I previously posted about global params hashes for nested shoulda contexts in functional tests. This post is a followup that shows how my solution has since crystallized.

ActionController::TestCase.class_eval do
  # special overload methods for "global"/nested params
  [ :get, :post ].each do |overloaded_method|
    define_method overloaded_method do |*args|
      action,params,extras = *args
      super action, @params.merge( params || {} ), *extras
    end
  end

  def setup
    super
    @params = {}
  end
end

class FooControllerTest < ActionController::TestCase
  def setup
    super
    @params[:security_token] = 'abc123' # add any global params you need here
    @event = create_event    
  end

  context "A POST to :action" do
    setup do
      @action = lambda{ post :action, :id => @event.id }
    end

    %w[ attending not_attending maybe_attending ].each do |status|
      context "with :status = '#{status}'" do
        setup do
          @params[:status] = status
          @action.call
        end          
        should_respond_with :success
        should_change "Rsvp.count", :by => 1
        should "create the proper Rsvp object" do
          assert Rsvp.find_by_user_id_and_event_id_and_status( @user.id, @event.id, status )
        end
      end
    end
  end

end