rspec users - Jun 2011 - tags and spec_helper

I''ve been trying to separate out some fast specs in a Rails app in a
Gary Bernhardt style[1], and I experimented with using tags.

The problem with using tags is that in order to scan the specs for examples that
match the tags, it loads every spec file, most of which require spec_helper,
which loads Rails, and so takes 5-6 seconds. Thereby totally defeating the
original purpose.

One idea I have is to put some if statements into spec_helper to check the tags
that were passed to RSpec and only load the rails env if necessary. Is that
possible?

Has anyone else tried doing anything like this?

cheers,
Matt

matt at mattwynne.net
07974 430184

[1]
https://www.destroyallsoftware.com/screencasts/catalog/fast-tests-with-and-without-rails

On Jun 24, 2011, at 11:55 AM, Matt Wynne wrote:
> I''ve been trying to separate out some fast specs in a Rails app in
a Gary Bernhardt style[1], and I experimented with using tags.
> 
> The problem with using tags is that in order to scan the specs for examples
that match the tags, it loads every spec file, most of which require
spec_helper, which loads Rails, and so takes 5-6 seconds. Thereby totally
defeating the original purpose.
> 
> One idea I have is to put some if statements into spec_helper to check the
tags that were passed to RSpec and only load the rails env if necessary. Is that
possible?
What I''m about to tell you is used internally, is not a formal API, and
is subject to change without notice. That said, for the moment,  you can do
this:

if !RSpec.configuration.inclusion_filter[:no_rails]
  # ... load rails
end

rspec spec --tag no_rails

I created https://github.com/rspec/rspec-core/issues/416 to address formalizing
an API for this. Comments/suggestions/patches welcome.

Cheers,
David
> Has anyone else tried doing anything like this?
> 
> cheers,
> Matt
> 
> matt at mattwynne.net
> 07974 430184
> 
> [1]
https://www.destroyallsoftware.com/screencasts/catalog/fast-tests-with-and-without-rails