Why do I get "undefined method or variable 'example'" in RSpec 3.0?

Question

After upgrading to RSpec 3.0, I got the following message:

 Failure/Error: Unable to find matching line from backtrace
 NameError:
   undefined local variable or method `example' for #<RSpec::ExampleGroups::Anonymous:0x007f9ae985b548>

The message persisted even after reducing the spec to the following:

describe "" do
  it "" do
  end
end

I did notice capybara was near the top of the stack, as follows:

 # /Users/palfvin/.rvm/gems/ruby-2.0.0-p247@botmetrics/gems/capybara-2.1.0/lib/capybara/rspec.rb:20:in `block (2 levels) in <top (required)>'

in case that helps.

Answer 1

I had a similar problem with a before hook.

It seems that RSpec < 3 provided an example object in every hook, like this:

config.before(:each) do
  if example.metadata[:js] # <--- this fails!
    # do something
  end
end

In RSpec >= 3, you have to pass an explicit example parameter to the block:

config.before(:each) do |example| # <--- see here!
  if example.metadata[:js]
    # do something
  end
end

Answer 2

This error results from installing RSpec 3.0.0.beta while continuing to run Capybara 2.1.0. If you install Capybara 2.2.0.beta, the error will go away.

Answer 3

For some unrelated reasons I couldn't upgrade Capybara, so I use this monkey patch (add in a file in spec/support):

module Capybara
  module DSL
    def example
      RSpec.current_example
    end
  end
end

Answer 4

I had the same error, not in Capybara, but in my specs. I did a find and replace of example. to RSpec.current_example. and it works now. Seems example is now RSpec.current_example.