) | Ensures that the given block doesn't raise any exceptions.| | [`assert_recognizes(expected_options, path, extras={}, message=nil)`](http://api.rubyonrails.org/classes/ActionDispatch/Assertions/RoutingAssertions.html#method-i-assert_recognizes) | Asserts that the routing of the given path was handled correctly and that the parsed options (given in the expected_options hash) match path. Basically, it asserts that Rails recognizes the route given by expected_options.| | [`assert_generates(expected_path, options, defaults={}, extras = {}, message=nil)`](http://api.rubyonrails.org/classes/ActionDispatch/Assertions/RoutingAssertions.html#method-i-assert_generates) | Asserts that the provided options can be used to generate the provided path. This is the inverse of assert_recognizes. The extras parameter is used to tell the request the names and values of additional request parameters that would be in a query string. The message parameter allows you to specify a custom error message for assertion failures.| | [`assert_response(type, message = nil)`](http://api.rubyonrails.org/classes/ActionDispatch/Assertions/ResponseAssertions.html#method-i-assert_response) | Asserts that the response comes with a specific status code. You can specify `:success` to indicate 200-299, `:redirect` to indicate 300-399, `:missing` to indicate 404, or `:error` to match the 500-599 range. You can also pass an explicit status number or its symbolic equivalent. For more information, see [full list of status codes](http://rubydoc.info/github/rack/rack/master/Rack/Utils#HTTP_STATUS_CODES-constant) and how their [mapping](http://rubydoc.info/github/rack/rack/master/Rack/Utils#SYMBOL_TO_STATUS_CODE-constant) works.| | [`assert_redirected_to(options = {}, message=nil)`](http://api.rubyonrails.org/classes/ActionDispatch/Assertions/ResponseAssertions.html#method-i-assert_redirected_to) | Asserts that the redirection options passed in match those of the redirect called in the latest action. This match can be partial, such that `assert_redirected_to(controller: "weblog")` will also match the redirection of `redirect_to(controller: "weblog", action: "show")` and so on. You can also pass named routes such as `assert_redirected_to root_path` and Active Record objects such as `assert_redirected_to @article`.| You'll see the usage of some of these assertions in the next chapter. ### A Brief Note About Test Cases All the basic assertions such as `assert_equal` defined in `Minitest::Assertions` are also available in the classes we use in our own test cases. In fact, Rails provides the following classes for you to inherit from: * [`ActiveSupport::TestCase`](http://api.rubyonrails.org/classes/ActiveSupport/TestCase.html) * [`ActionMailer::TestCase`](http://api.rubyonrails.org/classes/ActionMailer/TestCase.html) * [`ActionView::TestCase`](http://api.rubyonrails.org/classes/ActionView/TestCase.html) * [`ActionDispatch::IntegrationTest`](http://api.rubyonrails.org/classes/ActionDispatch/IntegrationTest.html) * [`ActiveJob::TestCase`](http://api.rubyonrails.org/classes/ActiveJob/TestCase.html) * [`ActionDispatch::SystemTestCase`](http://api.rubyonrails.org/classes/ActionDispatch/SystemTestCase.html) Each of these classes include `Minitest::Assertions`, allowing us to use all of the basic assertions in our tests. NOTE: For more information on `Minitest`, refer to [its documentation](http://docs.seattlerb.org/minitest). ### The Rails Test Runner We can run all of our tests at once by using the `bin/rails test` command. Or we can run a single test file by passing the `bin/rails test` command the filename containing the test cases. ```bash $ bin/rails test test/models/article_test.rb Run options: --seed 1559 # Running: .. Finished in 0.027034s, 73.9810 runs/s, 110.9715 assertions/s. 2 runs, 3 assertions, 0 failures, 0 errors, 0 skips ``` This will run all test methods from the test case. You can also run a particular test method from the test case by providing the `-n` or `--name` flag and the test's method name. ```bash $ bin/rails test test/models/article_test.rb -n test_the_truth Run options: -n test_the_truth --seed 43583 # Running: . Finished tests in 0.009064s, 110.3266 tests/s, 110.3266 assertions/s. 1 tests, 1 assertions, 0 failures, 0 errors, 0 skips ``` You can also run a test at a specific line by providing the line number. ```bash $ bin/rails test test/models/article_test.rb:6 # run specific test and line ``` You can also run an entire directory of tests by providing the path to the directory. ```bash $ bin/rails test test/controllers # run all tests from specific directory ``` The test runner also provides a lot of other features like failing fast, deferring test output at the end of test run and so on. Check the documentation of the test runner as follows: ```bash $ bin/rails test -h minitest options: -h, --help Display this help. -s, --seed SEED Sets random seed. Also via env. Eg: SEED=n rake -v, --verbose Verbose. Show progress processing files. -n, --name PATTERN Filter run on /regexp/ or string. --exclude PATTERN Exclude /regexp/ or string from run. Known extensions: rails, pride Usage: bin/rails test [options] [files or directories] You can run a single test by appending a line number to a filename: bin/rails test test/models/user_test.rb:27 You can run multiple files and directories at the same time: bin/rails test test/controllers test/integration/login_test.rb By default test failures and errors are reported inline during a run. Rails options: -e, --environment ENV Run tests in the ENV environment -b, --backtrace Show the complete backtrace -d, --defer-output Output test failures and errors after the test run -f, --fail-fast Abort test run on first failure or error -c, --[no-]color Enable color in the output ``` The Test Database ----------------- Just about every Rails application interacts heavily with a database and, as a result, your tests will need a database to interact with as well. To write efficient tests, you'll need to understand how to set up this database and populate it with sample data. By default, every Rails application has three environments: development, test, and production. The database for each one of them is configured in `config/database.yml`. A dedicated test database allows you to set up and interact with test data in isolation. This way your tests can mangle test data with confidence, without worrying about the data in the development or production databases. ### Maintaining the test database schema In order to run your tests, your test database will need to have the current structure. The test helper checks whether your test database has any pending migrations. It will try to load your `db/schema.rb` or `db/structure.sql` into the test database. If migrations are still pending, an error will be raised. Usually this indicates that your schema is not fully migrated. Running the migrations against the development database (`bin/rails db:migrate`) will bring the schema up to date. NOTE: If there were modifications to existing migrations, the test database needs to be rebuilt. This can be done by executing `bin/rails db:test:prepare`. ### The Low-Down on Fixtures For good tests, you'll need to give some thought to setting up test data. In Rails, you can handle this by defining and customizing fixtures. You can find comprehensive documentation in the [Fixtures API documentation](http://api.rubyonrails.org/classes/ActiveRecord/FixtureSet.html). #### What Are Fixtures? _Fixtures_ is a fancy word for sample data. Fixtures allow you to populate your testing database with predefined data before your tests run. Fixtures are database independent and written in YAML. There is one file per model. NOTE: Fixtures are not designed to create every object that your tests need, and are best managed when only used for default data that can be applied to the common case. You'll find fixtures under your `test/fixtures` directory. When you run `rails generate model` to create a new model, Rails automatically creates fixture stubs in this directory. #### YAML YAML-formatted fixtures are a human-friendly way to describe your sample data. These types of fixtures have the **.yml** file extension (as in `users.yml`). Here's a sample YAML fixture file: ```yaml # lo & behold! I am a YAML comment! david: name: David Heinemeier Hansson birthday: 1979-10-15 profession: Systems development steve: name: Steve Ross Kellock birthday: 1974-09-27 profession: guy with keyboard ``` Each fixture is given a name followed by an indented list of colon-separated key/value pairs. Records are typically separated by a blank line. You can place comments in a fixture file by using the # character in the first column. If you are working with [associations](/association_basics.html), you can simply define a reference node between two different fixtures. Here's an example with a `belongs_to`/`has_many` association: ```yaml # In fixtures/categories.yml about: name: About # In fixtures/articles.yml first: title: Welcome to Rails! body: Hello world! category: about ``` Notice the `category` key of the `first` article found in `fixtures/articles.yml` has a value of `about`. This tells Rails to load the category `about` found in `fixtures/categories.yml`. NOTE: For associations to reference one another by name, you can use the fixture name instead of specifying the `id:` attribute on the associated fixtures. Rails will auto assign a primary key to be consistent between runs. For more information on this association behavior please read the [Fixtures API documentation](http://api.rubyonrails.org/classes/ActiveRecord/FixtureSet.html). #### ERB'in It Up ERB allows you to embed Ruby code within templates. The YAML fixture format is pre-processed with ERB when Rails loads fixtures. This allows you to use Ruby to help you generate some sample data. For example, the following code generates a thousand users: ```erb <% 1000.times do |n| %> user_<%= n %>: username: <%= "user#{n}" %> email: <%= "user#{n}@example.com" %> <% end %> ``` #### Fixtures in Action Rails automatically loads all fixtures from the `test/fixtures` directory by default. Loading involves three steps: 1. Remove any existing data from the table corresponding to the fixture 2. Load the fixture data into the table 3. Dump the fixture data into a method in case you want to access it directly TIP: In order to remove existing data from the database, Rails tries to disable referential integrity triggers (like foreign keys and check constraints). If you are getting annoying permission errors on running tests, make sure the database user has privilege to disable these triggers in testing environment. (In PostgreSQL, only superusers can disable all triggers. Read more about PostgreSQL permissions [here](http://blog.endpoint.com/2012/10/postgres-system-triggers-error.html)). #### Fixtures are Active Record objects Fixtures are instances of Active Record. As mentioned in point #3 above, you can access the object directly because it is automatically available as a method whose scope is local of the test case. For example: ```ruby # this will return the User object for the fixture named david users(:david) # this will return the property for david called id users(:david).id # one can also access methods available on the User class david = users(:david) david.call(david.partner) ``` To