[rspec-users] Best way to spec nested modules?...

[Nick Hoffman]

On 25/01/2009, at 9:56 PM, Stuart Hungerford wrote:
> Hi,
>
> I've got a set of classes in nested Ruby modules which I'm using  
> rspec to specify:
>
> module Foo
>
>    module Baz
>
>       class C1 ... end
>
>       class C2 ... end
>    end
> end
>
> To specify C2 behaviour I need to create a bunch of C1 instances:
>
> describe Foo::Baz::C2 do
>
>    before(:each) do
>        @c1a = Foo::Baz::C1.new(...)
>        @c1b = Foo::Baz::C1.new(...)
>        @c1c = Foo::Baz::C1.new(...)
>
>        @c2 = Foo::Baz::C2.new(@c1a, @c1b, @c1c)
>    end
>
>    describe "some behaviour" do
>        # ...
>    end
> end
>
> After a while the many Foo::Baz:: module prefixes become pretty  
> tedious and
> not particularly DRY.
>
> Can someone suggest a better way to manage using nested modules in  
> rspec?
>
> Thanks,
>
> Stu
>
> --
> Stuart Hungerford
> ANU Supercomputer Facility

Hey Stuart. You should also consider using mocks and stubs. Eg:

module Foo
   module Baz
     before :each do
       @c1a = mock_model C1, ...
       @c1b = mock_model C1, ...
       @c1c = mock_model C1, ...

       @c2 = C2.new @c1a, @c1b, @c1c
     end
   end
end

That way, your specs for class C2 aren't tied to C1's implementation.

One other suggestion I'd make is to use more descriptive variable  
names, though "c1a" might simply be for example's sake, since we're  
talking about Foo::Baz::C1, etc.

Cheers,
Nick