class DirtyInformation - Home

Where To Test What

2008-11-04T14:27:00Z

Testing is very important to all of us, but where should our tests go, and what should they test? When jumping into an existing Rails application you should run all the tests, and then start looking through them. Developers should have certain expectation of where certain things are tested, but many tests aren't where they should be. So where should they go in a Rails application?

Unit tests are designed for you models. This doesn't seem to be a problem for most applications. There is a well defined line here.

Functional tests are for testing controllers. This line is a little less defined. The interactions between the controller, the model, and the view trip people up. The biggest problems fall in testing the view, and retesting the model from the controller perspective.

Model tests are not functional test. When you test the path of a validation for instance. It has already been tested in the unit test so stop and delete the test. Think about what the controllers actual job is. Test one happy model, and one sad(failed validations) model, but don't retest every single model validation through the controller tests.

STOP. Don't test your view here. The occasional assert_tag or assert_no_tag isn't bad, but remember that isn't really testing the controller. Minimize what you are testing to the class under test. This way the view can change styles and all your functional tests are still only testing the controller itself.

Integration testing is where the views should jump into the action. The integration tests should drive the application through the view and assert the interactions and the correct information is presented to the user.

Shoulda is a great testing framework that will help guide where things should be tested. The should methods can be your guide to testing. Then find a great integration test framework like Webrat. Get all these in your application and start writing tests where they belong.

Dates Don't Always Add Up

2008-10-28T03:02:00Z

I don't even know what to say about this? Anyone know why this happens?

>> Date.today -1
=> Sat, 25 Oct 2008
>> Date.today - 1
=> Fri, 24 Oct 2008
>> Date.today
=> Sat, 25 Oct 2008

Shoulda Refactorred

2008-10-24T14:32:00Z

Shoulda has been great for testing, and is really easy to condense. So let's refactor a shoulda test.

class PostTest < Test::Unit::TestCase
  should_ensure_length_in_range :zip, (6..10)
  should_ensure_length_in_range :title, (3..20)
  should_ensure_lenght_in_range :phone, (7..10)
end

Now refactored:

class PostTest < Test::Unit::TestCase
  {:zip => (6..10), :title => (3..20), :phone => (7..10)}.each_pair do |field, range|
    should_ensure_length_in_range field, range
  end
end

And there we have it. Condensed code, and if you have enough of these fields it can really save some key strokes.

Ajax And Non-Ajax

2008-10-24T14:25:00Z

It took me a while to find out how to have a link work if a person has ajax enabled or not. So I thought I would share the solution.

#controller action
def new
  @partial = params[:partial] || 'about'
  respond_to do |want|
    want.html {}
    want.js { render :partial => @partial }
  end
end

#link in view
<%= link_to_remote 'link', :url => formatted_new_session_url(:partial => 'partial_name', :format => 'js'), :update => div, :method => :get, :html => { :href => new_session_url(:partial => 'partial_name') } %>

#loading partial in view
<p id="page_contents" class="public_main">
  <%= render :partial => @partial %>
</p>

This will allow you to reload the page_contents partial through ajax, but will reload the whole page with the correct partial if the browser doesn't support JavaScript.

Square Pegs in Roun...Square Holes

2008-10-15T03:08:00Z

One of the greatest things about Ruby is being able to think outside the box. With every class open to change the possibilities become limited only by the imagination. Just today I ran into just such an issue...

Working with a lot of others that think strictly in a Java mindset leads to a lot of code that tries to jam functionality into the existing state of a library without changing the libraries classes. Today we were working with customizing views for ActiveScaffold. We needed to have colspans that were configurable for each column, and would be different for each model. We didn't want to have to do an override for each form so it really needed to go on the columns themselves. I stepped away for a short period of time, and when I cam back my pair had used the description field of an ActiveScaffold column to pass the colspan where we needed it. The code looked something like this:

class FooController < ApplicationController
 #code
   config.columns[:field].description = '2' #notice the use of a string in description because he forgot about duck typing
   config.columns[:field_two].description = '2'
 #more cool code
end

