How can I call controller view helper methods from the console in Ruby on Rails

Question

When I load script console  sometimes I want to play with the output of a controller or a view helper method   Are there ways to    simulate a request  call methods from a controller instance on said request  test helper methods  either via said controller instance or another way

User · Answer

For controllers  you can instantiate a controller object in the Ruby on Rails console   For example   class CustomPagesController  lt  ApplicationController    def index      customs   CustomPage all   end    def get number     puts  Got the Number    end    protected    def get private number     puts  Got private Number    end  end  custom   CustomPagesController new 2 1 5  011  gt  custom   CustomPagesController new    gt    lt CustomPagesController 0xb594f77c   action has layout true    routes nil    headers   Content-Type   gt  text html      status 200    request nil    response nil gt  2 1 5  014  gt  custom get number Got the Number    gt  nil    For calling private or protected methods  2 1 5  048  gt  custom send  get private number  Got private Number    gt  nil

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You can access your methods in the Ruby on Rails console like the following   controller method name helper method name

User · Answer

The earlier answers are calling helpers  but the following will help for calling controller methods  I have used this on Ruby on Rails 2 3 2   First add the following code to your  irbrc file  which can be in your home directory   class Object    def request options            url app url for options       app get url       puts app html document root to s   end end   Then in the Ruby on Rails console you can type something like     request  controller   gt   show   action   gt   show frontpage       and the HTML will be dumped to the console

User · Answer

One possible approach for Helper method testing in the Ruby on Rails console is   Struct new  t  extend YourHelper  your method  arg    And for reload do   reload   Struct new  t  extend YourHelper  your method  arg

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Another way to do this is to use the Ruby on Rails debugger  There s a Ruby on Rails guide about debugging at http   guides rubyonrails org debugging rails applications html  Basically  start the server with the -u option     script server -u   And then insert a breakpoint into your script where you would like to have access to the controllers  helpers  etc   class EventsController  lt  ApplicationController   def index     debugger   end end   And when you make a request and hit that part in the code  the server console will return a prompt where you can then make requests  view objects  etc  from a command prompt  When finished  just type  cont  to continue execution  There are also options for extended debugging  but this should at least get you started

User · Answer

An easy way to call a controller action from a script console and view manipulate the response object is    gt  app get   posts 1   gt  response   app response   You now have a Ruby on Rails response object much like the integration tests   gt  response body              Get you the HTML  gt  response cookies           Hash of the cookies    etc   etc    The app object is an instance of ActionController  Integration  Session  This works for me using Ruby on Rails 2 1 and 2 3  and I did not try earlier versions

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To call helpers  use the helper object       script console  gt  gt  helper number to currency  123 45     gt   R  123 45    If you want to use a helper that s not included by default  say  because you removed helper  all from ApplicationController   just include the helper    gt  gt  include BogusHelper  gt  gt  helper bogus   gt   bogus output    As for dealing with controllers  I quote Nick s answer     gt  app get   posts 1   gt  response   app response   you now have a rails response object much like the integration tests   gt  response body              get you the HTML  gt  response cookies           hash of the cookies    etc  etc

User · Answer

If you need to test from the console  tested on Ruby on Rails 3 1 and 4 1    Call Controller Actions   app get        app response    app response headers      gt     Content-Type   gt  text html            app response body         gt    lt  DOCTYPE html gt  n lt html gt  n n lt head gt  n       ApplicationController methods   foo   ActionController  Base  ApplicationController new foo public methods true  false  sort foo some method   Route Helpers   app myresource path         gt    myresource  app myresource url          gt   http   www example com myresource    View Helpers   foo   ActionView  Base new  foo javascript include tag  myscript     gt    lt script src    javascripts myscript js   gt  lt  script gt    helper link to  foo    bar     gt    lt a href   bar   gt foo lt  a gt    ActionController  Base helpers image tag  logo png       gt    lt img alt   Logo   src    images logo png     gt     Render   views   Rails  Application  Configuration new Rails root  paths  app views   views helper   ActionView  Base new views views helper render  myview mytemplate  views helper render file   myview  mypartial   locals   my var   display block    views helper assets prefix     gt    assets    ActiveSupport methods   require  active support all  1 week ago   gt  2013-08-31 10 07 26 -0300 a     a   gt 123  a symbolize keys   gt    a  gt 123    Lib modules    gt  require  my utils     gt  true  gt  include MyUtils    gt  Object  gt  MyUtils say  hi  evaluate  hi    gt  true

