3 Catalyst::Manual::Tutorial::08_Testing - Catalyst Tutorial - Chapter 8: Testing
8 This is B<Chapter 8 of 10> for the Catalyst tutorial.
10 L<Tutorial Overview|Catalyst::Manual::Tutorial>
16 L<Introduction|Catalyst::Manual::Tutorial::01_Intro>
20 L<Catalyst Basics|Catalyst::Manual::Tutorial::02_CatalystBasics>
24 L<More Catalyst Basics|Catalyst::Manual::Tutorial::03_MoreCatalystBasics>
28 L<Basic CRUD|Catalyst::Manual::Tutorial::04_BasicCRUD>
32 L<Authentication|Catalyst::Manual::Tutorial::05_Authentication>
36 L<Authorization|Catalyst::Manual::Tutorial::06_Authorization>
40 L<Debugging|Catalyst::Manual::Tutorial::07_Debugging>
48 L<Advanced CRUD|Catalyst::Manual::Tutorial::09_AdvancedCRUD>
52 L<Appendices|Catalyst::Manual::Tutorial::10_Appendices>
59 You may have noticed that the Catalyst Helper scripts automatically
60 create basic C<.t> test scripts under the C<t> directory. This chapter
61 of the tutorial briefly looks at how these tests can be used not only to
62 ensure that your application is working correctly at the present time,
63 but also provide automated regression testing as you upgrade various
64 pieces of your application over time.
66 You can check out the source code for this example from the Catalyst
67 Subversion repository as per the instructions in
68 L<Catalyst::Manual::Tutorial::01_Intro>.
70 For an excellent introduction to learning the many benefits of testing
71 your Perl applications and modules, you might want to read 'Perl
72 Testing: A Developer's Notebook' by Ian Langworth and chromatic.
75 =head1 RUNNING THE "CANNED" CATALYST TESTS
77 There are a variety of ways to run Catalyst and Perl tests (for example,
78 C<perl Makefile.PL> and C<make test>), but one of the easiest is with
79 the C<prove> command. For example, to run all of the tests in the C<t>
84 There will be a lot of output because we have the C<-Debug> flag enabled
85 in C<lib/MyApp.pm> (see the C<CATALYST_DEBUG=0> tip below for a quick
86 and easy way to reduce the clutter). Look for lines like this for
89 # Failed test 'Request should succeed'
90 # at t/controller_Books.t line 8.
91 # Looks like you failed 1 test of 3.
93 The redirection used by the Authentication plugins will cause several
94 failures in the default tests. You can fix this by making the following
97 1) Change the line in C<t/01app.t> that reads:
99 ok( request('/')->is_success, 'Request should succeed' );
103 ok( request('/login')->is_success, 'Request should succeed' );
105 2) Change the line in C<t/controller_Logout.t> that reads:
107 ok( request('/logout')->is_success, 'Request should succeed' );
111 ok( request('/logout')->is_redirect, 'Request should succeed' );
113 3) Change the line in C<t/controller_Books.t> that reads:
115 ok( request('/books')->is_success, 'Request should succeed' );
119 ok( request('/books')->is_redirect, 'Request should succeed' );
121 4) Add the following statement to the top of C<t/view_HTML.t>:
125 As you can see in the C<prove> command line above, the C<-l> option (or
126 C<--lib> if you prefer) is used to set the location of the Catalyst
127 C<lib> directory. With this command, you will get all of the usual
128 development server debug output, something most people prefer to disable
129 while running tests cases. Although you can edit the C<lib/MyApp.pm> to
130 comment out the C<-Debug> plugin, it's generally easier to simply set
131 the C<CATALYST_DEBUG=0> environment variable. For example:
133 $ CATALYST_DEBUG=0 prove -wl t
135 During the C<t/02pod> and C<t/03podcoverage> tests, you might notice the
136 C<all skipped: set TEST_POD to enable this test> warning message. To
137 execute the Pod-related tests, add C<TEST_POD=1> to the C<prove>
140 $ CATALYST_DEBUG=0 TEST_POD=1 prove -wl t
142 If you omitted the Pod comments from any of the methods that were
