testing-faker

Faker Standards

Use the faker gem to generate test data when it makes sense. Install the faker gem if it is not already included in the Gemfile.

Usage Guidelines

1. When to Use Faker

• All personal information (names, emails, addresses)
• All business data (products, prices, descriptions)
• All dates and times (except fixed dates)
• All content (articles, comments, posts)
• All identifiers (except fixed IDs)

1. When NOT to Use Faker

• Primary keys or foreign keys
• Fixed enumeration values
• Status flags or boolean fields
• Test-specific values needed for assertions

Common Patterns

1. Personal Information

FactoryBot.define do
  factory :user do
    first_name { Faker::Name.first_name }
    last_name { Faker::Name.last_name }
    email { Faker::Internet.email(name: "#{first_name} #{last_name}") }
    phone { Faker::PhoneNumber.phone_number }
    date_of_birth { Faker::Date.birthday(min_age: 18, max_age: 65) }
    bio { Faker::Lorem.paragraph(sentence_count: 2) }
  end
end

1. Business Data

FactoryBot.define do
  factory :product do
    name { Faker::Commerce.product_name }
    description { Faker::Lorem.paragraph }
    price { Faker::Commerce.price(range: 10.0..1000.0) }
    sku { Faker::Barcode.ean }
    category { Faker::Commerce.department }
    brand { Faker::Company.name }
  end

  factory :company do
    name { Faker::Company.name }
    catch_phrase { Faker::Company.catch_phrase }
    industry { Faker::Company.industry }
    website { Faker::Internet.url }
    founded_at { Faker::Date.between(from: 20.years.ago, to: 1.year.ago) }
  end
end

1. Content Generation

FactoryBot.define do
  factory :article do
    title { Faker::Lorem.sentence(word_count: 4) }
    content { Faker::Lorem.paragraphs(number: 3).join("\n\n") }
    excerpt { Faker::Lorem.paragraph }
    author_name { Faker::Name.name }
    published_at { Faker::Time.between(from: 1.year.ago, to: Time.current) }

    trait :with_tags do
      after(:build) do |article|
        article.tags = [
          Faker::Lorem.word,
          Faker::Lorem.word,
          Faker::Lorem.word
        ].uniq
      end
    end
  end

  factory :comment do
    content { Faker::Lorem.paragraph }
    author_name { Faker::Internet.username }
    author_email { Faker::Internet.email }
    ip_address { Faker::Internet.ip_v4_address }
  end
end