Run a rake task in all environments
Use like this:
power-rake db:migrate VERSION=20100913132321
By default the environments development, test, cucumber and performance are considered. The script will not run rake on a production or staging environment.
This script is part of our geordi gem on github.
Run a single example group in RSpec
To only run a single describe/context block in a long spec, you can say
spec spec/models/note_spec.rb:545
... where the describe block starts at line 545.
Note: This will only run examples that are direct children of this block, not descendants further down (when nesting describe/context blocks).
You may also pass the line of an it block to run this exact one.
Ruby: How to collect a Hash from an Array
There are many different methods that allow mapping an Array to a Hash in Ruby.
Array#to_h with a block (Ruby 2.6+)
You can call an array with a block that is called with each element. The block must return a [key, value] tuple.
This is useful if both the hash key and value can be derived from each array element:
users = User.all
user_names_by_id = users.to_h { |user| [user.id, user.name] }
{
1 => "Alice",
2 => "Bob"
}
Array#to_h on an array of key/value tuples (Ruby 2.1+)
Converts an Array ...
Testing state_machine callbacks without touching the database
You should test the callback methods and its correct invocation in two separate tests. Understand the ActiveRecord note before you move on with this note.
Say this is your Spaceship class with a transition launch and a release_docking_clamps callback:
class Spaceship
state_machine :state, :initial => :docked do
event :launch do
transition :docked => :en_route
end
before_transition :on => :launch, :do => :release_doc...
Strip carriage returns in submitted textareas
When submitting textareas, browsers sometimes include carriage returns (\r) instead of just line feeds (\n) at the end of each line. I don't know when this happens, and most of the time it doesn't matter.
In cases where it does matter, use the attached trait to remove carriage returns from one or more attributes like this:
class Note
does 'strip_carriage_returns', :prose, :code
end
Here is the test that goes with it:
describe Note do
describe 'before_validation' do...
Fix a spec that only runs when called directly
When a spec only runs when it is called directly, but not as part of the whole test suite, make sure the filename is foo_spec.rb instead of just foo.rb.
Using RSpec stubs and mocks in Cucumber
By default, Cucumber uses mocha. This note shows to use RSpec stubs and mocks instead.
Rspec 1 / Rails 2
Put the following into your env.rb:
require 'spec/stubs/cucumber'
Rspec 2 / Rails 3
Put the following into your env.rb:
require 'cucumber/rspec/doubles'
Note: Since Cucumber 4 it is important to require these lines in the env.rb and not any other file in support/* to register the hooks after any other After hook in support/*. Otherwise your doubles are removed, while other After steps requi...
Know your Haml comments
There are two distinct ways of commenting Haml markup: HTML and Ruby.
HTML comments
This will create an HTML comment that will be sent to the client (aka browser):
/= link_to 'Example', 'www.example.com'
This produces the following HTML:
<!-- = link_to 'Example', 'www.example.com' -->
Only use this variant if you need the comment to appear in the HTML.
Ruby comments
This will comment code so it will not be sent to the client:
-# = link_to 'foo'
99% of the time you'll be adding notes f...
Debug Ruby code
This is an awesome gadget in your toolbox, even if your test coverage is great.
-
gem install ruby-debug(Ruby 1.8) orgem install debugger(Ruby 1.9) - Start your server with
script/server --debugger - Set a breakpoint by invoking
debuggeranywhere in your code - Open your application in the browser and run the code path that crosses the breakpoint
- Once you reach the breakpoint, the page loading will seem to "hang".
- Switch to the shell you started the server with. That shell will be running an irb session where you can step thr...
Override e-mail recipients in ActionMailer
Our gem Mail Magnet allows you to override e-mail recipients in ActionMailer so all mails go to a given address.
This is useful for staging environments where you want to test production-like mail delivery without sending e-mails to real users.
Use Shoulda's validate_uniqueness_of matcher correctly
This raises "Could not find first Keyword":
describe Keyword do
it { should validate_uniqueness_of(:text) }
end
Do this instead:
describe Keyword do
it 'should have a unique #text' do
Keyword.make
should validate_uniqueness_of(:text)
end
end
This is the intended behavior.
Automatically run bundle exec if required
There will probably be better solutions as we become more experienced with using Bundler, and more command line tools become Bundler-aware.
b will use bundle exec if there is a Gemfile in the working directory, and run the call without Bundler otherwise.
b spec spec
This script is part of our geordi gem on github.
