# Load fixtures in setup? (or is it test-spec's fault)

**URL:** <https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/load-fixtures-in-setup-or-is-it-test-specs-fault/145424>\
**Category:** Rails\
**Created:** [August 9, 2008, 3:35am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/load-fixtures-in-setup-or-is-it-test-specs-fault/145424 "2008-08-09T03:35:26Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 8\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Phlip](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/p/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Phlip](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/Phlip)\
**Post date:** [August 9, 2008, 3:35am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/load-fixtures-in-setup-or-is-it-test-specs-fault/145424/1 "2008-08-09T03:35:26Z")

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Railsters:

For various reasons, not worth discussing here, we’d really prefer to  
load fixtures like this:

class MySuite \< etc::TestCase  
def setup  
fixtures :posts, :forums, :whatnots  
end  
…  
end

Does anyone know how to call the same thing fixtures calls, and how to  
put it inside the setup?

What are the reasons? Oh, okay…

> deep breath\<

We have a very project with various Rails 1.2 and 2.1 applications  
using elaborate test fixtures that roughly correspond to established  
databases with hundreds of thousands of records. We have many Abstract  
Tests, and many of our cases have very elaborate setups. We are trying  
to start using test-spec, and we already use scenario-fixtures.

To clean up our testage, we would like to use test-spec like this  
(warning - pseudo-Ruby):

context ‘generic’ do  
fixtures :posts, :forums, :whatnots  
setup{ foo }  
specify ‘foo things’ { foo things}  
specify ‘more foo things’ { more foo things}

```
context 'specific' do
  setup{ bar }
  specify 'bar things' { foo & bar things}
  specify 'more bar things' { etc}
end

```

end

The point (the only point of BDD I can detect so far) is (at the  
possible risk of less AbstractTest flexibility), we can inherit setups  
without the (faint) burden of excessive modules and ‘include’ lines.

However, my feeb experiments with test-spec show that setup{bar}  
cannot see the outer context’s fixtures. This is either pilot error,  
or it is unprincipled and counterintuitive. Ideally, the fixtures  
should inherit and accumulate as one descends deeper into nested  
contexts.

Next, fixture\_scenarios seems to throw an exception if we get too  
creative with the nested setups and fixtures. We will eventually go in  
after that issue.

So the easiest short-term fix to all this fun would appear to be using  
setups to, uh, set each test case up, the way certain industry thought-  
leaders intended. Putting fixtures() at class scope is syntactic  
sugar, and our tests can only get so sweet.

–  
Phlip

---

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**Author:** ![Phlip](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/p/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Phlip](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/Phlip)\
**Post date:** [August 9, 2008, 11:54am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/load-fixtures-in-setup-or-is-it-test-specs-fault/145424/2 "2008-08-09T11:54:01Z")

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On 9 Aug 2008, at 02:34, Phlip [removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid](mailto:removed_email_address@domain.invalid) wrote:

> …  
> end
> 
> Does anyone know how to call the same thing fixtures calls, and how to  
> put it inside the setup?

Well you could look at fixtures.rb in activerecord, that’s where the  
magic happens. There’s a setup hook in there for fixtures which might  
be interesting. If I recall correctly, the fixtures method just sticks  
what you give it in some class variable for the setup thing to pickup.  
In the interest of speed a given fixtures will only ever be loaded  
once(at least in stock rails. Plugins that add to the fixtures  
functionality may overhaul that)

Fred

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Phlip](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/p/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Phlip](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/Phlip)\
**Post date:** [August 9, 2008, 12:54pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/load-fixtures-in-setup-or-is-it-test-specs-fault/145424/3 "2008-08-09T12:54:19Z")

</div>

Frederick C. wrote:

> Well you could look at fixtures.rb in activerecord, that’s where the  
> magic happens.

You always find something in the last place you look, huh?

def self.fixtures(\*table\_names)  
write\_inheritable\_attribute(“fixture\_table\_names”, table\_names)  
end

def setup  
instantiate\_fixtures(\*fixture\_table\_names) if fixture\_table\_names  
end

If that’s it, how does our setup call their setup without super?

