How to use RSpec's should_raise with any kind of exception?

I'd like to do something like this:

some_method.should_raise <any kind of exception, I don't care>

How should I do this?

some_method.should_raise exception

... doesn't work.

The syntax changed recently and now it is:

expect { ... }.to raise_error(ErrorClass)

Instead of lambda, use expect to:

expect { some_method }.to raise_error

This is applies for more recent versions of rspec, i.e. rspec 2.0 and up.

See the <a href="http://relishapp.com/rspec/rspec-expectations/v/2-0/dir/matchers/expect-error">doco</a> for more.

expect { some_method }.to raise_error

**RSpec 1 Syntax:**

lambda { some_method }.should raise_error

See [the documentation][1] (for RSpec 1 syntax) and [RSpec 2 documentation][2] for more.


[1]:

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[2]:

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### RSpec 2

expect { some_method }.to raise_error
expect { some_method }.to raise_error(SomeError)
expect { some_method }.to raise_error("oops")
expect { some_method }.to raise_error(/oops/)
expect { some_method }.to raise_error(SomeError, "oops")
expect { some_method }.to raise_error(SomeError, /oops/)
expect { some_method }.to raise_error(...){|e| expect(e.data).to eq "oops" }

# Rspec also offers to_not:
expect { some_method }.to_not raise_error
...

Note: <code>raise_error</code> and <code>raise_exception</code> are interchangeable.


### RSpec 1

lambda { some_method }.should raise_error
lambda { some_method }.should raise_error(SomeError)
lambda { some_method }.should raise_error(SomeError, "oops")
lambda { some_method }.should raise_error(SomeError, /oops/)
lambda { some_method }.should raise_error(...){|e| e.data.should == "oops" }

# Rspec also offers should_not:
lambda { some_method }.should_not raise_error
...

Note: <code>raise_error</code> is an alias for <code>raise_exception</code>.


### Documentation:

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RSpec 2:

*

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RSpec 1:

*

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*

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From version 3.3 on `rspec-expections` gem raises a warning for a blank raise_error without a parameter

expect { raise StandardError }.to raise_error # results in warning
expect { raise StandardError }.to raise_error(StandardError) # fine

This gives you a hint that your code may fail with a different error than the test intended to check.

> WARNING: Using the `raise_error` matcher without providing a specific error or message risks false positives, since `raise_error` will match when Ruby raises a `NoMethodError`, `NameError` or `ArgumentError`, potentially allowing the expectation to pass without even executing the method you are intending to call. Instead consider providing a specific error class or message. This message can be supressed by setting: `RSpec::Expectations.configuration.warn_about_potential_false_positives = false`.