Rails 2: test 'link_to' and other view helpers from the rails console?

Just a small addition. You will need to provide the host parameter too e.g

my_random_link_helper(:host => "www.google.com")

just include the UrlWriter module in your console:

include ActionController::UrlWriter

You can add your include ActionView::Helpers::UrlHelper to ~/.irbrc to auto load it when you start the console.