rspec users - Jun 2007 - Can I stub a method on a belongs_to association:

describe Asset, " when destroyed" do
  fixtures :assets, :videos, :sites, :publish_settings

  before(:each) do
    @asset = assets(:test_asset)
    @mock_hook = mock("hook")
    @asset.video.stub!(:hook).and_return @mock_hook   # error occurs here
  end

  it "should call the delete hook" do
    @mock_hook.should_receive(:update).with("test_video", :asset_id
=>
@assetid, :asset_action => "destroy")
    @asset.destroy
  end
end

NameError in ''Asset when destroyed should call the delete
hook''
undefined method `hook'' for class
`ActiveRecord::Associations::BelongsToAssociation''

I''m not sure why I can''t stub the hook method on the video
proxy...I
need to though, because my implementation is

video.hook.update....

Any ideas?
Pat

Stub @asset''s :video first, i.e.

@mock_video_proxy = mock("assay.video proxy")
@asset.stub!(:video).and_return(@mock_video_proxy)
@assay.video.stub!(:hook).and_return @mock_hook

Generally mocking starts to get frustrating when the code you''re
mocking
doesn''t follow the Law of Demeter. I have been creating helper methods
for
these things, e.g.

def mock_video_proxy
  @mock_video_proxy ||= begin
    proxy = mock("assay.video proxy")
    @asset.stub!(:video).and_return(proxy)
    proxy
  end
  proxy
end

so you can just use

mock_video_proxy.stub!(:hook).and_return @mock_hook

in any spec. I think there might be a better way, though. I''m not sure
it''s
worth it to use mocks in this situation since you''re already using
fixtures.
Why not just check the expected outcome of the hook method?

Moses

On 6/26/07, Pat Maddox <pergesu at gmail.com>
wrote:
>
> describe Asset, " when destroyed" do
>   fixtures :assets, :videos, :sites, :publish_settings
>
>   before(:each) do
>     @asset = assets(:test_asset)
>     @mock_hook = mock("hook")
>     @asset.video.stub!(:hook).and_return @mock_hook   # error occurs here
>   end
>
>   it "should call the delete hook" do
>     @mock_hook.should_receive(:update).with("test_video",
:asset_id =>
> @assetid, :asset_action => "destroy")
>     @asset.destroy
>   end
> end
>
> NameError in ''Asset when destroyed should call the delete
hook''
> undefined method `hook'' for class
> `ActiveRecord::Associations::BelongsToAssociation''
>
> I''m not sure why I can''t stub the hook method on the
video proxy...I
> need to though, because my implementation is
>
> video.hook.update....
>
> Any ideas?
> Pat
> _______________________________________________
> rspec-users mailing list
> rspec-users at rubyforge.org
> http://rubyforge.org/mailman/listinfo/rspec-users
>
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On 6/26/07, Moses Hohman <moses.hohman at gmail.com>
wrote:
> Stub @asset''s :video first, i.e.
>
> @mock_video_proxy = mock("assay.video proxy")
> @asset.stub!(:video).and_return(@mock_video_proxy)
> @assay.video.stub!(:hook).and_return @mock_hook
>
> Generally mocking starts to get frustrating when the code you''re
mocking
> doesn''t follow the Law of Demeter. I have been creating helper
methods for
> these things, e.g.
>
> def mock_video_proxy
>   @mock_video_proxy ||= begin
>     proxy = mock("assay.video proxy")
>     @asset.stub!(:video).and_return(proxy)
>     proxy
>   end
>   proxy
> end
>
> so you can just use
>
> mock_video_proxy.stub!(:hook).and_return @mock_hook
>
> in any spec. I think there might be a better way, though. I''m not
sure it''s
> worth it to use mocks in this situation since you''re already using
fixtures.
> Why not just check the expected outcome of the hook method?
>
> Moses
I don''t really want to stub too much since this is kind of an
integration test at the model level.  I also can''t check the expected
outcome of the hook method because it makes a network call.

Basically I want to test everything except for the hook method itself,
because that''s thoroughly tested elsewhere.  So I just need to make
sure that it gets called.

Pat

On 6/26/07, Pat Maddox <pergesu at gmail.com>
wrote:
> I don''t really want to stub too much since this is kind of an
> integration test at the model level.  I also can''t check the
expected
> outcome of the hook method because it makes a network call.
What is the actual error?

On 6/26/07, Courtenay <court3nay at gmail.com>
wrote:
> On 6/26/07, Pat Maddox <pergesu at gmail.com> wrote:
> > I don''t really want to stub too much since this is kind of an
> > integration test at the model level.  I also can''t check the
expected
> > outcome of the hook method because it makes a network call.
>
> What is the actual error?
> _______________________________________________
> rspec-users mailing list
> rspec-users at rubyforge.org
> http://rubyforge.org/mailman/listinfo/rspec-users
>
NameError in ''Asset when destroyed should call the delete
hook''
undefined method `hook'' for class
`ActiveRecord::Associations::BelongsToAssociation''