spec_helper.rb

class MockSession
  def initialize(cookies)
    @cookies = cookies
    @data = cookies['rack.session'] ## Gets session hash as base64 encoded marshalled data set
    if @data
      @data = @data.unpack("m*").first ### Decodes data as string
      @data = Marshal.load(@data) ### Converts serialized data into a Ruby hash
    else
      @data = {}
    end
  end

  ## Defines method for getting a mock session key's value.
  def [](key)
    @data[key]
  end

  ## Defines method for adding a new key/value pair to session || changing value of existing key.
  def []=(key, value)
    @data[key] = value
    session_data = Marshal.dump(@data) ### Serializes data
    session_data = [session_data].pack("m*") ### Encodes string as base64 marshalled data set
    @cookies.merge("rack.session=#{Rack::Utils.escape(session_data)}") ## URI excaping, merges session hash data
    raise "session variable not set" unless @cookies['rack.session'] == session_data
  end
end