# acts\_as\_authenticated plugin test help **URL:** \ **Category:** rubyonrails-talk\ **Created:** [December 13, 2006, 5:13pm UTC](https://discuss.rubyonrails.org/t/acts-as-authenticated-plugin-test-help/5804 "2006-12-13T17:13:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![rails.stuff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7c8e57/32.png) [@rails.stuff](https://discuss.rubyonrails.org/u/rails.stuff)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2006, 5:13pm UTC](https://discuss.rubyonrails.org/t/acts-as-authenticated-plugin-test-help/5804/1 "2006-12-13T17:13:22Z")
Hi, We are using acts\_as\_authenticated plugin latest version as of a couple of days back. The before\_filter :login\_required was added to the application controller. So far so good. However the functional tests are all failing as one would expect (perhaps not me though) witha 302 .... exactly - no one is logged in. This is correct behaviour but a pain when function testing. Is there a suggested/recommended course of action to handle this ? I have looked around but have been unsuccessful. PS. I am using the AuthenticatedTestHelper and its \_login\_as\_ method. However this requires that every test method must login. I was just looking for a differnet way ... if there is one. = ) Thank you for all and any help. sinclair ---
**Author:** ![Bala\_Paranj](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/41988e/32.png) [@Bala\_Paranj](https://discuss.rubyonrails.org/u/Bala_Paranj)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2006, 9:40pm UTC](https://discuss.rubyonrails.org/t/acts-as-authenticated-plugin-test-help/5804/2 "2006-12-13T21:40:51Z")
For testing controllers which require login, there was a thread earlier on this list, search for the thread “Testing Actions Requiring A Login”. The Rails Recipes book has a recipe that shows another way to deal with this problem. It shows how to stub out the login functionality so that you can focus on the core application functionality. I am using RESTful authentication plugin and I am still figuring out how to use the suggestions from the above thread. Last night I was getting error message when I passed in the user\_id, I have to look at the source for the generated code so that I can replicate the login in the functional test. I will post an update when I make progress. ---
**Author:** ![Bala\_Paranj](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/41988e/32.png) [@Bala\_Paranj](https://discuss.rubyonrails.org/u/Bala_Paranj)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2006, 4:38am UTC](https://discuss.rubyonrails.org/t/acts-as-authenticated-plugin-test-help/5804/3 "2006-12-14T04:38:03Z")
I resolved my problem. For RESTful authentication, there is a login\_as(user) method in AuthenticatedTestHelper module that sets the current user in the session from the user fixtures. This is under the lib directory. In my functional test, I have: def test\_should\_show\_billing\_profile\_for\_valid\_login login\_as (:aaron) get :show, :id =\> :aaron.id assert\_response :success assert\_select "html:root\>head\>title", "BillingProfiles: show" end users.yml looks like this: quentin:   id: 1   login: quentin   email: quentin@example.com   salt: 7e3041ebc2fc05a40c60028e2c4901a81035d3cd   crypted\_password: 00742970dc9e6319f8019fd54864d3ea740f04b1 # test   created\_at: \<%= 5.days.ago.to\_s :db %\> aaron:   id: 2   login: aaron   email: aaron@example.com   salt: 7e3041ebc2fc05a40c60028e2c4901a81035d3cd   crypted\_password: 00742970dc9e6319f8019fd54864d3ea740f04b1 # test   created\_at: \<%= 1.days.ago.to\_s :db %\> class BillingProfilesController \< ApplicationController   before\_filter :login\_required   def show     @user = User.find(session[:user], :include =\> [:billing\_profile])     @billing\_profile = @user.billing\_profile     respond\_to do |format|       format.html # show.rhtml       format.xml { render :xml =\> @billing\_profile.to\_xml }     end   end The problem was that I was using session[:user\_id] in my controller whereas the RESTful authentication module is using session[:user] as shown below: module AuthenticatedTestHelper   # Sets the current user in the session from the user fixtures.   def login\_as(user)     @request.session[:user] = user ? users(user).id : nil   end .... So I changed my controller code to use session[:user] and my tests now pass! The plugin itself has the API to help you do the functional testing. Very nice indeed. ---
**Author:** ![rails.stuff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7c8e57/32.png) [@rails.stuff](https://discuss.rubyonrails.org/u/rails.stuff)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2006, 3:40pm UTC](https://discuss.rubyonrails.org/t/acts-as-authenticated-plugin-test-help/5804/4 "2006-12-14T15:40:55Z")
Thanks Bala! This is the approach I have taken. sinclair ---
**Author:** ![Bala\_Paranj](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/41988e/32.png) [@Bala\_Paranj](https://discuss.rubyonrails.org/u/Bala_Paranj)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2006, 9:57pm UTC](https://discuss.rubyonrails.org/t/acts-as-authenticated-plugin-test-help/5804/5 "2006-12-14T21:57:22Z")
RESTful authentication is derived from AAA, so it looks like they are very similar. Keep the bar green! I am addicted to autotest now…