Fixtures and unit tests - no such file to load

Rails
1

Hello all,

I’m having some issues with my test fixtures and unit tests and am
hoping somebody has an idea about how to fix it.

Background:

I have a table in my legacy database called tp_approval_step.
For this table I have a fixture called tp_approval_step.yml
I have a model called ApprovalProcessStep that uses set_table_name
‘tp_approval_step’
In my test file, ApprovalProcessStepTest, I have used
set_fixture_class :tp_approval_step => ApprovalProcessStep

Now whenever I run rake test:units I get this error:
Unable to load tp_approval_step, underlying cause no such file to load
– tp_approval_step

And not only do I get this for the example above, but I get it for
every fixture in my rails app.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. I want to get on with testing
my code!

2

On 12 December 2010 17:30, Mike B [email protected] wrote:

‘tp_approval_step’
Any help would be greatly appreciated. I want to get on with testing
my code!

I know it is not the answer you are looking for, so sorry in advance,
but I think most nowadays would advise chucking fixtures in the bin
and using Factories instead. Possibly Factory Girl or Machinist (I
prefer Machinist). I have certainly not regretted it. The learning
curve is only a few hours and you will get that back very soon.

Colin

3

Thanks for the ideas. I might have to go that route if I can’t get
this figured out. Either that or skip fixtures and have my test cases
completely load the database from scratch.

Ideally I would like to stick with ‘vanilla’ rails as much as
possible. I’ve found that the more libraries you layer on top of your
app the harder it is for people to come along after you and maintain/
enhance it.

Mike

4

Mike B wrote in post #967999:

Thanks for the ideas. I might have to go that route if I can’t get
this figured out. Either that or skip fixtures and have my test cases
completely load the database from scratch.

Ideally I would like to stick with ‘vanilla’ rails as much as
possible. I’ve found that the more libraries you layer on top of your
app the harder it is for people to come along after you and maintain/
enhance it.

That’s not actually true in general, especially if you have decent test
coverage. Personally, I’d rather maintain something with lots of
(documented) libraries included than something with lots of reinvented
wheels.

Anyway, Colin is absolutely right. There is no reason to use fixtures
and every reason to get rid of them. The Rails core team made a mistake
in designing fixtures, and so they should be completely avoided.

Mike

Best,

Marnen Laibow-Koser
http://www.marnen.org
[email protected]

Sent from my iPhone

5

On Dec 12, 11:49pm, Marnen Laibow-Koser [email protected] wrote:

–
Marnen Laibow-Koserhttp://www.marnen.org
[email protected]

Ok, I have been convinced. I will switch over to using factories.

Is there anything on the horizon (Rails 3+) that will fix or replace
fixtures in Rails?

6

On 13 December 2010 15:22, Mike B [email protected] wrote:

[…]
Is there anything on the horizon (Rails 3+) that will fix or replace
fixtures in Rails?

I think most people use factory girl or machinist which are both
available for Rails 3.

Colin