RSpec+Capybara request specs w/ JS not working

Question

I cannot get request specs working when using Javascript. My specs pass if I run them without Javascript (the page is built to work with or without JS).

Specifically, the specs fail when I do assertions like Post.should have(1).record . Capybara just doesn't pick up the records from the DB, and the database is not cleaned between runs.

I've tried using DatabaseCleaner with transactional fixtures disabled - the common approach to this, I guess. No dice.

I've also tried (and, would ideally prefer) running without DatabaseCleaner, using transactional fixtures and forcing AR to share the same connection between threads ( a patch described by José Valim ). Again, no dice.

Additionally, I've also tried switching between Capybara-webkit and Selenium - the issue persists.

I've put up a sample app with just a basic Post scaffold, that replicates the problem: https://github.com/cabgfx/js-specs There's a spec_helper.rb with transactional fixtures and AR shared connection, and a spec_helper_database_cleaner.rb for the other scenario.

I normally use Spork, but I've disabled it in both spec_helper.rb files, just to eliminate a potential point of failure (in both apps; the "real" one and the sample app).

I develop locally using Pow on a Macbook Air, running OS X 10.7.3 with MRI 1.9.3 thru RVM. (I also tried on 1.9.2).

Hope I'm making sense - any guidance/help/pointers are greatly appreciated!

Answer 1

Matt - thanks a lot for taking time to assist me! I tried setting it up with your spec_helper, using Selenium as the javascript driver.

The spec still failed - but I could see the correct behavior being executed in Firefox... Then it dawned on me, that the problem might occur because of Capybara not waiting for AJAX requests to finish.

I then reverted to my initial spec_helper (with Spork and no DatabaseCleaner), and simply used Capybara's wait_until { page.has_content? "text I'm inserting with JS" } wait_until { page.has_content? "text I'm inserting with JS" } .

I updated the sample app, and just added sleep 1 in the request spec, so you can see for yourself. It now works with and without Spork, and the AR monkey patch seems to work perfectly.

Answer 2

I have tried your code with the spec_helper.rb listed below and the test passes. Note that the syntax for triggering database cleaner is a bit different than in your spec_helper_database_cleaner.rb .

We're using this in production, and we've also tried the modification suggested by Jose Valim but it didn't work for us - this did.

require 'rubygems'
require 'spork'
#uncomment the following line to use spork with the debugger
#require 'spork/ext/ruby-debug'

Spork.prefork do
  # Loading more in this block will cause your tests to run faster. However,
  # if you change any configuration or code from libraries loaded here, you'll
  # need to restart spork for it take effect.

  # This file is copied to spec/ when you run 'rails generate rspec:install'
  ENV["RAILS_ENV"] ||= 'test'
  require File.expand_path("../../config/environment", __FILE__)
  require 'rspec/rails'
  require 'rspec/autorun'

  # Add this to load Capybara integration:
  require 'capybara/rspec'
  require 'capybara/rails'

  include Capybara::DSL

  # Requires supporting ruby files with custom matchers and macros, etc,
  # in spec/support/ and its subdirectories.
  Dir[Rails.root.join("spec/support/**/*.rb")].each {|f| require f}

  RSpec.configure do |config|
    # ## Mock Framework
    #
    # If you prefer to use mocha, flexmock or RR, uncomment the appropriate line:
    #
    # config.mock_with :mocha
    # config.mock_with :flexmock
    # config.mock_with :rr

    # Remove this line if you're not using ActiveRecord or ActiveRecord fixtures
    config.fixture_path = "#{::Rails.root}/spec/fixtures"

    # If you're not using ActiveRecord, or you'd prefer not to run each of your
    # examples within a transaction, remove the following line or assign false
    # instead of true.
    config.use_transactional_fixtures = false

    # If true, the base class of anonymous controllers will be inferred
    # automatically. This will be the default behavior in future versions of
    # rspec-rails.
    config.infer_base_class_for_anonymous_controllers = false

    # Include sign_in & sign_out for tests
    # config.include Devise::TestHelpers, :type => :controller

    # Use database_cleaner to ensure a known good test db state as we can't use
    # transactional fixures due to selenium testing
    config.before(:suite) do
      DatabaseCleaner.strategy = :truncation
      DatabaseCleaner.clean_with(:truncation)
    end

    config.before(:each) do
      DatabaseCleaner.start
    end

    config.after(:each) do
      DatabaseCleaner.clean
    end
  end
end

Spork.each_run do
  # This code will be run each time you run your specs.
end

Answer 3

José's suggestion worked for me but not when I used Spork. But adding this to spec_helper.rb did:

Spork.prefork do
  RSpec.configure do |config|
    # Make it so poltergeist (out of thread) tests can work with transactional fixtures
    # http://www.opinionatedprogrammer.com/2011/02/capybara-and-selenium-with-rspec-and-rails-3/#post-441060846
    ActiveRecord::ConnectionAdapters::ConnectionPool.class_eval do
      def current_connection_id
        Thread.main.object_id
      end
    end
  end
end

Source: http://www.opinionatedprogrammer.com/2011/02/capybara-and-selenium-with-rspec-and-rails-3/#post-441060846