Both examples are going to STDOUT, but cucumber only sees the first one. The second scenario fails with:
Then the stdout should contain "test" # aruba-0.4.11/lib/aruba/cucumber.rb:82
expected "" to include "test" (RSpec::Expectations::ExpectationNotMetError)
features/test.feature:13:in `Then the output should contain "test"'
The features:
Scenario: echo test
Given a blank slate
When I run `echo "test"`
The stdout should contain "test"
Scenario: puts test
Given a blank slate
When I start the program
The stdout should contain "test"
The step definitions:
When /^I start the program$/ do
TestModule::Main.new.start
end
The code:
module TestModule
class Main
def initialize
end
def start
$stdout.puts "test"
end
end
end
I'm not that familiar with Aruba, but a quick peek into it's source code suggests that the assertions it makes against STDOUT (or any output) only apply to processes that it started itself, and not all content that's been written to STDOUT. The code that you invoke yourself, in the second scenario, is outside of the control of Aruba, so it's output won't be tracked.
If you think about it, it couldn't really work any other way - if Aruba captured all STDOUT for assertions, then it would contain Cucumber's own test output as well...
It looks like you're trying to test your program in-process without using Aruba to invoke a separate Ruby process. If that's the case I'd suggest modifying the program to make it possible to pass in a STDOUT replacement e.g.
def initialize(output=$stdout)
Then when you start the code:
When /^I start the program$/ do
TestModule::Main.new(#output).start
end
And you can change your assertion:
Then the stdout should contain "(.+)" do |string|
#output.should include string
end
Related
I have a Ruby project with a UNIX executable file called parse located in a bin subfolder in my project root directory.
At the moment it's just this:
#!/usr/bin/env ruby
# frozen_string_literal: true
puts 'hello world'
The file can be executed on the command line when this command is run from the project root directory: bin/parse
It works fine, but I also want to write a passing Rspec test for it.
I have this spec file:
RSpec.describe "end-to-end application behaviour" do
subject { system('bin/parse') }
it 'prints the expected messsage to stdout' do
expect { subject }.to output(
'hello world'
).to_stdout
end
end
When I run it I get the test failure:
expected block to output "hello world" to stdout, but output nothing
This is the location of my spec file relative to my project root: spec/integration/parse_spec.rb
I tried placing require and require_relative statements in that spec file with the paths to the parse executable, in case that would help, but I just kept getting:
LoadError: cannot load such file
Does anyone know how I can write a test in that file that will pass and prove the parse executable behaviour works?
Don't Use the RSpec Output Matcher
RSpec has a built-in output matcher than can test both where output goes, as well as its contents. However, it's testing where your Ruby output goes, not whether some external application is using standard input or standard error. You're going to have to make some different assumptions about your code.
You can avoid driving yourself nuts by comparing strings rather than testing the underlying shell or your output streams. For example, consider:
RSpec.describe "parse utility output" do
it "prints the right string on standard output" do
expect(`echo hello world`).to start_with("hello world")
end
it "shows nothing on standard output when it prints to stderr" do
expect(`echo foo >&2 > /dev/null`).to be_empty
end
end
Just replace the echo statements with the correct invocation of parse for your system, perhaps by setting PATH directly in your shell, using a utility like direnv, or by modifying ENV["PATH"] in your spec or spec_helper.
As a rule of thumb, RSpec isn't really meant for testing command-line applications. If you want to do that, consider using the Aruba framework to exercise your command-line applications. It's best to use RSpec to test the results of methods or the output of commands, rather than trying to test basic functionality. Of course, your mileage may vary.
Use to_stdout_from_any_process instead of to_stdout:
expect { subject }.to output('hello world').to_stdout_from_any_process
I assume this is very newbie stuff but I'm learning Ruby by doing, and I'm developing a small CLI tool that receives a couple of parameters in order to do its stuff properly. This is my current workflow:
I want to test (using Minitest) all the possible flows:
Exits with 0 and help message is shown if ARGV.count != 2
Exits with 1 if first param is not correct
Exits with 1 if second param is not correct
Exits with 1 if both params are not correct
Exits with 0 and does stuff if all params are correct
Now, if I run tests the only thing I see is the help output as there is no parameter being passed.
So, a couple of questions:
How can I pass arguments to the main program in tests?
How can I test the output? (I'm using puts)
Thanks!
nice diagram!
you can either use helpers like aruba https://github.com/cucumber/aruba
or dig into ruby internals in order to bend it to your will!
