testing for redirect_to :back in rspec rails

Question

I have controller method that uses redirect_to :back to redirect the user back to the original page. The method is given below.

def create
     @conversation = Conversation.find(params[:conversation_id])
     @message = @conversation.messages.build(message_params)
      if @message.save
         undeletion_unread
         redirect_to :back
         flash[:success] = "Message Sent Successfully"
      else
        redirect_to :back
        flash[:danger] = 'Message must be between 1-600 characters'
      end
    end

I am trying to write an integration test for the valid and invalid create method. The integration tests are given below.

test "valid creation of a message" do 
      post user_conversation_messages_path(@user, @conversation), message: {body: "abc"}
      assert_equal "Message Sent Successfully", flash[:success]
  end

  test "invalid creation of a message" do 
      post user_conversation_messages_path(@user, @conversation), message: {body: "  "}
      assert_equal "Message must be 1-600 characters", flash[:success]
  end

I get the following error associated with the redirect_to :back.

Error:
MessageCreateTest#test_invalid_creation_of_a_message:
ActionController::RedirectBackError: No HTTP_REFERER was set in the request to this action, so redirect_to :back could not be called successfully. If this is a test, make sure to specify request.env["HTTP_REFERER"].
    app/controllers/messages_controller.rb:14:in `create'
    test/integration/message_create_test.rb:16:in `block in <class:MessageCreateTest>'

I have tried using the HTTP REFERRER(given below) instead of redirect_to :back in the create method but I still get the error.

redirect_to request.env["HTTP_REFERER"]

I am not sure what I need to change to pass the test of redirect_to :back. I ran into this problem once and I ended up changing the route. However, It is much easier to use redirect_to :back in this case. I have tried the different suggestions after I googled the problem. Most of them are outdated and don't really apply. Thanks

@neydroid, I checkout the question prior to posting one. I am not sure what exactly is the solution proposing. Also, the answer is 5 years old. Many things have changed in rails and other things. It might not actually work — Divjot Mehton
can you post your router config to give you an answer with an appropriate example? — neydroid

neydroid neydroid · Accepted Answer · 2016-07-18T02:02:59

You need to set the HTTP_REFERER before doing any work with the routes, then you'll have where to go back like this:

test "valid creation of a message" do 
  request.env["HTTP_REFERER"] = "/posts"
  post user_conversation_messages_path(@user, @conversation), message: {body: "abc"}
  assert_equal "Message Sent Successfully", flash[:success]
end

test "invalid creation of a message" do 
  request.env["HTTP_REFERER"] = "/posts"
  post user_conversation_messages_path(@user, @conversation), message: {body: "  "}
  assert_equal "Message must be 1-600 characters", flash[:success]
end

testing for redirect_to :back in rspec rails

1 Answers