# Testing RJS **URL:** \ **Category:** Rails\ **Created:** [April 8, 2009, 11:32am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/testing-rjs/165025 "2009-04-08T11:32:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 3\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![david](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@david](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/david)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2009, 11:32am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/testing-rjs/165025/1 "2009-04-08T11:32:16Z")
I have some questions about testing RJS. First of all, just generally, how important is testing RJS? It seems, that for effects at least, if I can see that the effect is working, then that is good enough for me? I would like to test certain RJS redirect\_to’s however. I came across the ARTS plugin. Has anyone had any experience using this with rails 2.2 or 2.3? I saw somewhere that it was included in 2.2, but when I try: assert\_rjs :redirect\_to, :action =\> ‘show’ I get an unknown method error. ---
**Author:** ![david](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@david](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/david)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2009, 11:47am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/testing-rjs/165025/2 "2009-04-08T11:47:33Z")
On Apr 8, 10:31 am, David [removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid](mailto:removed_email_address@domain.invalid) wrote: > I have some questions about testing RJS. First of all, just > generally, how important is testing RJS? It seems, that for effects > at least, if I can see that the effect is working, then that is good > enough for me? I would like to test certain RJS redirect\_to’s > however. I came across the ARTS plugin. Has anyone had any > experience using this with rails 2.2 or 2.3? I saw somewhere that it > was included in 2.2, but when I try: I still use arts. I don’t think it is quite true to say that 2.2/2.3 (and I think 2.1) replaces arts, although it does have similar functionality via assert\_select\_rjs (don’t remember if that covers redirect\_to though) I’d say testing is as important as it is elsewhere (although I would probably worry less about pure eye candy than about stuff that would impact usage (ie this div should be shown and this button enabled)). Fred ---
**Author:** ![david](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@david](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/david)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2009, 2:29pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/testing-rjs/165025/3 "2009-04-08T14:29:28Z")
David wrote: > I have some questions about testing RJS. First of all, just > generally, how important is testing RJS? It seems, that for effects > at least, if I can see that the effect is working, then that is good > enough for me? In View testing in general, there are some overlapping rules of thumb: - do test what you don’t want to break - don’t test glitz (colors, shiny things, animated GIFs, etc.) - do test that your business-side variables got embedded correctly - do test navigation (such as links and redirect\_to) The goal is if you add new features and make a mistake the code will break as early as possible. But if you break glitz, you can easily see it’s broke, and you can easily fix it without affecting your new features. > I would like to test certain RJS redirect\_to’s > however. I came across the ARTS plugin. Has anyone had any > experience using this with rails 2.2 or 2.3? Yes; just install the plugin. After you start using assert\_rjs, look up my assert\_rjs\_. It’s nearly a drop-in replacement for the most common RJS situations, but it’s much more powerful and accurate. [http://groups.google.com/group/rubyonrails-talk/msg/c2fba12dd5e2735a](http://groups.google.com/group/rubyonrails-talk/msg/c2fba12dd5e2735a) It does not test redirect\_to, but if it did then it would not be much more powerful than assert\_rjs Classic, so use that for now. > I saw somewhere that it > was included in 2.2, but when I try: > > assert\_rjs :redirect\_to, :action =\> ‘show’ > > I get an unknown method error. The documentation for the ARTS will tell you how to install a plugin. Something to do with script/plugin install… assert\_rjs\_ is a gem, not a plugin, because test-side things don’t need to deploy to your server. Use assert\_rjs\_ when you start working with replace\_html. – Phlip