# test.rb
pseudoIO = StringIO.new
$stdout = pseudoIO
puts "hi #{ARGV.join(', ')}"
ARGV.replace ["file1"]
puts "now its #{ARGV.join(', ')}"
abort "captured: #{pseudoIO.string}"
output should be
ruby text.rb "whutup"
# => captured: hi whutup
# => now its file1
Is there a Ruby Cucumber test hook for at_start? I tried at_start and it didn't work.
I have something like this in support/hooks.rb and I want to print a single global message before any of the tests start:
Before do
print '.'
end
at_exit do
puts ''
puts 'All Cucumber tests finished.'
end
It seems like if they have an at_exit hook, they should have a before-start hook as well right?
There is some documentation for "global hooks" at https://github.com/cucumber/cucumber/wiki/Hooks
You don't need to wrap it in any special method such as Before or at_exit. You just execute the code at the root level in any file contained in the features/support directory, such as env.rb. To copy and paste the example they've given:
# these following lines are executed at the root scope,
# accomplishing the same thing that an "at_start" block might.
my_heavy_object = HeavyObject.new
my_heavy_object.do_it
# other hooks can be defined in the same file
at_exit do
my_heavy_object.undo_it
end
They also give an example of how to write a Before block that gets executed only once. Basically you have this block exit if some global variable is defined. The first time the block is run, the global variable is defined which prevents it from being executed multiple times. See the "Running a Before hook only once" section on that page I linked.
I want to execute some code before an arbitrary RSpec test is run, but only in cases where the example groups to be tested are either in a specific directory or carry a specific tag.
For example, if I have the following groups:
## spec/file_one.rb
describe "Spec One - A group which needs the external app running", :external => true do
describe "Spec Two - A group which does not need the external app running" do
## spec/file_two.rb
describe "Spec Three - A group which does NOT need the external app running" do
## spec/always_run/file_three.rb
describe "Spec Four - A group which does need the external app running"
Then I want the code to be executed only when a test run contains Spec One or Spec Four.
This is relatively easy to do when I can rely on the filename, but harder when relying on the tag. How can I check what files examples will be run and then check their tags?
I'd just have a support setup like this:
PID_FILE = File.join(Rails.root, "tmp", "pids", "external.pid")
def read_pid
return nil unless File.exists? PID_FILE
File.open(PID_FILE).read.strip
end
def write_pid(pid)
File.open(PID_FILE, "w") {|f| f.print pid }
end
def external_running?
# Some test to see if the external app is running here
begin
!!Process.getpgid(read_pid)
rescue
false
end
end
def start_external
unless external_running?
write_pid spawn("./run_server")
# Maybe some wait loop here for the external service to boot up
end
end
def stop_external
Process.kill read_pid if external_running?
end
RSpec.configure do |c|
before(:each) do |example|
start_external if example.metadata[:external]
end
after(:suite) do
stop_external
end
end
Each test tagged with :external would attempt to start the external process if it's not already started. Thus, the first time you run a test that needs it, the process would be booted. If no tests with the tag are run, the process is never booted. The suite then cleans up after itself by terminating the process as a part of the shutdown process.
This way, you don't have to pre-process the test list, your tests aren't interdependent, and your external app is automatically cleaned up after. If the external app is running before the test suite gets a chance to invoke it, it will read the pid file and use the existing instance.
Rather than relying on metadata[:external] you could parse the full name of the example and determine if it needs the external app for a more "magical" setup, but that's kind of smelly to me; example descriptions are for humans, not for the spec suite to parse.
I am using rspec for my test in a ruby project, and I want to spec that my program should not output anything when the -q option is used. I tried:
Kernel.should_not_receive :puts
That did not result in a failed test when there was output to the console.
How do I verify the absents of text output?
puts uses $stdout internally. Due to the way it works, the easiest way to check is to simply use: $stdout.should_not_receive(:write)
Which checks nothing is written to stdout as expected.
Kernel.puts (as above) would only result in a failed test when it
is explictely called as such (e.g. Kernel.puts "Some text"), where
as most cases it's call in the scope of the current object.
The accepted answer above is incorrect. It "works" because it doesn't receive a :write message but it might have received a :puts message.
The correct line should read:
$stdout.should_not_receive(:puts)
Also you need to make sure you put the line before the code that will write to STDIO. For instance:
it "should print a copyright message" do
$stdout.should_receive(:puts).with(/copyright/i)
app = ApplicationController.new(%w[project_name])
end
it "should not print an error message" do
$stdout.should_not_receive(:puts).with(/error/i)
app = ApplicationController.new(%w[project_name])
end
That's an actual working RSpec from a project