# Fixtures Problem

**URL:** <https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/fixtures-problem/96805>\
**Category:** Rails\
**Created:** [July 2, 2006, 5:50am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/fixtures-problem/96805 "2006-07-02T05:50:42Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Robert\_Fischer](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/r/779978/32.png) [@Robert\_Fischer](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/Robert_Fischer)\
**Post date:** [July 2, 2006, 5:50am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/fixtures-problem/96805/1 "2006-07-02T05:50:42Z")

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I’m having a problem configuring fixtures – for some reason, when I run  
my unit test, I’m not getting any of the instance variables that are  
advertised in “Agile Web D. with Rails”. I’ve gone through  
various Wikis and Google, and it seems like I’m the only person with  
this  
problem. There is no error message per se, but when I try to use the  
instance variables that should be defined by my fixture, I end up just  
looking at nil.

Any idea on where to start debugging this problem?

~~ Robert.  
“Most of the important things in the world have been accomplished by  
people who have kept on trying when there seemed to be no hope at all.”  
(Dale Carnegie)

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Robert\_Fischer](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/r/779978/32.png) [@Robert\_Fischer](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/Robert_Fischer)\
**Post date:** [July 2, 2006, 6:37am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/fixtures-problem/96805/2 "2006-07-02T06:37:56Z")

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The instance variable style fixtures were depricated for speed in rails  
1.0. YOu can access your fixtures by calling fixturefile(:fixturename)  
or you can turn on the old slow fixture style (that is in AWDWR) in your  
test\_helper.rb file.

Christian Carter  
[concentrationstudios.com](http://concentrationstudios.com)

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Robert\_Fischer](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/r/779978/32.png) [@Robert\_Fischer](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/Robert_Fischer)\
**Post date:** [July 2, 2006, 6:45am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/fixtures-problem/96805/3 "2006-07-02T06:45:58Z")

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Got it, thanks: I see the huge comment and the flag in the  
test\_helper.rb  
file. Silent deprecations are spooky…but I guess that’s what I get  
for  
a “bleeding edge” framework.

Anyway, thanks for the help, and I’m off for more Agile development!  
I’ll  
keep an eye out on the list for anything I can help at as I’m struggling  
to become a Ruby Guru. As of now, I’m just trying to beat the  
Java/Tomcat  
out of my brain…

~~ Robert.  
“Most of the important things in the world have been accomplished by  
people who have kept on trying when there seemed to be no hope at all.”  
(Dale Carnegie)