Use ruby debugger when debugging RSpecs

If you have a problem with some failing specs it is enough to just print out some variables and statements. But sometimes the problem is a little bit more complicated to handled this way. There the ruby debugger could by of help. Here is how you can do use it within your specs:

Install the ruby-debug gem if you haven't already. But problably you do not need it. Then start rspec with -d parameter to allow debugging and in your code, just add debugger at the point you want to set the breakpoint. That's it.

An example:

# my_test.spec.rb
describe "test me" do
  it "does something" do
    some_var = "print me"
    debugger
    false.should be true
  end
end

Running the test would now open a debugger command line where you can put in the usual ruby-debug commands, here are some, to get you started:

l= # will print the ruby code of the line you are in
   # including some lines before and after to give 
   # more context 
p some_var # would print the value of some_var
c # would continue the test as usual
n # would go to the next step
s # would step into the method you are about to call

And here you get more infos about ruby-debug including a list of all available commands.