143 inserted, you might have to go back and fix them to get these tests to
146 Another useful option is the C<verbose> (C<-v>) option to C<prove>. It
147 prints the name of each test case as it is being run:
149 $ CATALYST_DEBUG=0 prove -vwl t
152 =head1 RUNNING A SINGLE TEST
154 You can also run a single script by appending its name to the C<prove>
155 command. For example:
157 $ CATALYST_DEBUG=0 prove -wl t/01app.t
159 Also note that you can also run tests directly from Perl without
160 C<prove>. For example:
162 $ CATALYST_DEBUG=0 perl -w -Ilib t/01app.t
165 =head1 ADDING YOUR OWN TEST SCRIPT
167 Although the Catalyst helper scripts provide a basic level of checks
168 "for free," testing can become significantly more helpful when you write
169 your own tests to exercise the various parts of your application. The
170 L<Test::WWW::Mechanize::Catalyst> module is very popular for writing
171 these sorts of test cases. This module extends L<Test::WWW::Mechanize>
172 (and therefore L<WWW::Mechanize>) to allow you to automate the action of
173 a user "clicking around" inside your application. It gives you all the
174 benefits of testing on a live system without the messiness of having to
175 use an actual web server, and a real person to do the clicking.
177 To create a sample test case, open the C<t/live_app01.t> file in your
178 editor and enter the following:
186 # Need to specify the name of your app as arg on next line
188 # use Test::WWW::Mechanize::Catalyst "MyApp";
190 BEGIN { use_ok("Test::WWW::Mechanize::Catalyst" => "MyApp") }
192 # Create two 'user agents' to simulate two different users ('test01' & 'test02')
193 my $ua1 = Test::WWW::Mechanize::Catalyst->new;
194 my $ua2 = Test::WWW::Mechanize::Catalyst->new;
196 # Use a simplified for loop to do tests that are common to both users
197 # Use get_ok() to make sure we can hit the base URL
198 # Second arg = optional description of test (will be displayed for failed tests)
199 # Note that in test scripts you send everything to 'http://localhost'
200 $_->get_ok("http://localhost/", "Check redirect of base URL") for $ua1, $ua2;
201 # Use title_is() to check the contents of the <title>...</title> tags
202 $_->title_is("Login", "Check for login title") for $ua1, $ua2;
203 # Use content_contains() to match on text in the html body
204 $_->content_contains("You need to log in to use this application",
205 "Check we are NOT logged in") for $ua1, $ua2;
207 # Log in as each user
208 # Specify username and password on the URL
209 $ua1->get_ok("http://localhost/login?username=test01&password=mypass", "Login 'test01'");
210 # Could make user2 like user1 above, but use the form to show another way
213 username => 'test02',
214 password => 'mypass',
217 # Go back to the login page and it should show that we are already logged in
218 $_->get_ok("http://localhost/login", "Return to '/login'") for $ua1, $ua2;
219 $_->title_is("Login", "Check for login page") for $ua1, $ua2;
220 $_->content_contains("Please Note: You are already logged in as ",
221 "Check we ARE logged in" ) for $ua1, $ua2;
223 # 'Click' the 'Logout' link (see also 'text_regex' and 'url_regex' options)
224 $_->follow_link_ok({n => 4}, "Logout via first link on page") for $ua1, $ua2;
225 $_->title_is("Login", "Check for login title") for $ua1, $ua2;
226 $_->content_contains("You need to log in to use this application",
227 "Check we are NOT logged in") for $ua1, $ua2;
230 $ua1->get_ok("http://localhost/login?username=test01&password=mypass",
232 $ua2->get_ok("http://localhost/login?username=test02&password=mypass",
234 # Should be at the Book List page... do some checks to confirm
235 $_->title_is("Book List", "Check for book list title") for $ua1, $ua2;
237 $ua1->get_ok("http://localhost/books/list", "'test01' book list");
238 $ua1->get_ok("http://localhost/login", "Login Page");
