Shared Capybara (or model setup) helpers for RSpec and Cucumber

gistfile1.rb

# Let's assume you're driving Capybara in both RSpec request specs & Cucumber, 
# for example you're using Cucumber as a design/documentation tool, and RSpec 
# for the more boring integration tests.

# You don't want to duplicate your click-this-click-that helpers to e.g. 
# log_in(username, password). 
# You may also have model state setup code which can be shared/reused.

# Where can it go? How can it be loaded? I've been using the following approach:
#
#    test_helper_lib/app_specific
#    test_helper_lib/generic
#
# For example: 

#   test_helper_lib/generic/rails_dom_id_helper.rb

    module RailsDomIdHelper
      def rails_dom_id_for(model)
        ActionController::RecordIdentifier.dom_id(model)
      end

      def rails_dom_id_selector(model)
        "##{rails_dom_id_for(model)}"
      end
    end

    RSpec.configure do |config|
      config.include RailsDomIdHelper, :type => :request
    end

    World(RailsDomIdHelper) if respond_to?(:World) #cucumber

# and for an app-specific example:

    module CapybaraAuthenticationHelpers  
      def log_out_admin
        visit '/admin'
        click_on('Sign out')
      end
    
      def admin_log_in_as(email, password)
        visit '/admin'
        fill_in("admin_email", :with => email)  
        fill_in("admin_password", :with => password) 
        click_button("admin_submit")
      end
    end

    if respond_to?(:World) #cucumber
      World(CapybaraAuthenticationHelpers) 
    else
      RSpec.configure do |config|
        config.include CapybaraAuthenticationHelpers, :type => :request
      end
    end

# And when including model setup methods you can drop the :type => :request, which defaults to :all.

# It works pretty well, and if you're really paranoid, or have complex state, 
# you can even test your test setup code in 1 place.

# To have RSpec and Cucumber actually load the directory, you can add the following to a .rb file 
# of your choice in spec/support and features/support

    Dir[
      File.expand_path(
        Rails.root.join 'test_helper_lib', '**', '*.rb'
      )
    ].each {|f| require f}

If you are looking for a more complete solution for encapsulation, check out Capybara Test Helpers.

It allows to organize code to avoid repetition, while keeping it modular and maintainable.