In the particular case of super, another approach, though perhaps not using the
spec framework, would be to assert (a la Test::Unit) that your class is a
subclass of the intended superclass. To be truly anal, also assert that the
superclass has a method with the same name as the subclass's method of interest
and that the subclass has that method, too. But all this seems deeply into the
xUnit world, and far from the BDD way.
Al
----- Original Message ----
From: John D. Hume <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: rspec-users <rspec-users@rubyforge.org>
Sent: Saturday, May 3, 2008 7:49:11 AM
Subject: Re: [rspec-users] spec'ing calls to super (or other Ruby keywords)
I believe calls to super are sufficiently internal to the Ruby interpreter that
a mocking framework can't intercept them without doing separate implementations
for separate Ruby interpreters (and likely even separate versions). I could be
wrong, but even so I'd recommend a different approach.
If your need is really as simple as your example, what you have is just a
method that has to get two things done: the base save and one additional call.
You can write one (or more) example for each of those two things without your
spec knowing that one of those things gets done by calling super. (You might
object that by spec'ing the base #save behavior you're spec'ing the framework.
I'd say you're USING the framework to spec something your code does. To be
clear, I'm not suggesting you spec every detail of what save does: just
something to make sure the record actually lands in the db.)
(Sidebar: Keep in mind the return value if you're really overriding #save like
that.)
If you're dead set on spec'ing that the super method gets called, there are a
couple of hideous ways of doing it that will leak out of your example. Namely,
you can (in your spec) redefine the method in the superclass and verify it gets
called or (also in your spec, and this one's a little less leaky) have the
class under test include a module that defines the same method and verify it
gets called. Don't do either of those though (unless it's just to prove to
yourself that they're possible).
-hume.
On Fri, May 2, 2008 at 5:17 PM, Matt McNeil <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
Hi there,
How does one spec an invocation of a Ruby keyword, such as super in this
case?
class User < ActiveResource::Base
# faking the ActiveRecord before/after_save observers
def save
super
UserMailer.deliver_activation(self) if recently_activated?
end
end
Does the solution look anything like the following?
describe User do
describe '#save' do
it "should call save on the parent class" do
# something.should_receive(:something)
@user.save
end
end
end
Any thoughts?
Thanks much,
Matt
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