get multiple fixtures at once, you can pass in a list of fixture names. For example: ```ruby # this will return an array containing the fixtures david and steve users(:david, :steve) ``` Model Testing ------------- Model tests are used to test the various models of your application. Rails model tests are stored under the `test/models` directory. Rails provides a generator to create a model test skeleton for you. ```bash $ bin/rails generate test_unit:model article title:string body:text create test/models/article_test.rb create test/fixtures/articles.yml ``` Model tests don't have their own superclass like `ActionMailer::TestCase` instead they inherit from [`ActiveSupport::TestCase`](http://api.rubyonrails.org/classes/ActiveSupport/TestCase.html). System Testing -------------- System tests are full-browser tests that can be used to test your application's JavaScript and user experience. System tests use Capybara as a base. System tests allow for running tests in either a real browser or a headless driver for testing full user interactions with your application. For creating Rails system tests, you use the `test/system` directory in your application. Rails provides a generator to create a system test skeleton for us. ```bash $ bin/rails generate system_test users_create_test.rb invoke test_unit create test/system/users_create_test.rb ``` Here's what a freshly-generated system test looks like: ```ruby require "application_system_test_case" class UsersCreateTest < ApplicationSystemTestCase visit users_url assert_selector "h1", text: "Users" end ``` By default, system tests are run with the Selenium driver, using the Chrome browser, on port 21800 with Puma, and a screen size of 1400x1400. The next section explains how to change the default settings. ### Changing the default settings Rails makes changing the default settings for system test very simple. All the setup is abstracted away so you can focus on writing your tests. When you generate a new application or scaffold, a `application_system_test_case.rb` file is created in the test directory. This is where all the configuration for your system tests should live. If you want to change the default settings you can simple change what the system tests are "driven by". Say you want to change the driver from Selenium to Poltergeist. First add the Poltergeist gem to your Gemfile. Then in your `application_system_test_case.rb` file do the following: ```ruby require "test_helper" require "capybara/poltergeist" class ApplicationSystemTestCase < ActionDispatch::SystemTestCase driven_by :poltergeist end ``` If you want to keep the Selenium driver but change the browser or port you can pass Firefox and the port to driven by. The driver is a required argument, all other arguments are optional. ```ruby require "test_helper" class ApplicationSystemTestCase < ActionDispatch::SystemTestCase driven_by :selenium, using: :firefox, on: 3000 end ``` The driver name is a required argument for `driven_by`. The optional arguments that can be passed to `driven_by` are `:using` for the browser (this will only be used for non-headless drivers like Selenium), `:on` for the port Puma should use, and `:screen_size` to change the size of the screen for screenshots. If your Capybara configuration requires more setup than provided by Rails, all of that configuration can be put into the `application_system_test_case.rb` file provided by Rails. Please see [Capybara's documentation](https://github.com/teamcapybara/capybara#setup) for additional settings. ### Screenshot Helper The `ScreenshotHelper` is a helper designed to capture screenshots of your test. This can be helpful for viewing the browser at the point a test failed, or to view screenshots later for debugging. Two methods are provided: `take_screenshot` and `take_failed_screenshot`. `take_failed_screenshot` is automatically included in the `application_system_test_case.rb` file and will take a screenshot only if the test fails. The `take_screenshot` helper method can be included anywhere in your tests to take a screenshot of the browser. ### Implementing a system test Now we're going to add a system test to our blog application. We'll demonstrate writing a system test by visiting the index page and creating a new blog article. If you used the scaffold generator, a system test skeleton is automatically created for you. If you did not use the generator start by creating a system test skeleton. ```bash $ bin/rails generate system_test articles ``` It should have created a test file placeholder for us. With the output of the previous command we should see: ```bash invoke test_unit create test/system/articles_test.rb ``` Now let's open that file and write our first assertion: ```ruby require "application_system_test_case" class UsersTest < ApplicationSystemTestCase test "viewing the index" do visit articles_path assert_selector "h1", text: "Articles" end end ``` The test should see that there is an h1 on the articles index and pass. Run the system tests. ```bash bin/rails test:system ``` #### Creating articles system test Now let's test the flow for creating a new article in our blog. ```ruby test "creating an article" do visit articles_path click_on "New Article" fill_in "Title", with: "Creating an Article" fill_in "Body", with: "Created this article successfully!" click_on "Create Article" assert_text "Creating an Article" end ``` The first step is to call `visit articles_path`. This will take the test to the articles index page. Then the `click_on "New Article"` will find the "New Article" button on the index page. This will redirect the browser to `/articles/new`. Then the test will fill in the title and body of the article with the specified text. Once the fields are filled in "Create Article" is clicked on which will send a POST request to create the new article in the database. We will be redirected back to the the articles index page and there we assert that the text from the article title is on the articles index page. #### Taking it further The beauty of system testing is that it is similar to integration testing in that it tests the user's interaction with your controller, model, and view, but system testing is much more robust and actually tests your application as if a real user were using it. Going forward you can test anything that the user themselves would do in your application such as commenting, deleting articles, publishing draft articles, etc. Integration Testing ------------------- Integration tests are used to test how various parts of your application interact. They are generally used to test important workflows within our application. For creating Rails integration tests, we use the `test/integration` directory for our application. Rails provides a generator to create an integration test skeleton for us. ```bash $ bin/rails generate integration_test user_flows exists test/integration/ create test/integration/user_flows_test.rb ``` Here's what a freshly-generated integration test looks like: ```ruby require 'test_helper' class UserFlowsTest < ActionDispatch::IntegrationTest # test "the truth" do # assert true # end end ``` Here the test is inheriting from `ActionDispatch::IntegrationTest`. This makes some additional helpers available for us to use in our integration tests. ### Helpers Available for Integration Tests In addition to the standard testing helpers, inheriting from `ActionDispatch::IntegrationTest` comes with some additional helpers available when writing integration tests. Let's get briefly introduced to the three categories of helpers we get to choose from. For dealing with the integration test runner, see [`ActionDispatch::Integration::Runner`](http://api.rubyonrails.org/classes/ActionDispatch/Integration/Runner.html). When performing requests, we will have [`ActionDispatch::Integration::RequestHelpers`](http://api.rubyonrails.org/classes/ActionDispatch/Integration/RequestHelpers.html) available for our use. If we need to modify the session, or state of our integration test, take a look at [`ActionDispatch::Integration::Session`](http://api.rubyonrails.org/classes/ActionDispatch/Integration/Session.html) to help. ### Implementing an integration test Let's add an integration test to our blog application. We'll start with a basic workflow of creating a new blog article, to verify that everything is working properly. We'll start by generating our integration test skeleton: ```bash $ bin/rails generate integration_test blog_flow ``` It should have created a test file placeholder for us. With the output of the previous command we should see: ```bash invoke test_unit create test/integration/blog_flow_test.rb ``` Now let's open that file and write our first assertion: ```ruby require 'test_helper' class BlogFlowTest < ActionDispatch::IntegrationTest test "can see the welcome page" do get "/" assert_select "h1", "Welcome#index" end end ``` We will take a look at `assert_select` to query the resulting HTML of a request in the "Testing Views" section below. It is used for testing the response of our request by asserting the presence of key HTML elements and their content. When we visit our root path, we should see `welcome/index.html.erb` rendered for the view. So this assertion should pass. #### Creating articles integration How about testing our ability to create a new article in our blog and see the resulting article. ```ruby test "can create an article" do get "/articles/new" assert_response :success post "/articles", params: { article: { title: "can create", body: "article successfully." } } assert_response :redirect follow_redirect! assert_response :success assert_select "p", "Title:\n can create" end ``` Let's break this test down so we can understand it. We start by calling the `:new` action on our Articles controller. This response should be successful. After this we make a post request to the `:create` action of our Articles controller: ```ruby post "/articles", params: { article: { title: "can create", body: "article successfully." } } assert_response :redirect follow_redirect! ``` The two lines following the request are to handle the redirect we setup when creating a new article. NOTE: Don't forget to call `follow_redirect!` if you plan to make subsequent requests after a redirect is made. Finally we can assert that our response was successful and our new article is readable on the page. #### Taking it further We were able to successfully test a very small workflow for visiting our blog and creating a new article. If we wanted to take this further we could add tests for commenting, removing articles, or editing comments. Integration tests are a great place to experiment with all kinds of use-cases for our applications. Functional Tests for Your Controllers ------------------------------------- In Rails, testing the various actions of a controller is a form of writing functional tests. Remember your controllers handle the incoming web requests to your application and eventually respond with a rendered view. When writing functional tests, you are testing how your actions handle the requests and the expected result or response, in some cases an HTML view. ### What to include in your Functional Tests You should test for things such as: * was the web request successful? * was the user redirected to the right page? * was the user successfully