NAME
Test::DescribeMe - Tell test runners what kind of test you are
VERSION
version 0.004
SYNOPSIS
Maybe you're an author test and users shouldn't run you:
use Test::DescribeMe qw(author);Or maybe you are a really slow test you don't want to bother most people with:
use Test::DescribeMe qw(extended);Or perhaps you only want to run on smokers
use Test::DescribeMe qw(smoke);Or a combination there of
use Test::DescribeMe qw(smoke extended);Or you require user input
use Test::DescribeMe qw(interactive);DESCRIPTION
Sometimes you want to run (or not run) tests under certain conditions. This module provides a way to identify what kind of test a test is and will skip the test if the matching conditions aren't met. See "BACKGROUND" below for a longer description.
Usage
To describe what kind of test you are, you use() this module and pass test types to the import list. This SHOULD be done before importing Test::More if you set explicit plans or tests will break!
Example:
use Test::DescribeMe qw(smoke);
use Test::More tests => 5;(Although you probably want "done_testing" in Test::More without explicit plans).
The available test descriptions and effects are:
smoke - This test only wants to run on smoke boxes.
interactive - This test requires user interaction and should not be run in cases where this isn't wanted or available
extended - This test should only be run if someone really wants to - as it may take a long time or use lots of resources.
author - This is an author test and should only be run during development time.
release - This is a release test and should onyl be run pre-release to ensure a build is insane.
More Control
If this doesn't provide the control you're looking for - for example, NOT running a test if on a smoker, see Test::Settings.
BACKGROUND
With the Lancaster Consensus at the Perl QA Hackathon 2013, a 'new' system has been defined which provides two new test environment variables and reaffirms an existing one.
AUTOMATED_TESTING was meant to be used by smokers, but has been abused to say things like "Only run this test on smokers since it takes a long time." The problem with this is install tools want to say "Run all tests but don't prompt the user" and the only way to do that is with AUTOMATED_TESTING, and so they end up running the long running tests and wasting time.
In order to support the other behaviors, AUTOMATED_TESTING will once again mean "I am a smoker running these tests" and two new environmental variables EXTENDED_TESTING and NONINTERACTIVE_TESTING will handle the two other cases.
EXTENDED_TESTING is for tests that may take a long time or require special configuration that is too complex for typical intalls - like requiring other software for testing or internet connections.
NONINTERACTIVE_TESTING can be used by a build system like App::cpanminus to say don't run tests that require user interaction.
SEE ALSO
Test::Settings - Ask or tell when certain types of tests should be run
Test::Is - Skip test in a declarative way, following the Lancaster Consensus
https://github.com/Perl-Toolchain-Gang/toolchain-site/blob/master/lancaster-consensus.md - The Annotated Lancaster Consensus
AUTHOR
Matthew Horsfall (alh) - <wolfsage@gmail.com>
LICENSE
You may distribute this code under the same terms as Perl itself.