Airbrake notification in Rake tasks
Put
def task_with_hoptoad_notification(options)
task(options) do
begin
yield
rescue Exception => e
Airbrake.notify(e)
raise e
end
end
end
at the top of the Rakefile, and replace all relevant
task :my_task => :environment do
do_something
end
with
task_with_hoptoad_notification :my_task => :environment do
do_something
end
This will use the usual notification rules, i.e. you won't get anything in the development or test environments.
...
Bundler for Rails 2.3.x
Update RubyGems and Passenger
Bundler requires Rubygems >= 1.3.6. Run gem update --system if you have an older version.
It also is not compatible with older versions of passenger, so bring that up to date as well (2.2.15 works).
If you installed RubyGems through apt (which you should never do!), you may see a message giving you a hint to use apt to update.
Some people advise to install the 'rubygems-update-1.3.7' gem on Ubuntu systems if you used apt to install RubyGems.
I did that - and lost all...
Rails: Preloading associations in loaded records
Sometimes you want to fetch associations for an ActiveRecord that you already loaded, e.g. when it has deeply nested associations.
Edge Rider gives your models a static method preload_associations. The method can be used to preload associations for loaded objects like this:
class UsersController < ApplicationController
def show
@user = User.find(params[:id])
@user.preload_associations(threads: { posts: :author }, messages: :sender)
end
end
The attached initializers re...
Defining custom RSpec matchers
There are three ways to define your own RSpec matchers, with increasing complexibility and options:
1) Use RSpec::Matchers.define
RSpec::Matchers.define :be_a_multiple_of do |expected|
match do |actual|
actual % expected == 0
end
# optional
failure_message do |actual|
"expected that #{actual} would be a multiple of #{expected}"
end
# optional
failure_message_when_negated do |actual|
"expected that #{actual} would not be a multiple of #{expected}"
end
end
- This is automatically available i...
Efficiently add an event listener to many elements
When you need to add a event listener to hundreds of elements, this might slow down the browser.
An alternative is to register an event listener at the root of the DOM tree (document). Then wait for events to bubble up and check whether the triggering element (event.target) matches the selector before you run your callback.
This technique is called event delegation.
Performance considerations
Because you only register a single listener, registering is ...
InfoQ: How to Design a Good API & Why it Matters
A well-written API can be a great asset to the organization that wrote it and to all that use it. Given the importance of good API design, surprisingly little has been written on the subject. In this talk (recorded at Javapolis), Java library designer Joshua Bloch teaches how to design good APIs, with many examples of what good and bad APIs look like.
Spec correct routing of custom URLs
When you roll custom URLs with hacks like routing-filter, you can put a spec like this into spec/routing/routing_spec.rb:
Test e-mail dispatch in Cucumber
Spreewald has steps that let you test that e-mails have been sent, using arbitrary conditions in any combination.
The attached file is for legacy purposes only.
Testing validates_format_of with Shoulda matchers
Don't use should validate_format_of(...) because that matcher works in weird ways. Use the allow_value matcher instead:
describe Email, '#sender' do
# > Rspec 3 should syntax
it { should allow_value("email@addresse.foo").for(:sender) }
it { should_not allow_value("foo").for(:sender) }
# Rspec 3 expect syntax
it { is_expected.to allow_value("email@addresse.foo").for(:sender) }
it { is_expected.not_to allow_value("foo").for(:sender) }
end
Errors that may occur if you do use should validate_format_of(...):
...
Regular Expressions - Cheat Sheet
You can write regular expressions some different ways, e.g. /regex/ and %r{regex}. For examples, look here.
Remember that it is always a good idea to match a regex visually first.
Characters
Literal Characters
[ ] \ ^ $ . | ? * + ( )
Character Classes
[ae] matches a and e, e.g. gr[ae]y => grey or gray => but NOT graay or graey
[0-9] ...
Multi-line step arguments in Cucumber
The following example is from the Cucumber wiki:
Given a blog post named "Random" with Markdown body
"""
Some Title, Eh?
==============
Here is the first paragraph of my blog post. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet,
consectetur adipiscing elit.
"""
That multi-line string will be given as the last block argument in your step definitions:
Given /^a blog post named "([^\"]*)" with Markdown body$/ do |title, markdown|
Post.create!(:title =...
rspec_candy is now a gem
Our awesome collection of rspec helpers (formerly known as "spec_candy.rb") is now available as a gem. It works, it is tested and there will be updates.
Usage
Add rspec_candy to your Gemfile.
Add require 'rspec_candy/helpers' to your spec_helper.rb, after the rspec requires.