[RSpec][OT] have autospec just run changed files

Testing RSpec
1

Hello all,
Is there a way to have autospec and/or RSpactor just run the specs for
the files that have changed and not run the entire spec suite
afterwards? If you start autospec with -f it will wait for a change but
it will then run the entire suite after the individual one passes. The
project that I am working on now has a spec suite that is too long for
the normal autospec cycle. However, I like having that tight feedback
loop for the files I touch. Any ideas?

Thanks,
Ben

2

I don’t know about RSpactor, but autospec will keep track of failing
specs and re-run them along with changed specs and specs for changed
files. It won’t run the entire suite until everything has passed.
You could temporarily add a dummy example somewhere in your suite
which always fails. That way autospec will never think it’s ready to
run the whole suite.

Other than that, I can’t think of a way to do it short of writing your
own autospec style and overriding the #run algorithm.

Peeja

3

On Fri, Feb 20, 2009 at 2:33 PM, Peter J. [email protected]
wrote:

Other than that, I can’t think of a way to do it short of writing your
own autospec style and overriding the #run algorithm.

Which is almost exactly what I was about to suggest. >8-> Only you
don’t have to override #run, you can just fake it out at the point
where it reruns all tests and skip that part.

1.) Make an autotest directory in your project.
2.) Add a file ‘discover.rb’ and include the following:
Autotest.add_discovery { “mabey” } # Or whatever you want to call
your specialization
3.) If you’re using Rails and RSpec, you then need to add a file
‘mabey_rails_rspec.rb’. If only RSpec, just ‘mabey_rspec.rb’. If
you’re using Merb and RSpec, it needs to be ‘mabey_merb_rspec.rb’.
You get the point. Autotest’s class and file discovery is just wonky.
In it:

class Autotest::MabeyRailsRspec < Autotest::RailsRspec  # Or

whatever your appropriate chain is
def rerun_all_tests
reset
end
end

I figured that out from reading the Autotest code a while back and
figuring out how to fix problems with Merb, RSpec and Cucumber. My
conclusion is that Autotest is sort of elegant in its own way, but
that way appears to be based on the standards of someone high on a
cocktail of LSD and laudanum. It uses convention over
configuration…sort of…except that you have to configure the
conventions first. And then too much is hardcoded, and its
inheritance and class-naming structure means you have to predict every
possible combination of frameworks in advance.

Someone needs to either hit it with the design pattern stick or write
a new one. Maybe I will, the next time I manage to take a couple days
off.

–
Have Fun,
Steve E. ([email protected])
ESCAPE POD - The Science Fiction Podcast Magazine
http://www.escapepod.org

4

Stephen E. wrote:

1.) Make an autotest directory in your project.
whatever your appropriate chain is
configuration…sort of…except that you have to configure the

Thanks a lot!
I couldn’t get your exact way to work so I ended up monkey patching
Autotest with your #rerun_all_tests in my .autotest file. So far it is
working great. Thanks again!

-Ben

5

On Sat, Feb 21, 2009 at 12:33 AM, Ben M. [email protected] wrote:

Which is almost exactly what I was about to suggest. >8-> Only you
You get the point. Autotest’s class and file discovery is just wonky.
figuring out how to fix problems with Merb, RSpec and Cucumber. My
off.

Thanks a lot!
I couldn’t get your exact way to work so I ended up monkey patching Autotest
with your #rerun_all_tests in my .autotest file. So far it is working
great. Thanks again!

I wonder if this might be a better approach to dealing with Autotest
extensions. There seems to be an issue with Autotest extensions and
ruby 1.9 (1.9 confusing bin/autotest and an ./autoest directory). We
could do the following without putting any burden on Autotest:

Move what is now in lib/autotest/rspec.rb (lib/autotest/rails_rspec.rb
in rspec-rails) to something like lib/spec/autotest.rb, which you’d
have to require in .autotest. Done! Unless I’m missing something.

This would put an extra step to using autotest, but it solves the 1.9
problem and it also makes it so we no longer need autospec, which I
wouldn’t mind getting rid of in the long run.

Thoughts?