239 $ua1->get_ok("http://localhost/books/list", "'test01' book list");
241 $_->content_contains("Book List", "Check for book list title") for $ua1, $ua2;
242 # Make sure the appropriate logout buttons are displayed
243 $_->content_contains("/logout\">User Logout</a>",
244 "Both users should have a 'User Logout'") for $ua1, $ua2;
245 $ua1->content_contains("/books/form_create\">Admin Create</a>",
246 "'test01' should have a create link");
247 $ua2->content_lacks("/books/form_create\">Admin Create</a>",
248 "'test02' should NOT have a create link");
250 $ua1->get_ok("http://localhost/books/list", "View book list as 'test01'");
252 # User 'test01' should be able to create a book with the "formless create" URL
253 $ua1->get_ok("http://localhost/books/url_create/TestTitle/2/4",
254 "'test01' formless create");
255 $ua1->title_is("Book Created", "Book created title");
256 $ua1->content_contains("Added book 'TestTitle'", "Check title added OK");
257 $ua1->content_contains("by 'Stevens'", "Check author added OK");
258 $ua1->content_contains("with a rating of 2.", "Check rating added");
259 # Try a regular expression to combine the previous 3 checks & account for whitespace
260 $ua1->content_like(qr/Added book 'TestTitle'\s+by 'Stevens'\s+with a rating of 2./,
263 # Make sure the new book shows in the list
264 $ua1->get_ok("http://localhost/books/list", "'test01' book list");
265 $ua1->title_is("Book List", "Check logged in and at book list");
266 $ua1->content_contains("Book List", "Book List page test");
267 $ua1->content_contains("TestTitle", "Look for 'TestTitle'");
269 # Make sure the new book can be deleted
270 # Get all the Delete links on the list page
271 my @delLinks = $ua1->find_all_links(text => 'Delete');
272 # Use the final link to delete the last book
273 $ua1->get_ok($delLinks[$#delLinks]->url, 'Delete last book');
274 # Check that delete worked
275 $ua1->content_contains("Book List", "Book List page test");
276 $ua1->content_like(qr/Deleted book \d+/, "Deleted book #");
278 # User 'test02' should not be able to add a book
279 $ua2->get_ok("http://localhost/books/url_create/TestTitle2/2/5", "'test02' add");
280 $ua2->content_contains("Unauthorized!", "Check 'test02' cannot add");
284 The C<live_app.t> test cases uses copious comments to explain each step
285 of the process. In addition to the techniques shown here, there are a
286 variety of other methods available in L<Test::WWW::Mechanize::Catalyst>
287 (for example, regex-based matching). Consult
288 L<Test::WWW::Mechanize::Catalyst>, L<Test::WWW::Mechanize>,
289 L<WWW::Mechanize>, and L<Test::More> for more detail.
291 B<TIP>: For I<unit tests> vs. the "full application tests" approach used
292 by L<Test::WWW::Mechanize::Catalyst>, see L<Catalyst::Test>.
294 B<Note:> The test script does not test the C<form_create> and
295 C<form_create_do> actions. That is left as an exercise for the reader
296 (you should be able to complete that logic using the existing code as a
299 To run the new test script, use a command such as:
301 $ CATALYST_DEBUG=0 prove -vwl t/live_app01.t
305 $ DBIC_TRACE=0 CATALYST_DEBUG=0 prove -vwl t/live_app01.t
307 Experiment with the C<DBIC_TRACE>, C<CATALYST_DEBUG> and C<-v> settings.
308 If you find that there are errors, use the techniques discussed in the
309 "Catalyst Debugging" section (Chapter 7) to isolate and fix any
312 If you want to run the test case under the Perl interactive debugger,
313 try a command such as:
315 $ DBIC_TRACE=0 CATALYST_DEBUG=0 perl -d -Ilib t/live_app01.t
317 Note that although this tutorial uses a single custom test case for
318 simplicity, you may wish to break your tests into different files for
321 B<TIP:> If you have a test case that fails, you will receive an error
322 similar to the following:
324 # Failed test 'Check we are NOT logged in'
325 # in t/live_app01.t at line 31.
