model!(<model_name>) not finding the right instances of a model that has a self-referential association and a paperclip attachment

[tatyree]

I've got an image model that has_many versions of itself as
alternates. When I try and test that a newly-uploaded alternate image
with an S3 stored paperclip attachment has the correct association
with an existing image instantiated using machinist, the model! method
in pickle only finds the machinist-created instance.

Anyone else seen anything similar? Any thoughts or suggestions (or a
steer towards a fix) would be appreciated.

Rails 3.0.3
paperclip 2.3.8
storage of images on s3 using most current aws-s3
most current beta version of machinist (with the caching turned off)
capybara

I've set this in my test environment,

Machinist.configure do |config|
config.cache_objects = false
end

but it doesn't help.

The image model with the attachment looks like this:

Class Image < ActiveRecord::Base
IMAGE_SIZES = {
:hero => '800x800>',
:large => '400x400#',
:thumb => '100x100#' }

has_many :images
belongs_to :image
has_many :alternates, :class_name => "Image", :foreign_key =>
"image_id"


has_attached_file :media,
:storage => :s3,
:s3_permissions => :authenticated_read,
:s3_credentials => File.join(Rails.root, 'config', 's3.yml'),
:s3_protocol => 'http',
:path => ":attachment/:id/:style/:basename.:extension",
:styles => IMAGE_SIZES
end

The blueprint looks like this:

Image.blueprint do
title { "Image #{sn}"}
media { File.new(File.join(Rails.root, 'features', 'upload-files',
'default.jpg')) }
end

And the feature looks like this:

Scenario: I can create a new alternate image
Given I am on the images page
And a subsection exists with title: "Dockyards"
And an image "Main" exists with subsection: the subsection, title:
"The Main Image"
When I follow "new"
And I fill in "Title" with "New Dockyard Photo"
And I attach the file "features/upload-files/default.jpg" to "Media"
And I select "The Main Image" from "Image"
And I press "Create Image"
Then an image should exist
And the image "Main" should be the image's image
And I should see image: the image

When it's run, I get this result:

features/step_definitions/pickle_steps.rb:54
expected: #<Image id: 377, title: "The Main Image", created_at:
"2011-02-05 14:50:25", updated_at: "2011-02-05 14:50:25",
media_file_name: "default.jpg", media_content_type: "image/jpeg",
media_file_size: 2673, media_updated_at: "2011-02-05 14:50:25",
processing: nil, subsection_id: 337, position: 1, image_id: nil>
got: nil (using ==)


The problem come in with this step definition:

Then(/^#{capture_model} should be #{capture_model}(?:'s)? (\w+)$/) do |
target, owner, association|
model!(owner).send(association).should == model!(target)
end

The problem becomes pretty clear if you look at it in the debugger:
(rdb:1) owner
"the image"
(rdb:1) target
"the image \"Main\""
(rdb:1) model!(owner)
#<Image id: 391, title: "The Main Image", created_at: "2011-02-05
15:00:34", updated_at: "2011-02-05 15:00:34", media_file_name:
"default.jpg", media_content_type: "image/jpeg", media_file_size:
2673, media_updated_at: "2011-02-05 15:00:34", processing: nil,
subsection_id: 344, position: 1, image_id: nil>
(rdb:1) model!(target)
#<Image id: 391, title: "The Main Image", created_at: "2011-02-05
15:00:34", updated_at: "2011-02-05 15:00:34", media_file_name:
"default.jpg", media_content_type: "image/jpeg", media_file_size:
2673, media_updated_at: "2011-02-05 15:00:34", processing: nil,
subsection_id: 344, position: 1, image_id: nil>
(rdb:1) model!(owner) == model!(target)
true
(rdb:1)

I've tried setting up a different blueprint, thinking the naming might
be getting in the way:

Image.blueprint(:default) do
title { "Default Image"}
media { File.new(File.join(Rails.root, 'features', 'upload-files',
'default.jpg')) }
end

Scenario: I can create a new alternate image
Given I am on the images page
And a subsection exists with title: "Mumbai Dockyards"
And a default image exists with subsection: the subsection, title:
"The Main Image"
When I follow "new"
And I fill in "Title" with "New Dockyard Photo"
And I attach the file "features/upload-files/default.jpg" to "Media"
And I select "The Main Image" from "Image"
And I press "Create Image"
Then an image should exist
And the default image should be the image's image

But the same thing happens:

(rdb:1) owner
"the image"
(rdb:1) target
"the default image"
(rdb:1) model!(owner) == model!(target)
true
(rdb:1)

I also tried using the step for checking has_many, but get a similar
problem.