How to define a simple global variable in an rspec test that can be accesed by helper functions - ruby

Question

I cant figure out how to use a simple global variable in an rspec test. It seems like such a trivial feature but after much goggleing I havent been able to find a solution.
I want a variable that can be accessed/changed throughout the main spec file and from functions in helper spec files.
Here is what I have so far:
require_relative 'spec_helper.rb'
require_relative 'helpers.rb'
let(:concept0) { '' }
describe 'ICE Testing' do
describe 'step1' do
it "Populates suggestions correctly" do
concept0 = "tg"
selectConcept() #in helper file. Sets concept0 to "First Concept"
puts concept0 #echos tg?? Should echo "First Concept"
end
end
.
#helpers.rb
def selectConcept
concept0 = "First Concept"
end
Can someone point out what I am missing or if using "let" is totally the wrong method?

Answer 1

Consider using a global before hook with an instance variable: http://www.rubydoc.info/github/rspec/rspec-core/RSpec/Core/Configuration
In your spec_helper.rb file:
RSpec.configure do |config|
config.before(:example) { #concept0 = 'value' }
end
Then #concept0 will be set in your examples (my_example_spec.rb):
RSpec.describe MyExample do
it { expect(#concept0).to eql('value') } # This code will pass
end

Answer 2

It turns out the easiest way is to use a $ sign to indicate a global variable.
See Preserve variable in cucumber?

Answer 3

This is an old thread, but i had this question today. I just needed to define a long string to stub out a command that is in multiple files as:
# in each spec file that needed it
let(:date_check) do
<<~PWSH.strip
# lots of powershell code
PWSH
end
# in any context in that file (or a shared context)
before(:each) do
stub_command(date_check).and_return(false)
end
Searched, Stack Overflow, etc, landed on this: Note the usage of the variable doesn't change at all! (Assumes all specs require 'spec_helper')
# in spec_helper.rb
def date_check
<<~PWSH.strip
# lots of powershell code
PWSH
end
# in any context in any spec file
before(:each) do
stub_command(date_check).and_return(false)
end

Answer 4

I suggest you define the variable in the helper file, where it can be used by other helper code, and can be accessed from your tests.
For my project, I wanted to keep all the setup stuff in spec_helper.rb, and use those settings, plus any custom variables and methods in the tests. The following, modified from the RSpec-core 3.10 docs, is not Rails-specific.
Create a new setting for RSpec.configure called my_variable, and give it a value, like this:
# spec/spec_helper.rb
RSpec.configure do |config|
config.add_setting :my_variable
config.my_variable = "Value of my_variable"
end
Access settings as a new read-only property in RSpec.configuration from your test:
# spec/my_spec.rb
RSpec.describe(MyModule) do
it "creates an instance of something" do
my_instance = MyModule::MyClass.new(RSpec.configuration.my_variable)
end
end