Run other project when running unit tests in Visual Studio 2013 - c#

I have a setup with some VS projects which depend on each other. Simplified, imagine these projects:
API Project (ASP.NET WebAPI 2)
DummyBackendServer (WinForms with a WCF Service)
API.Test Project (Unit Test Project which should Test API-Project's Controllers)
Usually, there would be (for example) an android client, which connects to the API-Server (1) and requests some information. The API-Server would then connect to the DummyBackendServer (2) to request these information, generate an appropriate format and send an answer to the android client.
Now I need to create some unit tests for the API-Server. My problem is, that I don't find a way to tell VS to start the DummyBackendServer (2), when it runs the unit tests. When I first start the DummyServer I can't run the tests, because the menu option is grayed out.
So, is there any way to tell VS to start another project the tests depend on?

For anyone who doesn't want to unit test the correct way and just want to run multiple projects in the same soluition, here is the answer.
Rightclick the backend project -> Debug -> Start without debugging.
The interface will not grey out so you can start other projects.
Start test with rightclick -> Run Tests
Or run your frontend with debugging as usual by having it set as startup project (Bold in the Solution Explorer) and clicking F5 or the green arrow, Start With Debugging.

Divide and conquer!
If the test (some will say that those are not unit test, but that is not part of this question) requires some services to be up - make that happen! Have them deployed to some dev or staging environment, then you only need to configure the connection from the API test assembly.
I would split the solution in two and call them integration tests. If you want them to bee unit test you have what you need from the post above.

You should use the IoC containers or something similar in your project, so you can get the mock of your other projects while run the Unit Tests.
Which one you'll select is up to you, personally I use Rhino.Mocks:
Create a mock repository:
MockRepository mocks = new MockRepository();
Add a mock object to the repository:
ISomeInterface robot = (ISomeInterface)mocks.CreateMock(typeof(ISomeInterface));
//If you're using C# 2.0, you may use the generic version and avoid upcasting:
ISomeInterface robot = mocks.CreateMock<ISomeInterface>();
"Record" the methods that you expect to be called on the mock object:
// this method has a return type, so wrap it with Expect.Call
Expect.Call(robot.SendCommand("Wake Up")).Return("Groan");
// this method has void return type, so simply call it
robot.Poke();
//Note that the parameter values provided in these calls represent those values we
//expect our mock to be called with. Similary, the return value represents the value
//that the mock will return when this method is called.
//You may expect a method to be called multiple times:
// again, methods that return values use Expect.Call
Expect.Call(robot.SendCommand("Wake Up")).Return("Groan").Repeat.Twice();
// when no return type, any extra information about the method call
// is provided immediately after via static methods on LastCall
robot.Poke();
LastCall.On(robot).Repeat.Twice();
Set the mock object to a "Replay" state where, as called, it will replay the operations just recorded.
mocks.ReplayAll();
Invoke code that uses the mock object.
theButler.GetRobotReady();
Check that all calls were made to the mock object.
mocks.VerifyAll();

Related

Run a C# unittest only if another one passes

I'm trying to run a UnitTest in C#, but only if another UnitTest passes? Can't quite get it to work, does anybody know how I can do this?
Edit: It's in NUnit
I encountered this problem a while back. A solution I came up with may not be the most elegant but it works. What I did to get around the ordering issue is I created my own unit testing framework. It was propriety to the company I worked for so I can't share it with you.
In the testing framework, there existed
A template for each type of test & a generic template to aggregate all the tests
A utility to execute each template type
For example, if I was doing an integration test, I would have a "http utility" and the template would contain the endpoint & payload.
The tests I wanted to run would need to be stored into an intermediate data structure such as json. This allowed me to serialize the tests into templates.
Now this is where it gets tricky... Using some fancy T4 templating, I would get the json data & serialize it to a list of templates. Then I would order the tests by execution order and dependency (one test could be dependent on another for chaining integration tests). I would then generate a unit test for every template. The generated unit tests would then run on build
For your question about canceling test execution if one fails, you can build that into your templating using some fancy logic
static List<ITestTemplate> requiredTests = new List<ITestTemplate>();
...
if(requiredTests.Any(t => t.Failed))
Assert.IsTrue(false) //fail subsequent tests
You could accomplish this, though it may not be the cleanest solution, by using the [Order()] attribute. (docs)
This will allow you to run the dependency-test as [Order(1)] and the test relying on the first test as [Order(2)]. You can share your driver across the tests, and if the first test fails, close the driver, causing the other tests relying on the first test passing to fail.

