rspec users - Sep 2010 - Testing forms

I''m testing a view that renders a form to edit an object.  I''d
like to test that the form correctly populates the form with the
object''s attributes'' current values.  I tried several
variations on mock_model and stub_model in order to maintain view/model
separation--for instance:

require "spec_helper"

describe "informational_widget_frameworks/edit.html.erb" do
  describe "rendered items" do
    before(:each) do
      @iwf = mock_model(InformationalWidgetFramework,
        :heading => "IWF Heading",
      ).as_null_object
      assign(:informational_widget_framework, @iwf)
      render
    end
    
    it "should show ''IWF Heading''" do
      rendered.should include("IWF Heading")
    end
  end
end

However, when the view is rendered, the value for the text_field bound to
@informational_widget_framework.heading is populated with
"InformationalWidgetFramework_1025".  I''ve tried changing the
example to:

it "should show ''IWF Heading''" do
  @iwf.should_receive(:heading).and_return("IWF Heading")
  rendered.should include("IWF Heading")
end

But, this gives the same results.  Using stub_model similarly doesn''t
populate the form fields with anything at all.  The only way I can get these
examples to pass is by using the following for my before block:

before(:each) do
  @iwf = InformationalWidgetFramework.create(
    :heading => "IWF Heading",
  )

  assign(:informational_widget_framework, @iwf)
  render
end

I''m clearly missing something here...can someone clue me in?

Thanks.

Brennon Bortz
Software Researcher
Dundalk Institute of Technology
brennon.bortz at casala.ie
Ph.D. Researcher & Composer - Sonic Arts Research Centre
Queen''s University, Belfast
brennon at brennonbortz.com / bbortz01 at qub.ac.uk

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On Sep 18, 2010, at 7:01 AM, Brennon Bortz wrote:
> I''m testing a view that renders a form to edit an object. 
I''d like to test that the form correctly populates the form with the
object''s attributes'' current values.  I tried several
variations on mock_model and stub_model in order to maintain view/model
separation--for instance:
> 
> require "spec_helper"
> 
> describe "informational_widget_frameworks/edit.html.erb" do
>   describe "rendered items" do
>     before(:each) do
>       @iwf = mock_model(InformationalWidgetFramework,
>         :heading => "IWF Heading",
>       ).as_null_object
>       assign(:informational_widget_framework, @iwf)
>       render
>     end
>     
>     it "should show ''IWF Heading''" do
>       rendered.should include("IWF Heading")
>     end
>   end
> end
> 
> However, when the view is rendered, the value for the text_field bound to
@informational_widget_framework.heading is populated with
"InformationalWidgetFramework_1025".  I''ve tried changing the
example to:
> 
> it "should show ''IWF Heading''" do
>   @iwf.should_receive(:heading).and_return("IWF Heading")
>   rendered.should include("IWF Heading")
> end
> 
> But, this gives the same results.  Using stub_model similarly
doesn''t populate the form fields with anything at all.  The only way I
can get these examples to pass is by using the following for my before block:
> 
> before(:each) do
>   @iwf = InformationalWidgetFramework.create(
>     :heading => "IWF Heading",
>   )
> 
>   assign(:informational_widget_framework, @iwf)
>   render
> end
> 
> I''m clearly missing something here...can someone clue me in?
What is the view using to render this field? Also, what versions? There was an
as_null_object + rails 3 bug in beta.20 that got fixed in beta.22.