How do I call controller/view methods from the console in Rails?

StackOverflow https://stackoverflow.com/questions/151030

  •  02-07-2019
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Question

When I load script/console, some times I want 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?
Was it helpful?

Solution

To call helpers, use the helper object:

$ ./script/console
>> helper.number_to_currency('123.45')
=> "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.

>> include BogusHelper
>> helper.bogus
=> "bogus output"

As for dealing with controllers, I quote Nick's answer:

> app.get '/posts/1'
> response = app.response
# you now have a rails response object much like the integration tests

> response.body            # get you the HTML
> response.cookies         # hash of the cookies

# etc, etc

OTHER TIPS

An easy way to call a controller action from script/console and view/manipulate the response object is:

> app.get '/posts/1'
> response = app.response
# you now have a rails response object much like the integration tests

> response.body            # get you the HTML
> response.cookies         # hash of the cookies

# etc, etc

The app object is an instance of ActionController::Integration::Session

This works for me using Rails 2.1 and 2.3, I did not try earlier versions.

If you need to test from the console (tested on Rails 3.1 and 4.1):

Call Controller Actions:

app.get '/'              
   app.response            
   app.response.headers  # => { "Content-Type"=>"text/html", ... }
   app.response.body     # => "<!DOCTYPE html>\n<html>\n\n<head>\n..."

ApplicationController methods:

foo = ActionController::Base::ApplicationController.new
foo.public_methods(true||false).sort
foo.some_method

Route Helpers:

app.myresource_path     # => "/myresource" 
app.myresource_url      # => "http://www.example.com/myresource"

View Helpers:

foo = ActionView::Base.new

foo.javascript_include_tag 'myscript' #=> "<script src=\"/javascripts/myscript.js\"></script>"

helper.link_to "foo", "bar" #=> "<a href=\"bar\">foo</a>"

ActionController::Base.helpers.image_tag('logo.png')  #=> "<img alt=\"Logo\" src=\"/images/logo.png\" />"

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  #=> '/assets'

ActiveSupport methods:

require 'active_support/all'
1.week.ago
=> 2013-08-31 10:07:26 -0300
a = {'a'=>123}
a.symbolize_keys
=> {:a=>123}

Lib modules:

> require 'my_utils'
 => true 
> include MyUtils
 => Object 
> MyUtils.say "hi"
evaluate: hi
 => true

Here's one way to do this through the console:

>> foo = ActionView::Base.new
=> #<ActionView::Base:0x2aaab0ac2af8 @assigns_added=nil, @assigns={}, @helpers=#<ActionView::Base::ProxyModule:0x2aaab0ac2a58>, @controller=nil, @view_paths=[]>

>> foo.extend YourHelperModule
=> #<ActionView::Base:0x2aaab0ac2af8 @assigns_added=nil, @assigns={}, @helpers=#<ActionView::Base::ProxyModule:0x2aaab0ac2a58>, @controller=nil, @view_paths=[]>

>> foo.your_helper_method(args)
=> "<html>created by your helper</html>"

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.

Another way to do this is to use the rails debugger. There's a 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 < 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.

If method is POST method then

app.post 'controller/action?parameter1=value1&parameter2=value2'

[ here parameters will be as per your applicability ]

else if it is GET method then

app.get 'controller/action'

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"=>"gT7G17RNFaWUDLC6PJGapwHk/OEyYfI1V8yrlg0lHpM=",  "refinery_user[login]"=>'chloe', 'refinery_user[password]'=>'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"=>"gT7G17RNFaWUDLC6PJGapwHk/OEyYfI1V8yrlg0lHpM=", "switch_locale"=>"en", "post"=>{"title"=>"Test", "homepage"=>"0", "featured"=>"0", "magazine"=>"0", "refinery_category_ids"=>["1282"], "body"=>"Tests do a body good.", "custom_teaser"=>"", "draft"=>"0", "tag_list"=>"", "published_at(1i)"=>"2014", "published_at(2i)"=>"5", "published_at(3i)"=>"27", "published_at(4i)"=>"21", "published_at(5i)"=>"20", "custom_url"=>"", "source_url_title"=>"", "source_url"=>"", "user_id"=>"56", "browser_title"=>"", "meta_description"=>""}, "continue_editing"=>"false", "locale"=>: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

You can access your methods in Rails Console like following

controller.method_name
helper.method_name

In rails 3, try this:

session = ActionDispatch::Integration::Session.new(Rails.application)
session.get(url)
body = session.response.body

Body will contain the HTML of the url.

How to route and render (dispatch) from a model in Rails 3

The earlier answers are calling helpers but the following will help for calling controller methods. I have used this 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 rails console you can type something like...

request(:controller => :show, :action => :show_frontpage)

...and the html will be dumped to the console.

Inside any controller action or view, you can invoke the console by calling the console method.

For example, in a controller:

class PostsController < ApplicationController
  def new
    console
    @post = Post.new
  end
end

Or in a view:

<% console %>

<h2>New Post</h2>

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

One possible aproach for Helper method testing in rails console is

Struct.new(:t).extend(YourHelper).your_method(*arg)

and for reload and do

reload!; Struct.new(:t).extend(YourHelper).your_method(*arg)

For controller's, you can instantiate controller object in rails console.

For example,

class CustomPagesController < 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 > custom = CustomPagesController.new
 => #<CustomPagesController:0xb594f77c @_action_has_layout=true, @_routes=nil, @_headers={"Content-Type"=>"text/html"}, @_status=200, @_request=nil, @_response=nil> 
2.1.5 :014 > custom.get_number
Got the Number
 => nil

# For calling private or protected methods,
2.1.5 :048 > custom.send(:get_private_number)
Got private Number
 => nil

If you have added your own helper and you want it's methods to be available in console do:

  1. in console execute include YourHelperName
  2. your helper methods are now available in console, use them calling method_name(args) in console.

Example: say you have MyHelper (with a method my_method) in 'app/helpers/my_helper.rb`, then in console do:

  1. include MyHelper
  2. my_helper.my_method
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