HashFactory¶ ↑

Light-weight Rails test factory¶ ↑

Install¶ ↑

gem install hash_factory

Add this line to the top of test/test_helper.rb

require 'test_help' # this should already be here
HashFactory.setup

Lets start with the calling code¶ ↑

I like to setup my test data in the test.

• Along the lines of

  test "A User with a blank last name should be invalid" do
    @user = create_user :last_name => ''
    assert @user.invalid?
  end
  

A few things to notice:¶ ↑

No Factory calls, these methods are global to the test, do I really need the namespace, will I ever need a SomethingElse.create_user

I define the arguments relevant to the test explicitly. I dont need to look at the implementation to see if the user has a last_name.

I assume the factory handles the rest and passes me a ‘VALID’ instance.

Test things in isolation¶ ↑

A factory that returns an invalid instance will eventually cause a failure that ripples through your test code.

How to use it¶ ↑

• create a factories directory:

  mkdir test/factories
  

Add a module to this folder and the methods automatically become available in your tests.

• Mine tend to look like this:

  module UserFactory
  
    def create_user(options={})
      build :user, user_options(options)
    end
  
    def user_options(options={})
      {
        :first_name => 'Jim',
        :last_name => 'Bean',
        :email => "jim@example.com",
        :account => options[:account] || create_account
      }.merge(options)
    end
  end
  

Add as many or as few files as you like.

The advantage of using this plugin is you can build your objects any way you like.

Don’t worry about protected attributes the ‘build’ method handles it for you.

Pluralization Issues¶ ↑

Be sure to update your ‘initializers/inflections.rb’ If you get an Constant missing error when loading a factory.

Factory love in the console.¶ ↑

Call

require 'hash_factory'
HashFactory.load_in(self)

Or event better

copy the file:

config/initializers/factory_in_console.rb

and it’s always there waiting for you.

Copyright © 2009 [Brent Greeff], released under the MIT license