authenticated? * was the correct object stored in the response template? * was the appropriate message displayed to the user in the view? The easiest way to see functional tests in action is to generate a controller using the scaffold generator: ```bash $ bin/rails generate scaffold_controller article title:string body:text ... create app/controllers/articles_controller.rb ... invoke test_unit create test/controllers/articles_controller_test.rb ... ``` This will generate the controller code and tests for an `Article` resource. You can take a look at the file `articles_controller_test.rb` in the `test/controllers` directory. If you already have a controller and just want to generate the test scaffold code for each of the seven default actions, you can use the following command: ```bash $ bin/rails generate test_unit:scaffold article ... invoke test_unit create test/controllers/articles_controller_test.rb ... ``` Let's take a look at one such test, `test_should_get_index` from the file `articles_controller_test.rb`. ```ruby # articles_controller_test.rb class ArticlesControllerTest < ActionDispatch::IntegrationTest test "should get index" do get articles_url assert_response :success end end ``` In the `test_should_get_index` test, Rails simulates a request on the action called `index`, making sure the request was successful and also ensuring that the right response body has been generated. The `get` method kicks off the web request and populates the results into the `@response`. It can accept up to 6 arguments: * The URI of the controller action you are requesting. This can be in the form of a string or a route helper (e.g. `articles_url`). * `params`: option with a hash of request parameters to pass into the action (e.g. query string parameters or article variables). * `headers`: for setting the headers that will be passed with the request. * `env`: for customizing the request environment as needed. * `xhr`: whether the request is Ajax request or not. Can be set to true for marking the request as Ajax. * `as`: for encoding the request with different content type. Supports `:json` by default. All of these keyword arguments are optional. Example: Calling the `:show` action, passing an `id` of 12 as the `params` and setting `HTTP_REFERER` header: ```ruby get article_url, params: { id: 12 }, headers: { "HTTP_REFERER" => "http://example.com/home" } ``` Another example: Calling the `:update` action, passing an `id` of 12 as the `params` as an Ajax request. ```ruby patch article_url, params: { id: 12 }, xhr: true ``` NOTE: If you try running `test_should_create_article` test from `articles_controller_test.rb` it will fail on account of the newly added model level validation and rightly so. Let us modify `test_should_create_article` test in `articles_controller_test.rb` so that all our test pass: ```ruby test "should create article" do assert_difference('Article.count') do post articles_url, params: { article: { body: 'Rails is awesome!', title: 'Hello Rails' } } end assert_redirected_to article_path(Article.last) end ``` Now you can try running all the tests and they should pass. NOTE: If you followed the steps in the Basic Authentication section, you'll need to add the following to the `setup` block to get all the tests passing: ```ruby request.headers['Authorization'] = ActionController::HttpAuthentication::Basic. encode_credentials('dhh', 'secret') ``` ### Available Request Types for Functional Tests If you're familiar with the HTTP protocol, you'll know that `get` is a type of request. There are 6 request types supported in Rails functional tests: * `get` * `post` * `patch` * `put` * `head` * `delete` All of request types have equivalent methods that you can use. In a typical C.R.U.D. application you'll be using `get`, `post`, `put` and `delete` more often. NOTE: Functional tests do not verify whether the specified request type is accepted by the action, we're more concerned with the result. Request tests exist for this use case to make your tests more purposeful. ### Testing XHR (AJAX) requests To test AJAX requests, you can specify the `xhr: true` option to `get`, `post`, `patch`, `put`, and `delete` methods. For example: ```ruby test "ajax request" do article = articles(:one) get article_url(article), xhr: true assert_equal 'hello world', @response.body assert_equal "text/javascript", @response.content_type end ``` ### The Three Hashes of the Apocalypse After a request has been made and processed, you will have 3 Hash objects ready for use: * `cookies` - Any cookies that are set * `flash` - Any objects living in the flash * `session` - Any object living in session variables As is the case with normal Hash objects, you can access the values by referencing the keys by string. You can also reference them by symbol name. For example: ```ruby flash["gordon"] flash[:gordon] session["shmession"] session[:shmession] cookies["are_good_for_u"] cookies[:are_good_for_u] ``` ### Instance Variables Available You also have access to three instance variables in your functional tests, after a request is made: * `@controller` - The controller processing the request * `@request` - The request object * `@response` - The response object ```ruby class ArticlesControllerTest < ActionDispatch::IntegrationTest test "should get index" do get articles_url assert_equal "index", @controller.action_name assert_equal "application/x-www-form-urlencoded", @request.media_type assert_match "Articles", @response.body end end ``` ### Setting Headers and CGI variables [HTTP headers](http://tools.ietf.org/search/rfc2616#section-5.3) and [CGI variables](http://tools.ietf.org/search/rfc3875#section-4.1) can be passed as headers: ```ruby # setting an HTTP Header get articles_url, headers: { "Content-Type": "text/plain" } # simulate the request with custom header # setting a CGI variable get articles_url, headers: { "HTTP_REFERER": "http://example.com/home" } # simulate the request with custom env variable ``` ### Testing `flash` notices If you remember from earlier, one of the Three Hashes of the Apocalypse was `flash`. We want to add a `flash` message to our blog application whenever someone successfully creates a new Article. Let's start by adding this assertion to our `test_should_create_article` test: ```ruby test "should create article" do assert_difference('Article.count') do post article_url, params: { article: { title: 'Some title' } } end assert_redirected_to article_path(Article.last) assert_equal 'Article was successfully created.', flash[:notice] end ``` If we run our test now, we should see a failure: ```bash $ bin/rails test test/controllers/articles_controller_test.rb -n test_should_create_article Run options: -n test_should_create_article --seed 32266 # Running: F Finished in 0.114870s, 8.7055 runs/s, 34.8220 assertions/s. 1) Failure: ArticlesControllerTest#test_should_create_article [/test/controllers/articles_controller_test.rb:16]: --- expected +++ actual @@ -1 +1 @@ -"Article was successfully created." +nil 1 runs, 4 assertions, 1 failures, 0 errors, 0 skips ``` Let's implement the flash message now in our controller. Our `:create` action should now look like this: ```ruby def create @article = Article.new(article_params) if @article.save flash[:notice] = 'Article was successfully created.' redirect_to @article else render 'new' end end ``` Now if we run our tests, we should see it pass: ```bash $ bin/rails test test/controllers/articles_controller_test.rb -n test_should_create_article Run options: -n test_should_create_article --seed 18981 # Running: . Finished in 0.081972s, 12.1993 runs/s, 48.7972 assertions/s. 1 runs, 4 assertions, 0 failures, 0 errors, 0 skips ``` ### Putting it together At this point our Articles controller tests the `:index` as well as `:new` and `:create` actions. What about dealing with existing data? Let's write a test for the `:show` action: ```ruby test "should show article" do article = articles(:one) get article_url(article) assert_response :success end ``` Remember from our discussion earlier on fixtures, the `articles()` method will give us access to our Articles fixtures. How about deleting an existing Article? ```ruby test "should destroy article" do article = articles(:one) assert_difference('Article.count', -1) do delete article_url(article) end assert_redirected_to articles_path end ``` We can also add a test for updating an existing Article. ```ruby test "should update article" do article = articles(:one) patch article_url(article), params: { article: { title: "updated" } } assert_redirected_to article_path(article) # Reload association to fetch updated data and assert that title is updated. article.reload assert_equal "updated", article.title end ``` Notice we're starting to see some duplication in these three tests, they both access the same Article fixture data. We can D.R.Y. this up by using the `setup` and `teardown` methods provided by `ActiveSupport::Callbacks`. Our test should now look something as what follows. Disregard the other tests for now, we're leaving them out for brevity. ```ruby require 'test_helper' class ArticlesControllerTest < ActionDispatch::IntegrationTest # called before every single test setup do @article = articles(:one) end # called after every single test teardown do # when controller is using cache it may be a good idea to reset it afterwards Rails.cache.clear end test "should show article" do # Reuse the @article instance variable from setup get article_url(@article) assert_response :success end test "should destroy article" do assert_difference('Article.count', -1) do delete article_url(@article) end assert_redirected_to articles_path end test "should update article" do patch article_url(@article), params: { article: { title: "updated" } } assert_redirected_to article_path(@article) # Reload association to fetch updated data and assert that title is updated. @article.reload assert_equal "updated", @article.title end end ``` Similar to other callbacks in Rails, the `setup` and `teardown` methods can also be used by passing a block, lambda, or method name as a symbol to call. ### Test helpers To avoid code duplication, you can add your own test helpers. Sign in helper can be a good example: ```ruby # test/test_helper.rb module SignInHelper def sign_in_as(user) post sign_in_url(email: user.email, password: user.password) end end class ActionDispatch::IntegrationTest include SignInHelper end ``` ```ruby require 'test_helper' class ProfileControllerTest < ActionDispatch::IntegrationTest test "should show profile" do # helper is now reusable from any controller test case sign_in_as users(:david) get profile_url assert_response :success end end ``` Testing Routes -------------- Like everything else in your Rails application, you can test your routes. Route tests reside in `test/controllers/` or are part of controller tests. NOTE: If your application has complex routes, Rails provides a number of useful helpers to test them. For more information on routing assertions available in Rails, see the API documentation for [`ActionDispatch::Assertions::RoutingAssertions`](http://api.rubyonrails.org/classes/ActionDispatch/Assertions/RoutingAssertions.html). Testing Views ------------- Testing the response to your request by asserting the presence of key HTML elements and their content is a common way to test the views of your