How do I test a local variable inside a controller with Rspec?

Question

In my Dashboard#Index, I have this:

  def index        
    tagged_nodes = Node.includes(:user_tags).tagged_with(current_user.email)    
  end

How do I test this with RSpec?

I tried:

  expect(assigns(tagged_nodes)).to match Node.includes(:user_tags).tagged_with(u1.email)

But that gives me this error:

 NameError:
       undefined local variable or method `tagged_nodes' for #<RSpec::ExampleGroups::DashboardController::GETIndex:0x007fe4edd7f058>

Jordan Running · Accepted Answer · 2015-05-04 22:07:25Z

10

You cannot (and should not) test local variables. However, you can and should test instance variables, which are the ones that start with @. For that you use the assigns helper, passing it the name of the instance variable as a symbol. If we want the value of the instance variable @tagged_nodes, we call assigns(:tagged_nodes) (note the :).

So if your controller method looks like this:

def index        
  @tagged_nodes = Node.includes(:user_tags).tagged_with(current_user.email)    
end

...you would access @tagged_nodes with assigns(:tagged_nodes):

expect(assigns(:tagged_nodes))
  .to match Node.includes(:user_tags).tagged_with(u1.email)

edited May 4, 2015 at 22:07

answered May 4, 2015 at 22:01

Jordan Running

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2 Comments

marcamillion Over a year ago

Yeh....I know how to test instance variables. So should I have no local variables in my controller?

Jordan Running Over a year ago

You can have local variables, but you don't need to test them. You should test the controller's outward behavior: given a certain request, what response it gives (or what data it passes to the view). Local variables are private state and in general you don't test private state.

rakwaht · Accepted Answer · 2017-08-30 14:03:52Z

-1

Try this code:

def index        
  tagged_nodes = Node.includes(:user_tags).tagged_with(current_user.email)    
end

you would access tagged_nodes with controller.tagged_nodes

expect(controller.tagged_nodes)
  .to match Node.includes(:user_tags).tagged_with(u1.email)

edited Aug 30, 2017 at 14:03

rakwaht

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answered Aug 30, 2017 at 13:21

Sumit.Daksh

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