NAME

Test::TableDriven - write tests, not scripts that run them

SYNOPSIS

use A::Module qw/or two!/;
use Test::TableDriven (
  foo => { input   => 'expected output',
           another => 'test',
         },

  bar => [[some => 'more tests'],
          [that => 'run in order'],
          [refs => [qw/also work/]],
          [[qw/this is also possible/] => { and => 'it works' }],
         ],
);

runtests;
  
sub foo {
   my $in  = shift;
   my $out = ...;
   return $out;
}    

sub bar { same as foo }

DESCRIPTION

Writing table-driven tests is usually a good idea. Adding a test case doesn't require adding code, so it's easy to avoid fucking up the other tests. However, actually going from a table of tests to a test that runs is non-trivial.

Test::TableDriven makes writing the test drivers trivial. You simply define your test cases and write a function that turns the input data into output data to compare against. Test::TableDriven will compute how many tests need to be run, and then run the tests.

Concentrate on your data and what you're testing, not plan tests = scalar keys %test_cases> and a big foreach loop.

WHAT DO I DO

Start by using the modules that you need for your tests:

use strict;
use warnings;
use String::Length; # the module you're testing

Then write some code to test the module:

sub strlen {
    my $in  = shift;
    my $out = String::Length->strlen($in);
    return $out;
}

This strlen function will accept a test case (as $in) and turns it into something to compare against your test cases:

Oh yeah, you need some test cases:

use Test::TableDriven (
    strlen => { foo => 3,
                bar => 3,
                ...,
              },
);

And you'll want those test to run somehow:

runtests;

Now execute the test file. The output will look like:

1..2
ok 1 - strlen: bar => 3
ok 2 - strlen: foo => 3

Add another test case:

strlen => { foo  => 3,
            bar  => 3,
            quux => 4,
            ...,
          },

And your test still works:

1..3
ok 1 - strlen: bar => 3
ok 2 - strlen: quux => 4
ok 3 - strlen: foo => 3

Yay.

DETAILS

I'm not in a prose-generation mood right now, so here's a list of things to keep in mind:

• Don't forget to runtests. Just loading the module doesn't do a whole lot.

• If a subtest is not a subroutine name in the current package, runtests will die.

• If a subtest definition is a hashref, the tests won't be run in order. If it's an arrayref of arrayrefs, then the tests are run in order.

• If a test case "expects" a reference, is_deeply is used to compare the expected result and what your test returned. If it's just a string, is is used.

• Feel free to use Test::More::diag and friends, if you like.

• Don't print to STDOUT.

• Especially don't print TAP to STDOUT :)

EXPORT

runtests

Run the tests. Only call this once.

BUGS

Report them to RT, or patch them against the git repository at:

git clone git://git.jrock.us/Test-TableDriven

(or http://git.jrock.us/).

AUTHOR

Jonathan Rockway <jrockway AT cpan.org>.

COPYRIGHT

This module is copyright (c) 2007 Jonathan Rockway. You may use, modify, and redistribute it under the same terms as Perl itself.

cpanm Test::TableDriven

perl -MCPAN -e shell
install Test::TableDriven