How to load db:seed data into test database automatically?

Question

I'm attempting to use the new standard way of loading seed data in Rails 2.3.4+, the db:seed rake task.

I'm loading constant data, which is required for my application to really function correctly.

What's the best way to get the db:seed task to run before the tests, so the data is pre-populated?

Answer 1

The db:seed rake task primarily just loads the db/seeds.rb script. Therefore just execute that file to load the data.

load "#{Rails.root}/db/seeds.rb"

Where to place that depends on what testing framework you are using and whether you want it to be loaded before every test or just once at the beginning. You could put it in a setup call or in a test_helper.rb file.

Answer 2

We're invoking db:seed as a part of db:test:prepare, with:

Rake::Task["db:seed"].invoke

That way, the seed data is loaded once for the entire test run, and not once per test class.

Answer 3

Putting something like this in lib/tasks/test_seed.rake should invoke the seed task after db:test:load:

namespace :db do
  namespace :test do
    task :load => :environment do
      Rake::Task["db:seed"].invoke
    end
  end
end

Answer 4

I'd say it should be

namespace :db do
  namespace :test do
    task :prepare => :environment do
      Rake::Task["db:seed"].invoke
    end
  end
end

Because db:test:load is not executed if you have config.active_record.schema_format = :sql (db:test:clone_structure is)