NAME
Test::Block - Specify fine granularity test plans
SYNOPSIS
use Test::More 'no_plan';
use Test::Block qw($Plan);
{
# This block should run exactly two tests
local $Plan = 2;
pass 'first test';
# oops. forgot second test
};
SKIP: {
local $Plan = 3;
pass('first test in second block');
skip "skip remaining tests" => $Plan;
};
ok( Test::Block->all_in_block, 'all test run in blocks' );
is( Test::Block->block_count, 2, 'two blocks ran' );
# This produces...
ok 1 - first test
not ok 2 - block expected 2 test(s) and ran 1
# Failed test (foo.pl at line 6)
ok 3 - first test in second block
ok 4 # skip skip remaining tests
ok 5 # skip skip remaining tests
ok 6 - all test run in blocks
ok 7 - two blocks ran
1..7
# Looks like you failed 1 tests of 7.
DESCRIPTION
This module allows you to specify the number of expected tests at a finer level of granularity than an entire test script. It is built with Test::Builder and plays happily with Test::More and friends.
If you are not already familiar with Test::More now would be the time to go take a look.
Creating test blocks
Test::Block supplies a special variable $Plan that you can localize to
specify the number of tests in a block like this:
use Test::More 'no_plan';
use Test::Block qw($Plan);
{
local $Plan = 2;
pass('first test');
pass('second test');
};
What if the block runs a different number of tests? If a block doesn't run the number of tests specified in $Plan then Test::Block will automatically produce a failing test. For example:
{
local $Plan = 2;
pass('first test');
# oops - forgot second test
};
will output
ok 1 - first test
not ok 2 - block 1 expected 2 test(s) and ran 1
Tracking the number of remaining tests During the execution of a block $Plan will contain the number of remaining tests that are expected to run so:
{
local $Plan = 2;
diag "$Plan tests to run";
pass('first test');
diag "$Plan tests to run";
pass('second test');
diag "$Plan tests to run";
};
will produce
# 2 tests to run
ok 1 - first test
# 1 tests to run
ok 2 - second test
# 0 tests to run
This can make skip blocks easier to write and maintain, for example:
SKIP: {
local $Plan = 5;
pass('first test');
pass('second test');
skip "debug tests" => $Plan unless DEBUG > 0;
pass('third test');
pass('fourth test');
skip "high level debug tests" => $Plan unless DEBUG > 2;
pass('fifth test');
};
Named blocks
To make debugging easier you can give your blocks an optional name like
{
local $Plan = { example => 2 };
pass('first test');
# oops - forgot second test
};
which would output
ok 1 - first test
not ok 2 - block example expected 2 test(s) and ran 1
Test::Block objects
The $Plan is implemented using a tied variable that stores and retrieves
Test::Block objects. If you want to avoid the tied interface you can use
Test::Block objects directly.
plan
# create a block expecting 4 tests
my $block = Test::Block->plan(4);
# create a named block with two tests
my $block = Test::Block->plan('test name' => 2);
You create Test::Block objects with the "plan" method. When the
object is destroyed it outputs a failing test if the expected number
of tests have not run.
remaining
You can find out the number of remaining tests in the block by
calling the "remaining" method on the object.
Test::Block objects overload "" and "0+" to return the result of the
remaining method.
builder
Returns Test::Builder object used by Test::Block. For example:
Test::Block->builder->skip('skip a test');
See Test::Builder for more information.
block_count
A class method that returns the number of blocks that have been
created. You can use this to check that the expected number of
blocks have run by doing something like:
is( Test::Block->block_count, 5, 'five blocks run' );
at the end of your test script.
all_in_block
Returns true if all tests so far run have been inside the scope of a
Test::Block object.
ok( Test::Block->all_in_block, 'all tests run in blocks' );
BUGS
None known at the time of writing.
If you find any please let me know by e-mail, or report the problem with <http://rt.cpan.org/>.
COMMUNITY
perl-qa
If you are interested in testing using Perl I recommend you visit
<http://qa.perl.org/> and join the excellent perl-qa mailing list.
See <http://lists.perl.org/showlist.cgi?name=perl-qa> for details on
how to subscribe.
perlmonks
You can find users of Test::Block, including the module author, on
<http://www.perlmonks.org/>. Feel free to ask questions on
Test::Block there.
CPAN::Forum
The CPAN Forum is a web forum for discussing Perl's CPAN modules.
The Test::Block forum can be found at
<http://www.cpanforum.com/dist/Test-Block>.
AnnoCPAN
AnnoCPAN is a web site that allows community annotations of Perl
module documentation. The Test::Block annotations can be found at
<http://annocpan.org/~ADIE/Test-Block/>.
TO DO
If you think this module should do something that it doesn't (or does something that it shouldn't) please let me know.
You can see my current to do list at <http://adrianh.tadalist.com/lists/public/15423>, with an RSS feed of changes at <http://adrianh.tadalist.com/lists/feed_public/15423>.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Thanks to chromatic and Michael G Schwern for the excellent Test::Builder, without which this module wouldn't be possible.
Thanks to Michael G Schwern and Tony Bowden for the mails on perl-qa@perl.org that sparked the idea for this module. Thanks to Fergal Daly for suggesting named blocks. Thanks to Michael G Schwern for suggesting $Plan. Thanks to Nadim Khemir for feedback.
AUTHOR
Adrian Howard <adrianh@quietstars.com>
If you can spare the time, please drop me a line if you find this module useful.
SEE ALSO
Test::Group
A framework for grouping related tests in a test suite
Test::Class
Test::Class is an xUnit testing framework for Perl. It allows you to
group tests into methods with independent test plans.
Test::Builder
Support module for building test libraries.
Test::Simple & Test::More
Basic utilities for writing tests.
<http://qa.perl.org/test-modules.html>
Overview of some of the many testing modules available on CPAN.
LICENCE
Copyright 2003-2006 Adrian Howard, All Rights Reserved.
This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the same terms as Perl itself.