User · Answer

In Ruby on Rails 3  try this   session   ActionDispatch  Integration  Session new Rails application  session get url  body   session response body   The body will contain the HTML of the URL   How to route and render  dispatch  from a model in Ruby on Rails 3

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If you have added your own helper and you want its methods to be available in console  do    In the console execute include YourHelperName Your helper methods are now available in console  and use them calling method name args  in the console    Example  say you have MyHelper  with a method my method  in  app helpers my helper rb   then in the console do    include MyHelper my helper my method

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Here is how to make an authenticated POST request  using Refinery as an example     Start Rails console rails console   Get the login form app get   community members sign in    View the session app session to hash   Copy the CSRF token   csrf token  and place it in the login request    Log in from the console to create a session app post   community members login     authenticity token   gt  gT7G17RNFaWUDLC6PJGapwHk OEyYfI1V8yrlg0lHpM      refinery user login    gt  chloe    refinery user password    gt  test     View the session to verify CSRF token is the same app session to hash   Copy the CSRF token   csrf token  and place it in the request  It s best to edit this in Notepad   app post   refinery blog posts     authenticity token   gt  gT7G17RNFaWUDLC6PJGapwHk OEyYfI1V8yrlg0lHpM     switch locale   gt  en    post   gt   title   gt  Test    homepage   gt  0    featured   gt  0    magazine   gt  0    refinery category ids   gt   1282     body   gt  Tests do a body good     custom teaser   gt      draft   gt  0    tag list   gt      published at 1i    gt  2014    published at 2i    gt  5    published at 3i    gt  27    published at 4i    gt  21    published at 5i    gt  20    custom url   gt      source url title   gt      source url   gt      user id   gt  56    browser title   gt      meta description   gt       continue editing   gt  false    locale   gt  en    You might find these useful too if you get an error   app cookies to hash app flash to hash app response   long  raw  HTML

User · Answer

If the method is the POST method then   app post  controller action parameter1 value1 amp parameter2 value2     Here parameters will be as per your applicability    Else if it is the GET method then   app get  controller action

User · Answer

Here s one way to do this through the console    gt  gt  foo   ActionView  Base new   gt    lt ActionView  Base 0x2aaab0ac2af8  assigns added nil   assigns      helpers   lt ActionView  Base  ProxyModule 0x2aaab0ac2a58 gt    controller nil   view paths    gt    gt  gt  foo extend YourHelperModule   gt    lt ActionView  Base 0x2aaab0ac2af8  assigns added nil   assigns      helpers   lt ActionView  Base  ProxyModule 0x2aaab0ac2a58 gt    controller nil   view paths    gt    gt  gt  foo your helper method args    gt    lt html gt created by your helper lt  html gt     Creating a new instance of ActionView  Base gives you access to the normal view methods that your helper likely uses   Then extending YourHelperModule mixes its methods into your object letting you view their return values

User · Answer

Another way to do this is to use the Ruby on Rails debugger  There s a Ruby on Rails guide about debugging at http   guides rubyonrails org debugging rails applications html  Basically  start the server with the -u option     script server -u   And then insert a breakpoint into your script where you would like to have access to the controllers  helpers  etc   class EventsController  lt  ApplicationController   def index     debugger   end end   And when you make a request and hit that part in the code  the server console will return a prompt where you can then make requests  view objects  etc  from a command prompt  When finished  just type  cont  to continue execution  There are also options for extended debugging  but this should at least get you started

User · Answer

Inside any controller action or view  you can invoke the console by calling the console method   For example  in a controller   class PostsController  lt  ApplicationController   def new     console      post   Post new   end end   Or in a view    lt   console   gt    lt h2 gt New Post lt  h2 gt    This will render a console inside your view  You don t need to care about the location of the console call  it won t be rendered on the spot of its invocation but next to your HTML content   See  http   guides rubyonrails org debugging rails applications html

[ruby-on-rails] How can I call controller/view helper methods from the console in Ruby on Rails?

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