Question

When scaffolding controllers it will create tests for that model, do the test have the ability to check for runtime errors for the whole page including rendering the .erb

If so can tests scan for common typos in the .erb for example checkbox instead of check_box

Because silly typos take a stupid amounts of time to figure out because the code looks right.

It would be good if there was a plugin that would use a service to check if it’s a common typo or gotcha.

Answer 1

In general I test the controller in the controller tests and the views in the view tests.

In more detail, I will test that given the right input to the controller, it produces the right output. I usually mock out the model(s) involved and concentrate on what work matters inside the controller. In my view tests I simply validate that the things on the page look like what I want them to look. I also use Jasmine to test javascript when I have more complex interactions in that body of code.

I put a lot of stock in this separation of tests.

I use rspec for my model, view, controller, routing and request tests and I write failing tests and then implement the feature/method to make those tests go green. And also I run rake spec before checking in. This gives me good coverage on the type of things you’re concerned about.

There is also a gem called autotest that will run a test each time you save them (or perhaps some other granularity). If your test is green it will run the entire suite. I don’t use it because I don’t like how aggressively it does this but I have friends that swear by it.