title: GET an url or path, provided as string, in an rspec test
body: <p>For a controller that determines the behaviour of a sidebar, I need to call several urls; the sidebar will change (a.o) based on the page on which it appears. </p>
  
  <pre><code>describe SidebarController do
    before(:each) do
      @sidebar = SidebarController.new
    end
    it 'should return :jobseekers for root_path' do
      get(root_url)
      @sidebar.section(root_path).should eq :jobseekers
    end
  end
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>This, however, fails with <code>ActionController::RoutingError: No route matches {:controller=&gt;"sidebar", :action=&gt;"http://test.host/"}</code></p>
  
  <p>Can I <code>get</code> an url or path as string? Is there a smarter way to set the <code>request.</code> data, rather then GETting it?</p>