In the view he was then using the description as the colspan attribute. NOTE: My pair really is smarter than this quick workaround, I think he was hungry. We also needed to mark certain fields as required. I'm not sure how he was planning on doing this within those bounds. So I sat down and thought outside the confines of making my world jam into the ActiveScaffold idea of how things work, and I instead made ActiveScaffold understand my world.

class FooController < ApplicationController
 #code
   config.columns[:field].class.class_eval do
     attr_writer :colspan
     attr_writer :required
     def colspan
       @colspan || 1
     end
     def required?
       @required || false
     end
   end
   config.columns[:field].colspan = 2
   config.columns[:field_two].required = true
 #more cool code
end

I know that it isn't the cleanest right now, but tomorrow when I get in I'm going to put it in a module and actually call class_eval on the real class and not finding it with other methods. The point here is to not forget that Ruby is your tool. Don't beat a square peg into a round hole, bend the hole until it is square.

Inject & Me - BFFs

2008-09-07T01:48:00Z

I find myself turning to Enumberable#inject more and more. It is such a powerful method, yet I rarely see it used in others' code. Here are a couple of examples of the power of inject.

Adding Facorial to All Integers

class Integer
  def factorial
    raise 'Cannot take a factorial of a negative number' if self < 0
    return 1 if self == 0
    (1..self).inject { |total, element| total * element }
  end
end

Removing Touching Matching Elements in an Array Until No Touching Elements Match( thanks Eric )

class Array
  def remove_touchers
    self.inject([]) { |final, element| final[-1] == element ? final[0..-2] : final << element }
  end
end

So, why aren't there more people using this method? Is it just forgotten? Are you using Enumberable#inject? How are you using it?

Blueprint to the Rescue

2008-08-25T20:38:00Z

My biggest issue in web development has always been design, and keeping my css files in a state that is understandable. I always end up with a million classes and ids that are hard to keep up. Dealing with Internet Explorer and its "unique" way to do certain things can make everyone wish for standards.

With all this headache I've found my HeadOn with BlueprintCSS. With one set of classes and some forethought I can get a nice looking page that looks the same in all my browsers. I'd go into detail, but the tutorial is really all the jump start you need.

BlueprintCSS does keep me in a grid layout, but this constraint is easy to live with when I know that every browser is going to look like I expect.

If you're wishing all your browsers looked the same after a hard days work, BlueprintCSS might be the solution for you.

RESTful Wizard

2008-08-13T00:00:00Z

Just before RailsConf 2008 I published ActsAsWizard. A rails plugin for creating RESTful multi-step wizards. I've been really happy with it, but hadn't pushed it much because of a dependency on acts_as_state_machine that I wanted to remove.

Well, I've done it. Just yesterday I removed all dependencies on acts_as_state_machine, and ActsAsWizard is finally a standalone plugin for rails. In removing acts_as_state_machine I have also removed a lot of dependencies on active record. The plugin modules are still automatically added to ActiveRecord::Base, but the functionality can be now be used with models that are not ActiveRecord. In fact I was contacted by one user that is using the wizard to populate session information.

If anyone tries out ActsAsWizard, please send me any comments or suggestions. Your help would be greatly appreciated. Oh, and patches are always welcome.

In Place Editor and Collection Partials

2007-09-02T15:37:00Z

I've noticed a lot of individuals have been having problems with the in_place_editor function and using a collection partial. The problem comes down to an in_place_editor looking for an variable beginning with an @. So here is the quick fix.

The partial function:

<%= render :partial => "item", :collection => @items %>

Inside the Partial:

<%@item = item%>
<%= in_place_editor_field :item, 'on_hand' %>

I know it is a bit of a hack, but it is a very quick fix. Happy Coding!

Why Should I 'Test Rails Itself?'

2007-03-21T16:16:00Z

I was reading Google Groups' Rails Group the other day when I ran into someone talking about why should I test the validates functions. Here is a quote from his email:

For example, what is the point of writing a unit test that simply tests a validate statement in the model? Yes, it's interesting (the first time, at least) that the test works and that, golly-gee, Rails works as advertised, as well, but is there any real use in doing this?
I can imagine a scenario where a I update Rails and suddenly a unit test that tests a Rails validator fails, but I expect the Rails development team would find this before me. Or is that too naive?