application. Like route tests, view tests reside in `test/controllers/` or are part of controller tests. The `assert_select` method allows you to query HTML elements of the response by using a simple yet powerful syntax. There are two forms of `assert_select`: `assert_select(selector, [equality], [message])` ensures that the equality condition is met on the selected elements through the selector. The selector may be a CSS selector expression (String) or an expression with substitution values. `assert_select(element, selector, [equality], [message])` ensures that the equality condition is met on all the selected elements through the selector starting from the _element_ (instance of `Nokogiri::XML::Node` or `Nokogiri::XML::NodeSet`) and its descendants. For example, you could verify the contents on the title element in your response with: ```ruby assert_select 'title', "Welcome to Rails Testing Guide" ``` You can also use nested `assert_select` blocks for deeper investigation. In the following example, the inner `assert_select` for `li.menu_item` runs within the collection of elements selected by the outer block: ```ruby assert_select 'ul.navigation' do assert_select 'li.menu_item' end ``` A collection of selected elements may be iterated through so that `assert_select` may be called separately for each element. For example if the response contains two ordered lists, each with four nested list elements then the following tests will both pass. ```ruby assert_select "ol" do |elements| elements.each do |element| assert_select element, "li", 4 end end assert_select "ol" do assert_select "li", 8 end ``` This assertion is quite powerful. For more advanced usage, refer to its [documentation](https://github.com/rails/rails-dom-testing/blob/master/lib/rails/dom/testing/assertions/selector_assertions.rb). #### Additional View-Based Assertions There are more assertions that are primarily used in testing views: | Assertion | Purpose | | --------------------------------------------------------- | ------- | | `assert_select_email` | Allows you to make assertions on the body of an e-mail. | | `assert_select_encoded` | Allows you to make assertions on encoded HTML. It does this by un-encoding the contents of each element and then calling the block with all the un-encoded elements.| | `css_select(selector)` or `css_select(element, selector)` | Returns an array of all the elements selected by the _selector_. In the second variant it first matches the base _element_ and tries to match the _selector_ expression on any of its children. If there are no matches both variants return an empty array.| Here's an example of using `assert_select_email`: ```ruby assert_select_email do assert_select 'small', 'Please click the "Unsubscribe" link if you want to opt-out.' end ``` Testing Helpers --------------- A helper is just a simple module where you can define methods which are available into your views. In order to test helpers, all you need to do is check that the output of the helper method matches what you'd expect. Tests related to the helpers are located under the `test/helpers` directory. Given we have the following helper: ```ruby module UserHelper def link_to_user(user) link_to "#{user.first_name} #{user.last_name}", user end end ``` We can test the output of this method like this: ```ruby class UserHelperTest < ActionView::TestCase test "should return the user's full name" do user = users(:david) assert_dom_equal %{David Heinemeier Hansson}, link_to_user(user) end end ``` Moreover, since the test class extends from `ActionView::TestCase`, you have access to Rails' helper methods such as `link_to` or `pluralize`. Testing Your Mailers -------------------- Testing mailer classes requires some specific tools to do a thorough job. ### Keeping the Postman in Check Your mailer classes - like every other part of your Rails application - should be tested to ensure that they are working as expected. The goals of testing your mailer classes are to ensure that: * emails are being processed (created and sent) * the email content is correct (subject, sender, body, etc) * the right emails are being sent at the right times #### From All Sides There are two aspects of testing your mailer, the unit tests and the functional tests. In the unit tests, you run the mailer in isolation with tightly controlled inputs and compare the output to a known value (a fixture.) In the functional tests you don't so much test the minute details produced by the mailer; instead, we test that our controllers and models are using the mailer in the right way. You test to prove that the right email was sent at the right time. ### Unit Testing In order to test that your mailer is working as expected, you can use unit tests to compare the actual results of the mailer with pre-written examples of what should be produced. #### Revenge of the Fixtures For the purposes of unit testing a mailer, fixtures are used to provide an example of how the output _should_ look. Because these are example emails, and not Active Record data like the other fixtures, they are kept in their own subdirectory apart from the other fixtures. The name of the directory within `test/fixtures` directly corresponds to the name of the mailer. So, for a mailer named `UserMailer`, the fixtures should reside in `test/fixtures/user_mailer` directory. When you generated your mailer, the generator creates stub fixtures for each of the mailers actions. If you didn't use the generator, you'll have to create those files yourself. #### The Basic Test Case Here's a unit test to test a mailer named `UserMailer` whose action `invite` is used to send an invitation to a friend. It is an adapted version