From bba1bcce74913698363b20fc74412d4d378faefc Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Eliot Sykes <eliotsykes@gmail.com>
Date: Tue, 14 Jul 2015 17:30:56 +0100
Subject: [PATCH] Explain & strengthen RSpec+Capybara config

The configuration is a tad more robust in 2 ways:

- It checks the Capybara driver isn't rack_test - this is the more reliable check. Using the `js: true` flag is only one of the ways in which a driver can be set. For example the `:driver` metadata option is an alternative way of setting the capybara driver.
- Setting `config.use_transactional_fixtures = false` in the database cleaner configuration is not always enough alone. If the config is still set in `rails_helper.rb` to `config.use_transactional_fixtures = true`, that can take precedence. The linked to configuration raises an error if this error is detected.
---
 README.markdown | 57 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++---
 1 file changed, 54 insertions(+), 3 deletions(-)

diff --git a/README.markdown b/README.markdown
index d56069c..afe9eae 100644
--- a/README.markdown
+++ b/README.markdown
@@ -221,7 +221,30 @@ end
 
 ### RSpec with Capybara Example
 
-If you're using Capybara with RSpec and using an external browser (not using RackTest) you'll almost certainly need to use truncation rather than transactions for tests tagged `:js`.
+You'll typically discover a feature spec is incorrectly using transaction
+instead of truncation strategy when the data created in the spec is not
+visible in the app-under-test.
+
+A frequently occurring example of this is when, after creating a user in a
+spec, the spec mysteriously fails to login with the user. This happens because
+the user is created inside of an uncommitted transaction on one database
+connection, while the login attempt is made using a separate database
+connection. This separate database connection cannot access the
+uncommitted user data created over the first database connection due to
+transaction isolation.
+
+For feature specs using a Capybara driver for an external
+JavaScript-capable browser (in practice this is all drivers except
+`:rack_test`), the Rack app under test and the specs do not share a
+database connection.
+
+When a spec and app-under-test do not share a database connection,
+you'll likely need to use the truncation strategy instead of the
+transaction strategy.
+
+See the suggested config below to temporarily enable truncation strategy
+for affected feature specs only. This config continues to use transaction
+strategy for all other specs.
 
 ```ruby
 RSpec.configure do |config|
@@ -229,11 +252,39 @@ RSpec.configure do |config|
   config.use_transactional_fixtures = false
 
   config.before(:suite) do
+    if config.use_transactional_fixtures?
+      raise(<<-MSG)
+        Delete line `config.use_transactional_fixtures = true` from rails_helper.rb
+        (or set it to false) to prevent uncommitted transactions being used in
+        JavaScript-dependent specs.
+
+        During testing, the app-under-test that the browser driver connects to
+        uses a different database connection to the database connection used by
+        the spec. The app's database connection would not be able to access
+        uncommitted transaction data setup over the spec's database connection.
+      MSG
+    end
     DatabaseCleaner.clean_with(:truncation)
+  end  
+
+  config.before(:each) do
+    DatabaseCleaner.strategy = :transaction
   end
 
-  config.before(:each) do |example|
-    DatabaseCleaner.strategy = example.metadata[:js] ? :truncation : :transaction
+  config.before(:each, type: :feature) do
+    # :rack_test driver's Rack app under test shares database connection
+    # with the specs, so continue to use transaction strategy for speed.
+    driver_shares_db_connection_with_specs = Capybara.current_driver == :rack_test
+
+    if !driver_shares_db_connection_with_specs
+      # Driver is probably for an external browser with an app
+      # under test that does *not* share a database connection with the
+      # specs, so use truncation strategy.
+      DatabaseCleaner.strategy = :truncation
+    end
+  end
+
+  config.before(:each) do
     DatabaseCleaner.start
   end