How can I call controller/view helper methods from the console in Ruby on Rails?

Question

When I load script/console, sometimes I want to play with the output of a controller or a view helper method.

Are there ways to:

• simulate a request?
• call methods from a controller instance on said request?
• test helper methods, either via said controller instance or another way?

Answer 1

To call helpers, use the helper object:

$ ./script/console
>> helper.number_to_currency('123.45')
=> "R$ 123,45"

If you want to use a helper that's not included by default (say, because you removed helper :all from ApplicationController), just include the helper.

>> include BogusHelper
>> helper.bogus
=> "bogus output"

As for dealing with controllers, I quote Nick's answer:

> app.get '/posts/1'
> response = app.response
# you now have a rails response object much like the integration tests

> response.body            # get you the HTML
> response.cookies         # hash of the cookies

# etc, etc