326 # searched: "\x{0a}<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Tran"...
327 # can't find: "You need to log in to use this application."
329 Unfortunately, this only shows us the first 50 characters of the HTML
330 returned by the request -- not enough to determine where the problem
331 lies. A simple technique that can be used in such situations is to
332 temporarily insert a line similar to the following right after the
337 This will cause the full HTML returned by the request to be displayed.
339 Another approach to see the full HTML content at the failure point in a
340 series of tests would be to insert a "C<$DB::single=1;> right above the
341 location of the failure and run the test under the Perl debugger (with
342 C<-d>) as shown above. Then you can use the debugger to explore the
343 state of the application right before or after the failure.
346 =head1 SUPPORTING BOTH PRODUCTION AND TEST DATABASES
348 You may wish to leverage the techniques discussed in this tutorial to
349 maintain both a "production database" for your live application and a
350 "testing database" for your test cases. One advantage to
351 L<Test::WWW::Mechanize::Catalyst> is that it runs your full application;
352 however, this can complicate things when you want to support multiple
355 =head2 DATABASE CONFIG SWITCHING IN YOUR MODEL CLASS
357 One solution is to allow the database specification to be overridden
358 with an environment variable. For example, open
359 C<lib/MyApp/Model/DB.pm> in your editor and change the
360 C<__PACKAGE__-E<gt>config(...> declaration to resemble:
362 my $dsn = $ENV{MYAPP_DSN} ||= 'dbi:SQLite:myapp.db';
364 schema_class => 'MyApp::Schema',
370 on_connect_do => q{PRAGMA foreign_keys = ON},
374 Then, when you run your test case, you can use commands such as:
376 $ cp myapp.db myappTEST.db
377 $ CATALYST_DEBUG=0 MYAPP_DSN="dbi:SQLite:myappTEST.db" prove -vwl t/live_app01.t
379 This will modify the DSN only while the test case is running. If you
380 launch your normal application without the C<MYAPP_DSN> environment
381 variable defined, it will default to the same C<dbi:SQLite:myapp.db> as
385 =head2 DATABASE CONFIG SWITCHING USING MULTIPLE CONFIG FILES
387 L<Catalyst::Plugin::ConfigLoader> has functionality to load loading
388 multiple config files based on environment variablesi, allowing you to
389 override your default (production) database connection settings during
390 development (or vice versa).
392 Setting C<$ENV{ MYAPP_CONFIG_LOCAL_SUFFIX }> to 'testing' in your test
393 script results in loading of an additional config file named
394 C<myapp_testing.conf> after C<myapp.conf> which will override any
395 parameters in C<myapp.conf>.
397 You should set the environment variable in the BEGIN block of your test
398 script to make sure it's set before your Catalyst application is
401 The following is an example for a config and test script for a
402 DBIx::Class model named MyDB and a controller named Foo:
408 dsn dbi:SQLite:myapp.db
420 $ENV{ MYAPP_CONFIG_LOCAL_SUFFIX } = 'testing';
423 eval "use Test::WWW::Mechanize::Catalyst 'MyApp'";
425 ? ( skip_all => 'Test::WWW::Mechanize::Catalyst required' )
428 ok( my $mech = Test::WWW::Mechanize::Catalyst->new, 'Created mech object' );
430 $mech->get_ok( 'http://localhost/foo' );
435 Kennedy Clark, C<hkclark@gmail.com>
437 Feel free to contact the author for any errors or suggestions, but the
438 best way to report issues is via the CPAN RT Bug system at
439 <https://rt.cpan.org/Public/Dist/Display.html?Name=Catalyst-Manual>.
441 The most recent version of the Catalyst Tutorial can be found at
442 L<http://dev.catalyst.perl.org/repos/Catalyst/Catalyst-Manual/5.80/trunk/lib/Catalyst/Manual/Tutorial/>.
444 Copyright 2006-2010, Kennedy Clark, under the
445 Creative Commons Attribution Share-Alike License Version 3.0
446 (L<http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/us/>).