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RSpec Expectations

RSpec::Expectations lets you express expected outcomes on an object in an example.

expect(account.balance).to eq(Money.new(37.42, :USD))

Install​

If you want to use rspec-expectations with rspec, just install the rspec gem and RubyGems will also install rspec-expectations for you (along with rspec-core and rspec-mocks):

gem install rspec

Want to run against the main branch? You'll need to include the dependent RSpec repos as well. Add the following to your Gemfile:

%w[rspec-core rspec-expectations rspec-mocks rspec-support].each do |lib|
  gem lib, :git => "https://github.com/rspec/#{lib}.git", :branch => 'main'
end

If you want to use rspec-expectations with another tool, like Test::Unit, Minitest, or Cucumber, you can install it directly:

gem install rspec-expectations

Basic usage​

Here's an example using rspec-core:

RSpec.describe Order do
  it "sums the prices of the items in its line items" do
    order = Order.new
    order.add_entry(LineItem.new(:item => Item.new(
      :price => Money.new(1.11, :USD)
    )))
    order.add_entry(LineItem.new(:item => Item.new(
      :price => Money.new(2.22, :USD),
      :quantity => 2
    )))
    expect(order.total).to eq(Money.new(5.55, :USD))
  end
end

The describe and it methods come from rspec-core. The Order, LineItem, Item and Money classes would be from your code. The last line of the example expresses an expected outcome. If order.total == Money.new(5.55, :USD), then the example passes. If not, it fails with a message like:

    expected: #<Money @value=5.55 @currency=:USD>
         got: #<Money @value=1.11 @currency=:USD>

Built-in matchers​

Equivalence​

expect(actual).to eq(expected)  # passes if actual == expected
expect(actual).to eql(expected) # passes if actual.eql?(expected)
expect(actual).not_to eql(not_expected) # passes if not(actual.eql?(expected))

Note: The new expect syntax no longer supports the == matcher.

Identity​

expect(actual).to be(expected)    # passes if actual.equal?(expected)
expect(actual).to equal(expected) # passes if actual.equal?(expected)

Comparisons​

expect(actual).to be >  expected
expect(actual).to be >= expected
expect(actual).to be <= expected
expect(actual).to be <  expected
expect(actual).to be_within(delta).of(expected)

Regular expressions​

expect(actual).to match(/expression/)

Note: The new expect syntax no longer supports the =~ matcher.

Types/classes​

expect(actual).to be_an_instance_of(expected) # passes if actual.class == expected
expect(actual).to be_a(expected)              # passes if actual.kind_of?(expected)
expect(actual).to be_an(expected)             # an alias for be_a
expect(actual).to be_a_kind_of(expected)      # another alias

Truthiness​

expect(actual).to be_truthy   # passes if actual is truthy (not nil or false)
expect(actual).to be true     # passes if actual == true
expect(actual).to be_falsy    # passes if actual is falsy (nil or false)
expect(actual).to be false    # passes if actual == false
expect(actual).to be_nil      # passes if actual is nil
expect(actual).to_not be_nil  # passes if actual is not nil

Expecting errors​

expect { ... }.to raise_error
expect { ... }.to raise_error(ErrorClass)
expect { ... }.to raise_error("message")
expect { ... }.to raise_error(ErrorClass, "message")

Expecting throws​

expect { ... }.to throw_symbol
expect { ... }.to throw_symbol(:symbol)
expect { ... }.to throw_symbol(:symbol, 'value')

Yielding​

expect { |b| 5.tap(&b) }.to yield_control # passes regardless of yielded args

expect { |b| yield_if_true(true, &b) }.to yield_with_no_args # passes only if no args are yielded

expect { |b| 5.tap(&b) }.to yield_with_args(5)
expect { |b| 5.tap(&b) }.to yield_with_args(Integer)
expect { |b| "a string".tap(&b) }.to yield_with_args(/str/)

expect { |b| [1, 2, 3].each(&b) }.to yield_successive_args(1, 2, 3)
expect { |b| { :a => 1, :b => 2 }.each(&b) }.to yield_successive_args([:a, 1], [:b, 2])

