rspec users - Nov 2008 - Problems stubbing @controller.stub!(:send)

In one of my controller tests I''m testing a method which uses  
self.send(<private method name>) to do some pre-processing if that  
private method name is defined:

             # If this task requires some additional preperation then  
create a
             # private method below with the same name as the  
task_type and
             # it will be executed here.
             if private_methods.include?(task_type)
               self.send(task_type)
             end

I will be testing these private_methods separately so I want to just  
stub out the "self.send" line so that I can verify that it''s
called if
there''s a match.

If I just stub out :send in my before() method:

       @controller.stub!(:send)

then it appears that a *previous* send is stubbed, and my method never  
gets tested (shown by my first should not getting hit).

If I specify a "with" for that stub:

       @controller.stub!(:send).with(''private method'')

I then get a "stack level too deep" error.

I have similar problems when attempt to use the following instead of  
the before/stub:

     it "should run any private methods if task_type matches" do
       @mock_task.should_receive(:run).and_return(@mock_task)
       @controller.should_receive(:send).with(''private
method'')
       do_request
     end

Here I get the error message "Mock ''TasksController''
expected :send
with ("private method" but received it with (:perform_action)"

Is there any way that I can stub out *just* the :send with "private  
method" and leave the other one alone to execute?

Thank you,

David Schmidt
davids at tower-mt.com

David Schmidt <davids at tower-mt.com> writes:
> In one of my controller tests I''m testing a method which uses
> self.send(<private method name>) to do some pre-processing if that
> private method name is defined:
>
>             # If this task requires some additional preperation then
> create a
>             # private method below with the same name as the
> task_type and
>             # it will be executed here.
>             if private_methods.include?(task_type)
>               self.send(task_type)
>             end
>
> I will be testing these private_methods separately so I want to just
> stub out the "self.send" line so that I can verify that
it''s called if
> there''s a match.
>
> If I just stub out :send in my before() method:
>
>       @controller.stub!(:send)
>
> then it appears that a *previous* send is stubbed, and my method never
> gets tested (shown by my first should not getting hit).
>
> If I specify a "with" for that stub:
>
>       @controller.stub!(:send).with(''private method'')
>
> I then get a "stack level too deep" error.
>
> I have similar problems when attempt to use the following instead of
> the before/stub:
>
>     it "should run any private methods if task_type matches" do
>       @mock_task.should_receive(:run).and_return(@mock_task)
>       @controller.should_receive(:send).with(''private
method'')
>       do_request
>     end
>
> Here I get the error message "Mock ''TasksController''
expected :send
> with ("private method" but received it with
(:perform_action)"
>
> Is there any way that I can stub out *just* the :send with "private
> method" and leave the other one alone to execute?
I''m not sure, but you should be able to stub out :private_method and it
ought to work fine, even when you send it.

Pat

On Nov 4, 2008, at 1:53 PM, Pat Maddox wrote:
> David Schmidt <davids at tower-mt.com> writes:
>
>> In one of my controller tests I''m testing a method which uses
>> self.send(<private method name>) to do some pre-processing if
that
>> private method name is defined:
>>
>>            # If this task requires some additional preperation then
>> create a
>>            # private method below with the same name as the
>> task_type and
>>            # it will be executed here.
>>            if private_methods.include?(task_type)
>>              self.send(task_type)
>>            end
>>
>> I will be testing these private_methods separately so I want to just
>> stub out the "self.send" line so that I can verify that
it''s called
>> if
>> there''s a match.
>>
>> [...]
>> Is there any way that I can stub out *just* the :send with
"private
>> method" and leave the other one alone to execute?
>
> I''m not sure, but you should be able to stub out :private_method
and
> it
> ought to work fine, even when you send it.
>
> Pat
That did the trick and worked great.  Thanks Pat!

David Schmidt
davids at tower-mt.com