Rspec: testing cancan ability with arguments

Question

I am using cancan gem.

I have ability defined in my class:

module Gexcore
   class Myability
       include CanCan::Ability

    def initialize(user)
       can :delete_user, User do |victim|
      ..
        end
    end

  end
end

I am testing the ability to delete user with RSpec:

RSpec.describe "Permissions to delete user", :type => :request do
  describe 'del user' do
    it 'superadmin can delete user' do
      superadmin = double(User, :id => 10, <<some other fields>>)

      ability = Mymodule::Myability.new(superadmin)

      victim = double(User)

      res = superadmin_ability.can?(:user_del, victim)

      expect(res).to eq true

    end
  end

end

My user model:

class User < ActiveRecord::Base
  delegate :can?, :cannot?, :to => :ability
  ...
end

But it doesn't see method can? :delete_user, User from my ability. It expects User class but RSpec calls it with RSpec::Mocks::Double class.

How to test correctly ability from cancan gem using Rspec mocks ?

Collin Graves Collin Graves · Accepted Answer · 2015-11-30T16:51:01

RSpec is using a Double class because that's where it ends in your code. The class must be User for RSpec to apply the rules.

let(:user) do 
  u = User.new
  u.stub!(:some_qualifier_in_your_delete_user_declaration? => true)
  u
end

See this SO archive for more of a reference.

Rspec: testing cancan ability with arguments

1 Answers