Predicate matchers​

expect(actual).to be_xxx         # passes if actual.xxx?
expect(actual).to have_xxx(:arg) # passes if actual.has_xxx?(:arg)

Ranges (Ruby >= 1.9 only)​

expect(1..10).to cover(3)

Collection membership​

# exact order, entire collection
expect(actual).to eq(expected)

# exact order, partial collection (based on an exact position)
expect(actual).to start_with(expected)
expect(actual).to end_with(expected)

# any order, entire collection
expect(actual).to match_array(expected)

# You can also express this by passing the expected elements
# as individual arguments
expect(actual).to contain_exactly(expected_element1, expected_element2)

 # any order, partial collection
expect(actual).to include(expected)

Examples​

expect([1, 2, 3]).to eq([1, 2, 3])            # Order dependent equality check
expect([1, 2, 3]).to include(1)               # Exact ordering, partial collection matches
expect([1, 2, 3]).to include(2, 3)            #
expect([1, 2, 3]).to start_with(1)            # As above, but from the start of the collection
expect([1, 2, 3]).to start_with(1, 2)         #
expect([1, 2, 3]).to end_with(3)              # As above but from the end of the collection
expect([1, 2, 3]).to end_with(2, 3)           #
expect({:a => 'b'}).to include(:a => 'b')     # Matching within hashes
expect("this string").to include("is str")    # Matching within strings
expect("this string").to start_with("this")   #
expect("this string").to end_with("ring")     #
expect([1, 2, 3]).to contain_exactly(2, 3, 1) # Order independent matches
expect([1, 2, 3]).to match_array([3, 2, 1])   #

# Order dependent compound matchers
expect(
  [{:a => 'hash'},{:a => 'another'}]
).to match([a_hash_including(:a => 'hash'), a_hash_including(:a => 'another')])

should syntax​

In addition to the expect syntax, rspec-expectations continues to support the should syntax:

actual.should eq expected
actual.should be > 3
[1, 2, 3].should_not include 4

See detailed information on the should syntax and its usage.

Compound Matcher Expressions​

You can also create compound matcher expressions using and or or:

expect(alphabet).to start_with("a").and end_with("z")
expect(stoplight.color).to eq("red").or eq("green").or eq("yellow")

Composing Matchers​

Many of the built-in matchers are designed to take matchers as arguments, to allow you to flexibly specify only the essential aspects of an object or data structure. In addition, all of the built-in matchers have one or more aliases that provide better phrasing for when they are used as arguments to another matcher.

Examples​

expect { k += 1.05 }.to change { k }.by( a_value_within(0.1).of(1.0) )

expect { s = "barn" }.to change { s }
  .from( a_string_matching(/foo/) )
  .to( a_string_matching(/bar/) )

expect(["barn", 2.45]).to contain_exactly(
  a_value_within(0.1).of(2.5),
  a_string_starting_with("bar")
)

expect(["barn", "food", 2.45]).to end_with(
  a_string_matching("foo"),
  a_value > 2
)

expect(["barn", 2.45]).to include( a_string_starting_with("bar") )

expect(:a => "food", :b => "good").to include(:a => a_string_matching(/foo/))

hash = {
  :a => {
    :b => ["foo", 5],
    :c => { :d => 2.05 }
  }
}

expect(hash).to match(
  :a => {
    :b => a_collection_containing_exactly(
      a_string_starting_with("f"),
      an_instance_of(Integer)
    ),
    :c => { :d => (a_value < 3) }
  }
)

expect { |probe|
  [1, 2, 3].each(&probe)
}.to yield_successive_args( a_value < 2, 2, a_value > 2 )

Usage outside rspec-core​

You always need to load rspec/expectations even if you only want to use one part of the library:

require 'rspec/expectations'

Then simply include RSpec::Matchers in any class:

class MyClass
  include RSpec::Matchers

  def do_something(arg)
    expect(arg).to be > 0
    # do other stuff
  end
end

Also see​