Tutorial

RSpec/Given Tutorial

Let's work through an example of using RSpec/Given in a more or less real example. We will use examples from the EverCreft-Kata project by Guy Royse (@guyroyse) and George Walters II (@walterg2).

Character Names

Feature: Create a Character

As a character I want to have a name so that I can be distinguished from other characters

• can get and set Name

Getting the name.

We will start with just getting the name from a character object.

describe "Character has name" do
  Given(:guy) { Character.new("George") }
  Then { guy.name.should == "George" }
end

This is the simplest possible spec with a single Given clause and a single Then clause. The Given clause specifies that "guy" will refer to an object created by the Character.new call. The Then clause specifies that the "guy" object has a name method that returns "George".

Setting the name

Now let's expand the example to include setting the name.

describe "Character has name" do
  Given(:guy) { Character.new("George") }
  Then { guy.name.should == "George" }

  describe "changing the name" do
    When { guy.name = "Bill" }
    Then { guy.name.should == "Bill" }
  end
end

Nested describe or context blocks inherit the givens (and whens) from the enclosing blocks. So the given "guy" is still available in the nested "changing the name" block.