daze wrote in post #970337:
Let's see your error messages. But why the heck are you defining an
object like this anyway? What are you trying to achieve?
I'm trying to get a test for acts_as_list working. I've defined a
method in test_helper that I use in my unit tests:
# tests acts as list and default_scope :order => 'position'
def self.should_act_as_list(options = {})
klass = self.name.gsub(/Test$/, "").constantize # converts string
to class
Nonononono. Don't do it that way. With RSpec, you'd write a custom
matcher class; I don't know if the same thing is done with Shoulda. But
you're getting too complex here and asking for trouble.
Please read about how custom should_* methods are supposed to be
written.
context "acting as a list" do
setup do # DON'T DO THIS???
#@instance = klass.all[0]
end
What on earth is that for?
should "have a position column" do
instance = klass.first
assert_not_nil instance.position, :message => "If you see me,
check
out the POSITION."
end
That won't actually do what you want -- it will just make sure that
position is not nil. You'd have to check the columns array or use
respond_to? to do what you're trying for here.
should "move objects correctly" do
instance = klass.first
instance.move_to_bottom
assert_equal klass.all[-1], instance
instance.move_higher
assert_equal klass.all[-2], instance
instance.move_to_top
assert_equal klass.first, instance
instance.move_lower
assert_equal klass.all[1], instance
end
Probably not necessary -- you're testing acts_as_list here, which is
presumably already well tested.
You are really doing things the hard way here. Learn a bit more about
Ruby's metaprogramming...
[...]
...and I'm sure that my test db is populated whenever I run my tests...
You shouldn't have to be sure of that beforehand; rather, you should be
using factories to create records for tests on the fly.
I want my development and test dbs to be the same,
No you don't. You want the *schemas* to be the same, but you want only
specially crafted test data in your test DB.
so I thought using
the seeds.rb file - which in my case uses Factories
Your seeds file probably should not be using factories.
- in conjunction
with rake db:seed RAILS_ENV=test would be the best way. There are
some things I want to have set names for, like sections - they'll
always be Sports, News, etc. Other things like Articles, though, I
generate in the seeds file en masse.
Is my methodology totally wrong?
Yes.
Should I be testing acts_as_list's
functionality in a totally different way?
That's a separate question from seeds.
I mean, are you saying I should create records in the "setup" method
for each unit test rather than populate the db with that rake db:seed
RAILS_ENV=test command?
Yes. Seeding the test database is never a good idea (this is why
fixtures are dangerous), because it becomes difficult to make sure your
tests don't share state, and also because it becomes difficult to keep
track of the assumptions you're making. Use factories to create only
the actual records you need for each test case (generally less than 10).
And do check out RSpec when you get a chance. 
Best,
