4 Things I Assert in Rails Controller Tests

1. ActiveRecord Calls (using mocking)
2. Assigns
3. Flash
4. Responses

And if the response content type is not going to be HTML I will test that as well.

Cucumber Rails: undefined local variable or method `node'

I've been stung by this a couple of times so it's time to add it to my blog. This exception is raised when Cucumber follows a link using the click_link Capybara method. An example of the error:

When I follow "Add brand"                      # features/step_definitions/web_steps.rb:33
      undefined local variable or method `node' for # (NameError)
      ./features/step_definitions/web_steps.rb:35:in `block (2 levels) in '
      ./features/step_definitions/web_steps.rb:14:in `with_scope'
      ./features/step_definitions/web_steps.rb:34:in `/^(?:|I )follow "([^"]*)"(?: within "([^"]*)")?$/'
      features/manage_brand.feature:14:in `When I follow "Add brand"'

This has been report in the following places:

• undefined local variable or method `node' on RSpec Lighthouse Issue Tracker
• "click_link fails" cucumber-rails Github Issues

The solution is to either remove the following line from env.rb:

require 'cucumber/capybara-javascript-emulation'

or better yet, simply bundle the Gem from the 'master' branch. Add this to your Gemfile:

group :development, :test do
  gem 'cucumber-rails', :git => 'git://github.com/aslakhellesoy/cucumber-rails.git'
  # other gems...
end

Important Note: You must regenerate your env.rb using rails g cucumber:install otherwise you will receive the following error:

no such file to load -- cucumber/rails/active_record (LoadError)

TextExpander stopped working

I can't live without TextExpander. But apparentely Firefox and Chrome are not playing nicely with it. TextExpander suddenly stopped working for. I don't use these browsers very often, most for browser testing. Anyway, here is an explanation from TextExpander support:

Most likely, you're being affected by the bug in Firefox and Chrome where they enable secure input but don't disable it. This bug is particularly infuriating because it doesn't seem clear to the end user what causes it. However, it does have a cause, a workaround, and it does seem to be getting some traction from the Mozilla folks. Switching product probably won't help, as the other text expansion applications observe input in the same way as TextExpander and thus are subject to deprivation by secure event input being left enabled. When these browsers display a password field, they turn on secure event input so that no one, including TextExpander, can peek at your passwords. Problem is, if you use the Return key to submit a form from within its secure field, they won't turn secure event input off. This appears to be a bug they've inherited from some Firefox code they use. The workaround is to use the submit button rather than using Return in the password field. 1Password is similarly affected by this bug. The workaround there is to turn off auto-submit and just use auto-fill then press the button to submit.

This is referenced on Mozilla's bug tracker.

Good quote on the misunderstandings of software development

Much of present-day software acquisition procedure rests upon the assumption that one can specify a satisfactory system in advance, get bids for its construction, have it built, and install it. I think this assumption is fundamentally wrong, and that many software acquisition problems spring from that fallacy. (Brooks 1987 cited Larman and Basili 2003, p.52).

Source: http://www.sebastiangreger.net/writings/concept-design-in-agile-environment/

Reminder: Restful controllers do not need to map one-to-one to models (in Rails)

The central concept of REST is the resource, which is a datastructure representing one or more business objects.

Source: http://nicksda.apotomo.de/2010/10/rails-misapprehensions-crud-is-not-rest/

A reminder for why to use ems for font-size, line-height and space in CSS

The advantage to using ems for font size, line height, and spacing between elements is that as text size is adjusted, those measurements will adjust proportionately.

Source: http://www.slideshare.net/LRyder/best-practices-and-css

Upgrading Git via MacPorts (1.6.6 to 1.7.3.5)

I upgrade Git this morning to the latest version available via MacPorts. I ran into a few issues, but mostly painless. Here is the run down:

sudo port selfupdate
sudo port upgrade git-core

First upgrade attempt resulted in the following error:

--->  Dependencies to be installed: readline
Portfile changed since last build; discarding previous state.
--->  Activating readline @6.1.002_0
Error: Target org.macports.activate returned: Image error: /opt/local/lib/libreadline.5.2.dylib already exists and does not belong to a registered port.  Unable to activate port readline. Use 'port -f activate readline' to force the activation.
Error: Failed to install readline
Log for readline is at: /opt/local/var/macports/logs/_opt_local_var_macports_sources_rsync.macports.org_release_ports_devel_readline/main.log
Error: The following dependencies were not installed: readline
Error: Problem while installing sqlite3

Executing the following command resolved this issue:

sudo port -f activate readline

Try upgrading again:

sudo port upgrade git-core

Resulted in the following error:

Configuring db46¬ 23 Error: db46 requires the Java for Mac OS X development headers.¬ 24 Error: Download the Java Developer Package from: ¬ 25 Error: Target org.macports.configure returned: missing Java headers¬ 26 Log for db46 is at: /opt/local/var/macports/logs/_opt_local_var_macports_sources_rsync.macports.org_release_ports_databases_db46/m    ain.log¬
 27 Error: Problem while installing db46¬
 28 To report a bug, see 

I downloaded and installed the Java Developer Package.

Another attempt:

sudo port upgrade git-core

Success!

git --version
git version 1.7.3.5