---

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**Author:** ![Phlip](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/p/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Phlip](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/Phlip)\
**Post date:** [August 9, 2008, 1:30pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/load-fixtures-in-setup-or-is-it-test-specs-fault/145424/4 "2008-08-09T13:30:35Z")

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On 9 Aug 2008, at 11:53, Phlip wrote:

> end
> 
> def setup  
> instantiate\_fixtures(\*fixture\_table\_names) if fixture\_table\_names  
> end
> 
> If that’s it, how does our setup call their setup without super?

instantiate\_fixtures doesn’t do what I think you think it does -  
that’s the think which creates instance variables for each loaded  
fixtures.

I’m not entirely sure what you’re asking - is the above your proposed  
solution to your problem?

Fre

---

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**Author:** ![Phlip](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/p/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Phlip](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/Phlip)\
**Post date:** [August 10, 2008, 3:50am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/load-fixtures-in-setup-or-is-it-test-specs-fault/145424/5 "2008-08-10T03:50:33Z")

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> I’m not entirely sure what you’re asking

I don’t want to write this:

fixtures :tables tables tables  
def setup  
end

I want to write this:

def setup  
x :tables tables tables  
end

The thing that reads the YAML files and INSERTs them into the database

- I called it ‘x’ in my pseudo-Ruby - I want to call it from inside  
setup, not outside.

> - is the above your proposed  
> solution to your problem?

It’s the code near self.fixtures, from fixtures.rb, that you pointed  
out.

---

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**Author:** ![Phlip](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/p/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Phlip](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/Phlip)\
**Post date:** [August 10, 2008, 4:42am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/load-fixtures-in-setup-or-is-it-test-specs-fault/145424/6 "2008-08-10T04:42:34Z")

</div>

> For various reasons, not worth discussing here, we’d really prefer to  
> load fixtures like this:

I whipped out some Beast, and commented ‘fixtures :all’ from  
test\_helper.rb. This doesn’t work:

class SessionTest \< ActiveSupport::TestCase  
def setup  
self.class.fixtures :posts, :users  
end

def test\_fixtures  
p posts(:pdi\_reply)  
p users(:sam)  
end  
end

It doesn’t crass at the self.class.fixtures line, but then no posts  
nor users exist.

What is so special about self.fixtures, or whatever the fixtures, that  
I can’t just call it wherever I like?

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Phlip](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/p/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Phlip](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/Phlip)\
**Post date:** [August 10, 2008, 11:51am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/load-fixtures-in-setup-or-is-it-test-specs-fault/145424/7 "2008-08-10T11:51:38Z")

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On 10 Aug 2008, at 03:41, Phlip wrote:

> end  
> What is so special about self.fixtures, or whatever the fixtures, that  
> I can’t just call it wherever I like?

The reason that this doesn’t work is that activerecord hooks into into  
the setup method and inserts its fixture loading code before your  
setup runs, so when you call self.class.fixtures it’s too late.

Fred

---

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**Author:** ![Phlip](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/p/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Phlip](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/Phlip)\
**Post date:** [August 10, 2008, 6:49am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/load-fixtures-in-setup-or-is-it-test-specs-fault/145424/8 "2008-08-10T06:49:59Z")

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> This doesn’t work:  
> def setup  
> self.class.fixtures :posts, :users  
> end

Here’s how to do it. I read activerecord/test/fixtures\_test.rb  
(following my own frequent advice that unit tests are the best  
documentation), and it lead me to load\_extra\_fixture(). Upgrading that  
to handle multiple fixtures gives this monstrosity:

require ‘test\_helper’  
require ‘assert2’

class SessionTest \< ActiveSupport::TestCase

def nab\_fixtures(\*names)  
names.each do |name|  
fixture = create\_fixtures(name)  
assert fixture.is\_a?(Fixtures)  
@loaded\_fixtures[fixture.table\_name] = fixture  
end  
self.class.setup\_fixture\_accessors(names)  
end

def setup  
nab\_fixtures :posts, :users  
end

def test\_truth  
assert{ posts(:pdi\_reply) }  
assert{ users(:sam) }  
end  
end

Aaaaand now I have to figure out how to get test-spec to call it…

–  
Phlip