I just thought I would post my response for anyone who has the same question. Also, sorry if the format is bad or to quick, but I was trying to hurry when I wrote him the response.

Don't look it as testing Rails. You are testing your model on testing validates. Let's say you write this class:
class Person < ActiveRecord::Base
  validates_length_of :phone_number, :within => 7..10
  ...
end
So you write a test:
def test_phone_number_length_incorrect
  person = Person.new(:phone_number => '123456')
  person.valid?
  assert person.errors.invalid?(:phone_number), 'Invalid Phone Number Coming Back as Valid'
end
I think we would all agree that this test makes sure that a valid phone number passes.

Now not thinking you do a find and replace and replace all 7s with 8s or maybe number with numbers is more likely. So you have:
class Person < ActiveRecord::Base
  validates_length_of :phone_numbers, :within => 7..10
  ...
end
Now you can place :phone_number => '12' into your database because you are now validating :phone_numbers.

If you have a test you run tests after you completed the find and replace, and this error would be caught right away. That is why you 'test Rails.'

Great Way to Learn Ruby (for Programmers) pt. 2

2007-01-17T08:02:00Z

Bob, one commenter, suggested Ruby Quiz as another great source to help learn Ruby.

Ruby Quiz posts different problems, which I believe are a little harder than Code Golf, but it has one great advantage. After trying the problem yourself you can look at other’s solutions to the problem. this may help you notice different methods that you have not yet thought of, and may help you learn more about syntax, and functions that are not as readily documented. This can also be a great source for code snippets, but remember to give credit where credit is due.

I have used Ruby Quiz in my pursuit of knowledge, but forgot to place it in my first article. Thanks, Bob, for your suggestion.

Great Way to Learn Ruby (for Programmers)

2007-01-14T17:43:00Z

I have found the perfect way to learn ruby. Code Golf! Now I know those of you out there who know about Code Golf, and about programming are thinking, OMG what is this guy thinking, but bear with me.

I’m not suggesting try to learn to program by sitting down and actually trying to write your code in the smallest number of bytes possible. That just creates unreadable code that is a nightmare to trouble shoot. Just use the functionality of Code Golf to help you.

I have a terrible time just reading a programming book and getting anything out of it. I have to have a project to code. Something small that can be done quickly, and I can learn a little at a time. Code Golf does exactly that for me. Each of their problems gives me something to work on.

The best part is, Code Golf checks my answer. It reminds me a lot of a TA in college, but you don’t have to pay to have them look at your code output. You code, and submit, and there is imediate feedback if your answer doesn’t match the expected output. Granted it doesn’t grade your code, and tell you about coding conventions, but every output must be precise.

May I remind you that you can just output the entire answer, but it won’t do you much good, and if you have no experience with programming this may be a tough way to start.

Progress Bars using css

2006-12-06T14:29:00Z

I spend a little time trying to get css to make a progress bar for me. It took some thought and time, but everything worked out well. I thought I would put it here for everyone to see.

The CSS


.prog-empty {
  width: 400px;
  height: 15px;
  background: #247;
  padding: 0;
  margin: 20px;
  border: 5px;
}

.prog-bar {
  height: 15px;
  background: #f70;
  padding: 0;
  margin: 0;
}

The html


< div class="prog-empty">
  < div class="prog-bar" style="width: 63%">
  </div>
</div>

Now the width percentage needs to be replaced with a function. With the exact code from above I get something like:

I hope everyone can find this useful. Remember that you can use url("image.file") in place of the colors.

Back to the Basics: Thinking critically about network security

2006-12-05T14:26:00Z

Computer Security doesn’t mean that you need to by the latest of everything. What about the basics? As this author writes, “One of the hardest things to do as a security-minded professional is to sort through the sea of information…in order to determine what is actually useful and what is chaff.”

Original Article

ImThere.com Mobile/Social Networking in RoR

2006-11-26T12:32:00Z

I may be a little biased since I’m on board with Ramped Media, but if your looking for something to do, and love going out you should check out this mobile integrated site.

There are many features that include sending media to and from the site with your mobile phone.

Take a look because in the future you and everyone you know will be saying, “ ImThere!”