Why is the test DB not wiped upon entering a test case?

rubyonrails-talk
1

Hello Group.

I might be misunderstanding, but this does not make sense to me at all.

The reason there is a test database in the first place is that it gives you a reliable state at the beginning of each TestCase/test/context/spec. To me, this implies that when I do not load fixtures at all, I get an empty DB (this IS a boundary condition, and I have to test it).

Also between different model's tests, the DB is never cleaned, given I have no fixtures statements.

How can I ensure I have a DB that is clean except for the structure in a TestCase/test/context/spec? Model.delete_all in the setup method? What if I need my fixtures later in the test case? Model.delete_all in the test methods themselves? Another test case? This all looks like workarounds to me.

I'd be happy to be proven wrong, but this does look like a design error to me. Wouldn't it be more concise to just wipe the test DB upon entering a TestCase/context?

Regards, Timm Gebhart

P.S.: This is my first post to this group. I am a web developer from Germany, and found RoR to be a perfect match for me about 3 months ago. So please excuse my ignorance and grammar errors.

2

I believe you need to implement the setup and teardown methods in a test case. Otherwise the tests don’t clear out the database. Those methods should be automatically called before and after a test case.

Here’s an absolutely fabulous blog post that lists testing resources.

http://bparanj.blogspot.com/2006/11/resources-for-testing-ruby-on-rails.html