How to write integration/health test of a wcf service on which I have no control?

I need to write a little more than simple test for a service. I have no control over it, but for a specific request it returns specific response that I know it should return.
You could create a project in your solution named YourProject.IntegrationTests and place all tests of this kind in there.
You could use the same tools you use for unit testing to create your test cases (NUnit, XUnit, MSTest, etc)

Using TestContext to share information between unit tests

I'm writing a set of unit tests to test a CRUD system.
I need to register a user in Test1 - which returns a ServiceKey
I then need to add data in Test2 for which I need the ServiceKey
What is the best way to pass the ServiceKey? I tried to set it in the TestContext, but it just seems to disappear between the tests.
You should not share aany state between unit tests, one of the very important properties of good unit tests - Independency. Tests should not affect each other.
See this StackOverflow post: What Makes a Good Unit Test?
EDIT: Answer to comment
To share a logic/behaviour (method) you can extract the common code into a helper method and call it from different tests, for instance helper method which creates an user mock:
private IUser CreateUser(string userName)
{
var userMock = MockRepository.GenerateMock<IUser>();
userMock.Expect(x => x.UserName).Return(userName);
return userMock;
}
the idea of unit tests is that each tests checks one functionality. if you create dependencies in between your tests it is no longer certain that they will pass all the time (they might get executed in a different order, etc.).
what you can do in your specific case is keeping your Test1 as it is. it only focuses on the functionality of the registering process. you don't have to save that ServiceKey anywhere. just assert inside the test method.
for the second test you have to setup (fake) everything you need it to run successfully. it is generally a good idea to follow the "Arrange Act Assert"-Principle, where you setup your data to test, act upon it and then check if everything worked as intended (it also adds more clarity and structure to your tests).
therefore it is best to fake the ServiceKey you would get in the first test run. this way it is also much easier to controll the data you want to test. use a mocking framework (e.g. moq or fakes in vs2012) to arrange your data they way you need it. moq is a very lightweight framework for mocking. you should check it out if you are yet not using any mocking utilities.
hope this helps.

Moq - Tests run ok when executed independently, but fail when executed in a row

We are using Moq to perform some unit tests, and there's some strange behaviour, perhaps it's some configuration issue that i'm missing.
basically, i have 2 tests (which call a windows workflow, which calls custom activities that call a method using Invoke. i don't know if this helps but i want to give as much info as i can). The tests run OK when executed alone, but if I execute them in a same run, the first one passes and the second fails (doesn't matter if i change the order of them, the 2nd one always fails)
The mock is recreated every time, loaded using Unity. ex :
MockProcessConfigurator = MockFactory.Create<IProcessConfigurator>();
MockProcessConfigurator.Setup(x => x.MyMethod(It.IsAny<Order>()));
[...]
InversionOfControl.Instance.Register<IProcessConfigurator>(MockProcessConfigurator .Object)
The invoked call (WF custom activity) is
var invoker = new WorkflowInvoker(new MyWorkflow());
invoker.Invoke(inputParameter);
The call (Invoked call) is
MyModuleService.ProcessConfigurator.MyMethod(inputOrder);
when debugging, i see that the ProcessConfigurator is always mocked.
The call that fails in the test is something as simple as this :
MockEnvironment.MockProcessConfigurator.Verify(x => x.MyMethod(It.IsAny<Order>()), Times.Exactly(1));
When debugging, the method is actually called everytime, so i suspect that there's something worng with the mock instance. I'm a bit lost here, because things seem to be implemented correctly, but for some reason when they're run one after the other, there's a problem
This type of error commonly occurs when the two tests share something.
For example, you set up your mock with an expectation that a method will be called 1 time in your test setup, and then two tests each call that method 1 time - your expectation will fail because it has now been called 2 times.
This suggests that you should be moving the set up of expectations into each test.
A generic troubleshooting for this type of problem is to try to isolate the dependency between the two test.
Move any setup-code to inside the tests.
Move any tear-down code to inside the tests.
Move any field initializers to inside the tests. (Those are only run once per fixture!)
This should make both your test pass when run together. When you got the green-lights, you can start moving out duplicated stuff again to initializers/setup one piece at the time, running the tests after each change you make.
You should be able to learn what is causing this coupling between the tests. Good luck!
Thought I'd add an additional situation and solution I just came across:
If you are running tests from two separate projects at the same time and each project is using a different version of Moq, this same problem can happen.
For me, I had TestProjectA using Moq 4.2.14 and TestProjectB using Moq 4.2.15 on accident (courtesy of Nuget). When running a test from A and a test from B simultaneously, the first test succeeded and the second silently failed.
Adjusting both projects to use the same version solved the issue.
To expand on the answer Sohnee gave, I would check my setup/teardown methods to make sure you're tidying everything up properly. I've had similar issues when running tests in bulk and not having tidied up my mock objects.
I don't know if this is relevant, but MockFactory.Create seems odd. I normally create mocks as follows:
var mockProcessConfigurator = new Mock<IProcessConfigurator>();
When using a MockFactory (which I never have needed), you would normally create an instance of it. From the moq QuickStart:
var factory = new MockFactory(MockBehavior.Strict) { DefaultValue = DefaultValue.Mock };
Calling a static method on MockFactory seems to defeat the purpose. If you have a nonstandard naming convention where MockFactory is actually a variable of type MockFactory, that's probably not your issue (but will be a constant source of confusion). If MockFactory is a property of your test class, insure that it is recreated on SetUp.
If possible I would eliminate the factory, as it is a potential source of shared state.
EDIT: As an aside, WorkflowInvoker.Invoke takes an Activity as a parameter. Rather than creating an entire workflow to test a custom activity, you can just pass an instance of the custom activity. If that's what you want to test, it keeps your unit test more focused.

