Test/spec 0.4, a BDD interface for Test::Unit

Ruby
1

Hello,

today I’m releasing test/spec 0.4, a library to do BDD with Test::Unit.

== News in 0.4:

  • June 29th, 2007: Fourth public release 0.4.
    • Support for Ruby 1.8.6.
    • Support describe/it/before/after RSpec 1.0 syntax.
    • Allow should.raise { code_that_raises }
    • Add xcontext to disable complete contexts.
    • Backtraces are cleaner now.
    • Mention test/spec on Rails.
    • Fix small Gem bugs.
    • Fix bug related to counting negated assertions.
    • Fix bug in specrb.
    • Allow empty xspecifys.
    • Make SpecDox and RDox count empty specifications.
    • Allow Kernel#context to take a superclass.

== What is test/spec?

test/spec layers an RSpec-inspired interface on top of Test::Unit, so
you can mix TDD and BDD (Behavior-Driven Development).

test/spec is a clean-room implementation that maps most kinds of
Test::Unit assertions to a `should’-like syntax.

Consider this Test::Unit test case:

class TestFoo < Test::Unit::TestCase
  def test_should_bar
    assert_equal 5, 2 + 3
  end
end

In test/spec, it looks like this:

require 'test/spec'

context "Foo" do
  specify "should bar" do
    (2 + 3).should.equal 5
  end
end

Since test/spec 0.4, you can also use the new RSpec 1.0 style:

require 'test/spec'

describe "Foo" do
  it "should bar" do
    (2 + 3).should.equal 5
  end
end

test/spec does not include a mocking/stubbing-framework; use whichever
you like to. test/spec has been tested successfully with FlexMock and
Mocha.

test/spec has no dependencies outside Ruby 1.8.

== Mixing test/spec and test/unit

test/spec and Test::Unit contexts/test cases can be intermixed freely,
run in the same test and live in the same files. You can just add them
to your Rake::TestTask, too. test/spec allows you to leverage your
full existing Test::Unit infrastructure.

test/spec does not change Test::Unit with the exception of
monkey-patching Test::Unit::TestSuite to order the test cases before
running them. (This should not do any harm, but if you know a way
around it, please tell me.)

== Wrapped assertions

assert_equal: should.equal, should ==
assert_not_equal: should.not.equal, should.not ==
assert_same: should.be
assert_not_same: should.not.be
assert_nil: should.be.nil
assert_not_nil: should.not.be.nil

assert_in_delta: should.be.close
assert_match: should.match, should =~
assert_no_match: should.not.match, should.not =~

assert_instance_of: should.be.an.instance_of
assert_kind_of: should.be.a.kind_of
assert_respond_to: should.respond_to

assert_raise: should.raise
assert_nothing_raised: should.not.raise
assert_throws: should.throw
assert_nothing_thrown: should.not.throw
assert_block: should.satisfy

== Additional assertions

These assertions are not included in Test::Unit, but have been added
to test/spec for convenience:

  • should.not.satisfy
  • a.should. (works like assert a.?)
  • a.should.be (where is <, <=, >, >=, or ===)
  • should.output, to check what is printed

== Messaging/Blaming

With more complex assertions, it may be helpful to provide a message
to show if the assertion has failed. This can be done with the
Should#blaming or Should#messaging methods:

RUBY_VERSION.should.messaging("Ruby too old.").be > "1.8.4"

(1 + 1).should.blaming("weird math").not.equal 11

== Custom shoulds (“Matchers”)

To capture recurring patterns in parts of your specifications, you can
define custom “shoulds” (RSpec calls them “matchers”) in your
contexts, or include modules of them:

context "Numbers"
  class EqualString < Test::Spec::CustomShould
    def matches?(other)
      object == other.to_s
    end
  end

  def equal_string(str)
    EqualString.new(str)
  end

  specify "should have to_s"
    42.should equal_string("42")
  end
end

Alternatively, your implementation can define
CustomShould#assumptions, where you can use test/spec assertions
instead of Boolean predicates:

class EqualString < Test::Spec::CustomShould
  def assumptions(other)
    object.should.equal other.to_s
  end
end

A CustomShould by default takes one argument, which is placed in
self.object for your convenience.

You can CustomShould#failure_message to provide a better error
message.

== SpecDox and RDox

test/spec adds two additional test runners to Test::Unit, based on the
console runner but with a different output format.

SpecDox, run with --runner=specdox (or -rs) looks like RSpec’s output:

should.output
- works for print
- works for puts
- works with readline

RDox, run with --runner=rdox (or -rr) can be included for RDoc
documentation:

== should.output
* works for print
* works for puts
* works with readline

SpecDox and RDox work for Test::Unit too:

$ ruby -r test/spec test/testunit/test_testresult.rb -rs

Test::Unit::TC_TestResult
- fault notification
- passed?
- result changed notification

Finished in 0.106647 seconds.

3 specifications (30 requirements), 0 failures

== test/spec on Rails

If you want to specify your Rails applications, you can use the
third-party
plugin “test/spec on Rails”, which can be found at:

http://svn.techno-weenie.net/projects/plugins/test_spec_on_rails/

It features testing of model validation, redirection, output, HTTP
status, template rendering and URL generation.

== Thanks to

  • Eero S. for writing should.output.
  • Tuxie for writing test/spec on Rails.
  • Brian Donovan for allowing alternative superclasses.
  • Chris W. for should.raise with a block and
    xcontext.
  • Jean-Michel Garnier for packaging the first gem.
  • Mikko L., Jan Wikholm, Matt M. and Michael F. for
    testing the gem.
  • Chris McGrath for reporting a bug.
  • Thomas F. for script.aculo.us BDD testing which convinced me.
  • Dave A. for BDD.
  • The RSpec team for API inspiration.
  • Nathaniel T. for Test::Unit.

== Copying

Copyright (C) 2006, 2007 Christian N.
http://purl.org/net/chneukirchen
test/spec is licensed under the same terms as Ruby itself.

== Where can I get it?

You can download test/spec 0.4 at

    http://chneukirchen.org/releases/test-spec-0.4.0.tar.gz

Alternatively, you can checkout from the development repository with:

       darcs get http://chneukirchen.org/repos/testspec

Please mail bugs, suggestions and patches to
mailto:[email protected].

(Patches using “darcs send” are most welcome.)

== Installing with RubyGems

Since version 0.3, a Gem of test/spec is available. You can install
with:

gem install test-spec

(It may take some time for the index to be updated and the mirrors
propagated.) I also provide a local mirror of the gems (and
development snapshots) at my site:

gem install test-spec --source http://chneukirchen.org/releases/gems

== Links

Behavior-Driven Development:: http://behaviour-driven.org/
RSpec:: http://rspec.rubyforge.org/
script.aculo.us testing::
http://mir.aculo.us/articles/2006/08/29/bdd-style-javascript-testing
FlexMock:: http://onestepback.org/software/flexmock/
Mocha:: http://mocha.rubyforge.org/

Happy hacking and have a nice day,
Christian N.

be9a3d747dc212bb21f7d78928d20652 test-spec-0.4.0.tar.gz
e2f4757aa764d67ed5630d5e1093316c test-spec-0.4.0.gem

2

Thank you very much. I’m enjoying this : )