I am running a Rails 6 application (edge branch) and by default it comes with a test_helper.rb file which all the empty tests require by default:
require 'test_helper'
class UserTest < ActiveSupport::TestCase
# test "the truth" do
# assert true
# end
end
I am new to testing in Rails and when I read about info from other gems (e.g. https://github.com/chrisalley/pundit-matchers), they all mention 'spec_helper' and 'rails_helper' files, but never 'test_helper'.
They all also mention adjusting config settings in the _helper file, however my default test_helper file looks like this:
ENV['RAILS_ENV'] ||= 'test'
require_relative '../config/environment'
require 'rails/test_help'
class ActiveSupport::TestCase
# Run tests in parallel with specified workers
parallelize(workers: :number_of_processors)
# Setup all fixtures in test/fixtures/*.yml for all tests in alphabetical order.
fixtures :all
# Add more helper methods to be used by all tests here...
end
With no config area... what do I write here to get that?
Edit:
So I ran rails generate rspec:install and generated:
create .rspec
create spec
create spec/spec_helper.rb
create spec/rails_helper.rb
I guess I am still a bit confused, why does rails 6 provide me with a test directory if I am then going to have to build it all again?
I guess my issue is that what is there by default (in the test directory) does not seem as powerful vs what is provided in the spec directory. For example, compare the test_helper.rb above to the spec_helper.rb below:
# This file was generated by the `rails generate rspec:install` command. Conventionally, all
# specs live under a `spec` directory, which RSpec adds to the `$LOAD_PATH`.
# The generated `.rspec` file contains `--require spec_helper` which will cause
# this file to always be loaded, without a need to explicitly require it in any
# files.
#
# Given that it is always loaded, you are encouraged to keep this file as
# light-weight as possible. Requiring heavyweight dependencies from this file
# will add to the boot time of your test suite on EVERY test run, even for an
# individual file that may not need all of that loaded. Instead, consider making
# a separate helper file that requires the additional dependencies and performs
# the additional setup, and require it from the spec files that actually need
# it.
#
# See http://rubydoc.info/gems/rspec-core/RSpec/Core/Configuration
RSpec.configure do |config|
# rspec-expectations config goes here. You can use an alternate
# assertion/expectation library such as wrong or the stdlib/minitest
# assertions if you prefer.
config.expect_with :rspec do |expectations|
# This option will default to `true` in RSpec 4. It makes the `description`
# and `failure_message` of custom matchers include text for helper methods
# defined using `chain`, e.g.:
# be_bigger_than(2).and_smaller_than(4).description
# # => "be bigger than 2 and smaller than 4"
# ...rather than:
# # => "be bigger than 2"
expectations.include_chain_clauses_in_custom_matcher_descriptions = true
end
# rspec-mocks config goes here. You can use an alternate test double
# library (such as bogus or mocha) by changing the `mock_with` option here.
config.mock_with :rspec do |mocks|
# Prevents you from mocking or stubbing a method that does not exist on
# a real object. This is generally recommended, and will default to
# `true` in RSpec 4.
mocks.verify_partial_doubles = true
end
# This option will default to `:apply_to_host_groups` in RSpec 4 (and will
# have no way to turn it off -- the option exists only for backwards
# compatibility in RSpec 3). It causes shared context metadata to be
# inherited by the metadata hash of host groups and examples, rather than
# triggering implicit auto-inclusion in groups with matching metadata.
config.shared_context_metadata_behavior = :apply_to_host_groups
# The settings below are suggested to provide a good initial experience
# with RSpec, but feel free to customize to your heart's content.
=begin
# This allows you to limit a spec run to individual examples or groups
# you care about by tagging them with `:focus` metadata. When nothing
# is tagged with `:focus`, all examples get run. RSpec also provides
# aliases for `it`, `describe`, and `context` that include `:focus`
# metadata: `fit`, `fdescribe` and `fcontext`, respectively.
config.filter_run_when_matching :focus
# Allows RSpec to persist some state between runs in order to support
# the `--only-failures` and `--next-failure` CLI options. We recommend
# you configure your source control system to ignore this file.
config.example_status_persistence_file_path = "spec/examples.txt"
# Limits the available syntax to the non-monkey patched syntax that is
# recommended. For more details, see:
# - http://rspec.info/blog/2012/06/rspecs-new-expectation-syntax/
# - http://www.teaisaweso.me/blog/2013/05/27/rspecs-new-message-expectation-syntax/
# - http://rspec.info/blog/2014/05/notable-changes-in-rspec-3/#zero-monkey-patching-mode
config.disable_monkey_patching!
# Many RSpec users commonly either run the entire suite or an individual
# file, and it's useful to allow more verbose output when running an
# individual spec file.
if config.files_to_run.one?
# Use the documentation formatter for detailed output,
# unless a formatter has already been configured
# (e.g. via a command-line flag).
config.default_formatter = "doc"
end
# Print the 10 slowest examples and example groups at the
# end of the spec run, to help surface which specs are running
# particularly slow.
config.profile_examples = 10
# Run specs in random order to surface order dependencies. If you find an
# order dependency and want to debug it, you can fix the order by providing
# the seed, which is printed after each run.
# --seed 1234
config.order = :random
# Seed global randomization in this process using the `--seed` CLI option.
# Setting this allows you to use `--seed` to deterministically reproduce
# test failures related to randomization by passing the same `--seed` value
# as the one that triggered the failure.
Kernel.srand config.seed
=end
end
The reason why you get a test_helper.rb file instead of an spec_helper.rb file is because rails comes with Minitest as the default framework to write the tests, on the other hand rails has the possibility to use other testing frameworks as Rspec installing it as you mentioned.
In the case, for example of https://github.com/chrisalley/pundit-matchers it says that is a set of RSpec matchers for testing Pundit, so in this case you need to use Rspec in order to use this matchers. If you want to keep using Minitest you probably have to look to a similar option of matchers but for Minitest.
Wether if Rspec or Minispec is better depends on the different aspects of the project and the organizations but both options are powerful options to write tests.
There are more articles in Stack Overflow related to the configuration in Rspec and Minitest, for example:
How is spec/rails_helper.rb different from spec/spec_helper.rb? Do I need it?.
You can also take a look at the documentation for both Rspec and Minitest.
There are also tools to transform your Minitest files to Rspec files like: