How to test model's callback method independently?

Question

I had a method in a model:

class Article < ActiveRecord::Base
  def do_something
  end
end

I also had a unit test for this method:

Answer 1

Callback and Callback behavior are independent tests. If you want to check an after_save callback, you need to think of it as two things:

1. Is the callback being fired for the right events?
2. Is the called function doing the right thing?

Assume you have the Article class with many callbacks, this is how you would test:

class Article < ActiveRecord::Base
  after_save    :do_something
  after_destroy :do_something_else
  ...
end

it "triggers do_something on save" do
  expect(@article).to receive(:do_something)
  @article.save
end

it "triggers do_something_else on destroy" do
  expect(@article).to receive(:do_something_else)
  @article.destroy
end

it "#do_something should work as expected" do
  # Actual tests for do_something method
end

This decouples your callbacks from behavior. For example, you could trigger the same callback method article.do_something when some other related object is updated, say like user.before_save { user.article.do_something }. This will accomodate all those.

So, keep testing your methods as usual. Worry about the callbacks separately.

Edit: typos and potential misconceptions Edit: change "do something" to "trigger something"