How to unit test C# Web Service with Visual Studio 2008

How are you supposed to unit test a web service in C# with Visual Studio 2008? When I generate a unit test it adds an actual reference to the web service class instead of a web reference. It sets the attributes specified in:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms243399(VS.80).aspx#TestingWebServiceLocally
Yet, it will complete without executing the test. I attempted to add the call to WebServiceHelper.TryUrlRedirection(...) but the call does not like the target since it inherits from WebService, not WebClientProtocol.
What I usually do is not test directly against the web-service, but to try and put as little code as possible in the service, and call a different class which does all the real work. Then I write unit tests for that other class. It turns out that class can sometimes be useful outside of the web-service context, so this way - you gain twice.
If you are writing a web service, try to put all logic in another (testable) layer. Each Web method should have a little code as possible. Then you will have little reason to test the web method directly because you can test the underlying layers.
[WebMethod]
public void DoSomething()
{
hander.DoSomething();
}
If you are consuming a web method, wrap the generated caller in a class wrapper, and implement an interface for the class wrapper. Then, anytime you need to call the web service, use the interface to call the method. You want to use the interface so as to make the class wrapper swappable during testing (using Rhino Mocks, Moq, or TypeMock).
You can add a service reference to your unit test project or generate your client stub and put the class in your unit test project.
I had problems with this as well, so i use this workaround:
http://techkn0w.wordpress.com/2009/07/01/unit-testing-an-asmx-web-service-in-visual-studio-2008/
Above my web method unit tests, I have the following:
// TODO: Ensure that the UrlToTest attribute specifies a URL to an ASP.NET page (for example,
// http://.../Default.aspx). This is necessary for the unit test to be executed on the web server,
// whether you are testing a page, web service, or a WCF service.
[HostType("ASP.NET")]
[UrlToTest("http://localhost/MyWebService")]
In addition to the usual:
[TestMethod()]
[DeploymentItem("MyWebService.dll")]
This code came about from using the Visual Studio 2008 Unit Test Wizard.
Know that there are two types of Web Service. Those you write yourself and want to test, and those that you consume. For the former, the above rules apply. However, I would say that sometimes I see developers testing against external web services. Logic dictates that a third party service is unreliable and therefore requires much more testing. In object-oriented programming, it is best to understand the separation of concern that Martin Fowler and the others all told us about. This means that we should not test systems external to our own.
However, I like to write wrapper classes to provide useful functionality against the services. For example, Bing Maps has a number of amazingly powerful functions. I write tests against these just to ensure that they give me the expected values. Although not extensive, the point of them is that if the web service dies for any reason (authentication key expires, etc) then I can be informed of it via the Test Server.

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