Skip callbacks on Factory Girl and Rspec

Question

I\'m testing a model with an after create callback that I\'d like to run only on some occasions while testing. How can I skip/run callbacks from a factory?

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Answer 1

Regarding the answer posted above, https://stackoverflow.com/a/35562805/2001785, you do not need to add the code to the factory. I found it easier to overload the methods in the specs themselves. For example, instead of (in conjunction with the factory code in the cited post)

let(:user) { FactoryGirl.create(:user) }

I like using (without the cited factory code)

let(:user) do
  FactoryGirl.build(:user).tap do |u|
      u.define_singleton_method(:send_welcome_email){}
      u.save!
    end
  end
end

This way you do not need to look at both the factory and the test files to understand the behavior of the test.

Answer 2

In my case I have the callback loading something to my redis cache. But then I did not have/want a redis instance running for my test environment.

after_create :load_to_cache

def load_to_cache
  Redis.load_to_cache
end

For my situation, similar to above, I just stubbed my load_to_cache method in my spec_helper, with:

Redis.stub(:load_to_cache)

Also, in certain situation where I want to the test this, I just have to unstub them in the before block of the corresponding Rspec test cases.

I know you might have something more complicated happening in your after_create or might not find this very elegant. You can try to cancel the callback defined in your model, by defining an after_create hook in your Factory (refer to factory_girl docs), where you can probably define a the same callback and return false, according to the 'Canceling callbacks' section of this article. (I am unsure about order in which callback are executed, which is why I didn't go for this option).

Lastly, (sorry I am not able to find the article) Ruby allows you to use some dirty meta programming to unhook a callback hook (you will have to reset it). I guess this would be the least preferred option.

Well there is one more thing, not really a solution, but see if you can get away with Factory.build in your specs, instead of actually creating the object. (Would be the simplest if you can).

Answer 3

None of these solutions are good. They deface the class by removing functionality that should be removed from the instance, not from the class.

factory :user do
  before(:create){|user| user.define_singleton_method(:send_welcome_email){}}

Instead of suppressing the callback, I am suppressing the functionality of the callback. In a way, I like this approach better because it is more explicit.

Answer 4

This solution works for me and you don´t have to add an additional block to your Factory definition:

user = FactoryGirl.build(:user)
user.send(:create_without_callbacks) # Skip callback

user = FactoryGirl.create(:user)     # Execute callbacks

Answer 5

I found the following solution to be a cleaner way since the callback is run/set at a class level.

# create(:user) - will skip the callback.
# create(:user, skip_create_callback: false) - will set the callback
FactoryBot.define do
  factory :user do
    first_name "Luiz"
    last_name "Branco"

    transient do
      skip_create_callback true
    end

    after(:build) do |user, evaluator|
      if evaluator.skip_create_callback
        user.class.skip_callback(:create, :after, :run_something)
      else
        user.class.set_callback(:create, :after, :run_something)
      end
    end
  end
end

Answer 6

FactoryGirl.define do
 factory :user do
   first_name "Luiz"
   last_name "Branco"
   #...

after(:build) { |user| user.class.skip_callback(:create, :after, :run_something) }

trait :user_with_run_something do
  after(:create) { |user| user.class.set_callback(:create, :after, :run_something) }
  end
 end
end

You could just set the callback with a trait for those instances when you want run it.