When to use a Gemfile

I’ve been building a GUI acceptance test automation suite locally in Ruby using the RSpec framework.  When it was time to get the tests running remotely on Sauce Labs, I ran into the following error:

RSpec::Core::ExampleGroup::WrongScopeError: `example` is not available from within an example (e.g. an `it` block) or from constructs that run in the scope of an example (e.g. `before`, `let`, etc). It is only available on an example group (e.g. a `describe` or `context` block).
occurred at /usr/local/rvm/gems/ruby-2.1.2/gems/rspec-core-3.2.2/lib/rspec/core/example_group.rb:642:in `method_missing'

It took a few minutes debugging before I spotted the error:

../gems/ruby-2.1.2/gems/rspec-core-3.2.2/lib/rspec/core/..

Source of problem: My remote tests were using a different version of RSpec than I was locally. Solution: Create a Gemfile to specify the version of using Rspec I’m using.

Since I didn’t realize I needed a Gemfile my question was, in general, when should someone use a Gemfile? According to the manual, a Gemfile

describes the gem dependencies required to execute associated Ruby code. Place the Gemfile in the root of the directory containing the associated code.

For example, in this context, I would place a Gemfile into any folder where I specifically want to call tests to run. In my case that meant a few specific locations:

• At the root of the folder – where I run the whole suite of tests
• In the /spec/ folder – where I typically run tests at an individual level

At a minimum I’d specify:

• A Global Source
• Each Gem I use locally that Sauce Labs will need to use

In the end it might look something like this:

Test, adapt, and re-test.