Test helpers for authorization

[arkirchner]

Story

There are various ways to sign in a user in the system and request tests.

This flow is often used to sign in a teacher. The issue here is that the teacher will be signed as a user through this authorization flow (teacher is not part of the default group by default). The sign-in flow for external teachers should have been used.

teacher = create(:teacher)
fill_in('email', with: teacher.email)
fill_in('password', with: attributes_for(:teacher)[:password])
click_button(I18n.t('sessions.new.link'))

Request tests sign in users by overriding the current_user. For an integration level test, this might be a bit aggressive stubbing (it keeps the teacher a teacher no matter the login flow).

teacher = create(:teacher)
allow_any_instance_of(ApplicationController).to receive(:current_user).and_return(teacher)

Goal

The goal it to create a test helper that automatically signs in users with the correct authorization flow. It should work similarly with Request and System tests.

[MrSerth]

Thanks for creating this issue as a follow-up for #2946 (comment).

The issue here is that the teacher will be signed as a user through this authorization flow

Are you referring to the fact that the teacher is signed in using the combination of email and password, rather than the LTI-based workflow?

(teacher is not part of the default group by default)

When created through the current factory, each teacher is part of study group. It is not the "default" study group created in conjunction with a new consumer, but this is no issue. The default study group mostly exists to ensure each user is at least part of one study group, which the factory fulfills.

The sign-in flow for external teachers should have been used.

Not necessarily, I'd say. Why do you think so? Obviously, there are differences between internal and external users (and teachers), but this doesn't make a difference here, I'd say.

By the way: A study group can contain internal and external users, and both can have all roles. Hence, the user type is not differentiating the actions at this point. For teachers (and admins), I can't think of many actual differences (currently, I don't think of any at all). For learners, there are a few minor differences, where interanl learners and external learners differ in their behavior, but this isn't necessarily a problem to consider for many actions.