of the base test created by the generator for an `invite` action. ```ruby require 'test_helper' class UserMailerTest < ActionMailer::TestCase test "invite" do # Create the email and store it for further assertions email = UserMailer.create_invite('me@example.com', 'friend@example.com', Time.now) # Send the email, then test that it got queued assert_emails 1 do email.deliver_now end # Test the body of the sent email contains what we expect it to assert_equal ['me@example.com'], email.from assert_equal ['friend@example.com'], email.to assert_equal 'You have been invited by me@example.com', email.subject assert_equal read_fixture('invite').join, email.body.to_s end end ``` In the test we send the email and store the returned object in the `email` variable. We then ensure that it was sent (the first assert), then, in the second batch of assertions, we ensure that the email does indeed contain what we expect. The helper `read_fixture` is used to read in the content from this file. Here's the content of the `invite` fixture: ``` Hi friend@example.com, You have been invited. Cheers! ``` This is the right time to understand a little more about writing tests for your mailers. The line `ActionMailer::Base.delivery_method = :test` in `config/environments/test.rb` sets the delivery method to test mode so that email will not actually be delivered (useful to avoid spamming your users while testing) but instead it will be appended to an array (`ActionMailer::Base.deliveries`). NOTE: The `ActionMailer::Base.deliveries` array is only reset automatically in `ActionMailer::TestCase` and `ActionDispatch::IntegrationTest` tests. If you want to have a clean slate outside these test cases, you can reset it manually with: `ActionMailer::Base.deliveries.clear` ### Functional Testing Functional testing for mailers involves more than just checking that the email body, recipients and so forth are correct. In functional mail tests you call the mail deliver methods and check that the appropriate emails have been appended to the delivery list. It is fairly safe to assume that the deliver methods themselves do their job. You are probably more interested in whether your own business logic is sending emails when you expect them to go out. For example, you can check that the invite friend operation is sending an email appropriately: ```ruby require 'test_helper' class UserControllerTest < ActionDispatch::IntegrationTest test "invite friend" do assert_difference 'ActionMailer::Base.deliveries.size', +1 do post invite_friend_url, params: { email: 'friend@example.com' } end invite_email = ActionMailer::Base.deliveries.last assert_equal "You have been invited by me@example.com", invite_email.subject assert_equal 'friend@example.com', invite_email.to[0] assert_match(/Hi friend@example.com/, invite_email.body.to_s) end end ``` Testing Jobs ------------ Since your custom jobs can be queued at different levels inside your application, you'll need to test both, the jobs themselves (their behavior when they get enqueued) and that other entities correctly enqueue them. ### A Basic Test Case By default, when you generate a job, an associated test will be generated as well under the `test/jobs` directory. Here's an example test with a billing job: ```ruby require 'test_helper' class BillingJobTest < ActiveJob::TestCase test 'that account is charged' do BillingJob.perform_now(account, product) assert account.reload.charged_for?(product) end end ``` This test is pretty simple and only asserts that the job get the work done as expected. By default, `ActiveJob::TestCase` will set the queue adapter to `:test` so that your jobs are performed inline. It will also ensure that all previously performed and enqueued jobs are cleared before any test run so you can safely assume that no jobs have already been executed in the scope of each test. ### Custom Assertions And Testing Jobs Inside Other Components Active Job ships with a bunch of custom assertions that can be used to lessen the verbosity of tests. For a full list of available assertions, see the API documentation for [`ActiveJob::TestHelper`](http://api.rubyonrails.org/classes/ActiveJob/TestHelper.html). It's a good practice to ensure that your jobs correctly get enqueued or performed wherever you invoke them (e.g. inside your controllers). This is precisely where the custom assertions provided by Active Job are pretty useful. For instance, within a model: ```ruby require 'test_helper' class ProductTest < ActiveJob::TestCase test 'billing job scheduling' do assert_enqueued_with(job: BillingJob) do product.charge(account) end end end ``` Additional Testing Resources ---------------------------- ### Testing Time-Dependent Code Rails provides built-in helper methods that enable you to assert that your time-sensitive code works as expected. Here is an example using the [`travel_to`](http://api.rubyonrails.org/classes/ActiveSupport/Testing/TimeHelpers.html#method-i-travel_to) helper: ```ruby # Lets say that a user is eligible for gifting a month after they register. user = User.create(name: 'Gaurish', activation_date: Date.new(2004, 10, 24)) assert_not user.applicable_for_gifting? travel_to Date.new(2004, 11, 24) do assert_equal Date.new(2004, 10, 24), user.activation_date # inside the `travel_to` block `Date.current` is mocked assert user.applicable_for_gifting? end assert_equal Date.new(2004, 10, 24), user.activation_date # The change was visible only inside the `travel_to` block. ``` Please see [`ActiveSupport::Testing::TimeHelpers` API Documentation](http://api.rubyonrails.org/classes/ActiveSupport/Testing/TimeHelpers.html) for in-depth information about the available time helpers.