[rspec-users] Expecting an array but getting a string using webrat

[David Chelimsky]

On May 4, 2010, at 2:51 PM, Frank wrote:

> Hi Guys,
> 
> I'm new to webrat and I've encountered a problem. I have a nested form
> that I've created using the steps similar to the Rails Casts
> http://railscasts.com/episodes/75-complex-forms-part-3
> 
> As context, I have a form for programming exercises with a title and
> description. The form also has a field for the associated Hint object,
> just a regular text area field for the hint text.
> 
> When I submit a form using webrat and cucumber my application receives
> 'params' with:
> 
>     "new_hint_attributes"=>"[{\"text\"=>\"This is hint 1\"}]"
> 
> The key 'new_hint_attributes' maps to a string causing the application
> to crash during a cucumber test.
> 
> But when I submit the form using the browser my application receives
> 'params' with:
> 
>     "new_hint_attributes"=>[{"text"=>"This is hint 1"}]
> 
> The key 'new_hint_attributes' maps to an array and everything works
> fine.
> 
> I was wondering what I might be doing wrong.
> 
> Also, I was wondering if this ticket my be related:
> https://webrat.lighthouseapp.com/projects/10503/tickets/259-webratmechanize-treats-array-as-string

I'm not sure about this myself, but you may want to check the Cucumber and Webrat lists since those are the libraries you're seeing trouble with:

http://groups.google.com/group/cukes
http://groups.google.com/group/webrat