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org.scalatest

FreeSpec

class FreeSpec extends FreeSpecLike

Facilitates a “behavior-driven” style of development (BDD), in which tests are nested inside text clauses denoted with the dash operator (-).

FreeSpec is so named because unlike classes such as WordSpec, FlatSpec, and FunSpec, it is enforces no structure on the text. You are free to compose text however you like. (A FreeSpec is like free-verse poetry as opposed to a sonnet or haiku, which defines a structure for the text of the poem.)

Recommended Usage: Because it gives absolute freedom (and no guidance) on how specification text should be written, FreeSpec is a good choice for teams experienced with BDD and able to agree on how to structure the specification text.

Here's an example FreeSpec:

package org.scalatest.examples.freespec

import org.scalatest.FreeSpec
class SetSpec extends FreeSpec {
"A Set" - { "when empty" - { "should have size 0" in { assert(Set.empty.size === 0) }
"should produce NoSuchElementException when head is invoked" in { assertThrows[NoSuchElementException] { Set.empty.head } } } } }

In a FreeSpec you write a test with a string followed by in and the body of the test in curly braces, like this:

"should have size 0" in {
  // ...
}

You can nest a test inside any number of description clauses, which you write with a string followed by a dash character and a block, like this:

"A Set" - {
  // ...
}

You can nest description clauses as deeply as you want. Because the description clause is denoted with an operator, not a word like should, you are free to structure the text however you wish. Here's an example:

import org.scalatest.FreeSpec

class StackSpec extends FreeSpec { "A Stack" - { "whenever it is empty" - { "certainly ought to" - { "be empty" in { // ... } "complain on peek" in { // ... } "complain on pop" in { // ... } } } "but when full, by contrast, must" - { "be full" in { // ... } "complain on push" in { // ... } } } }

Running the above StackSpec in the interpreter would yield:

scala> org.scalatest.run(new StackSpec)
StackSpec:
A Stack
  whenever it is empty
    certainly ought to
    - be empty
    - complain on peek
    - complain on pop
  but when full, by contrast, must
  - be full
  - complain on push

A FreeSpec can also be used to write a specification-style test in languages other than English. For example:

import org.scalatest.FreeSpec

class ComputerRoomRulesSpec extends FreeSpec { "Achtung!" - { "Alle touristen und non-technischen lookenpeepers!" - { "Das machine is nicht fuer fingerpoken und mittengrabben." in { // ... } "Is easy" - { "schnappen der springenwerk" in { // ... } "blowenfusen" in { // ... } "und poppencorken mit spitzen sparken." in { // ... } } "Das machine is diggen by experten only." in { // ... } "Is nicht fuer gerwerken by das dummkopfen." in { // ... } "Das rubbernecken sightseeren keepen das cottenpicken hands in das pockets." in { // ... } "Relaxen und watchen das blinkenlights." in { // ... } } } }

Running the above ComputerRoomRulesSpec in the interpreter would yield:

scala> org.scalatest.run(new ComputerRoomRulesSpec)
ComputerRoomRulesSpec:
Achtung!
  Alle touristen und non-technischen lookenpeepers!
  - Das machine is nicht fuer fingerpoken und mittengrabben.
    Is easy
    - schnappen der springenwerk
    - blowenfusen
    - und poppencorken mit spitzen sparken.
  - Das machine is diggen by experten only.
  - Is nicht fuer gerwerken by das dummkopfen.
  - Das rubbernecken sightseeren keepen das cottenpicken hands in das pockets.
  - Relaxen und watchen das blinkenlights.

A FreeSpec's lifecycle has two phases: the registration phase and the ready phase. It starts in registration phase and enters ready phase the first time run is called on it. It then remains in ready phase for the remainder of its lifetime.

Tests can only be registered while the FreeSpec is in its registration phase. Any attempt to register a test after the FreeSpec has entered its ready phase, i.e., after run has been invoked on the FreeSpec, will be met with a thrown TestRegistrationClosedException. The recommended style of using FreeSpec is to register tests during object construction as is done in all the examples shown here. If you keep to the recommended style, you should never see a TestRegistrationClosedException.

Ignored tests

To support the common use case of temporarily disabling a test, with the good intention of resurrecting the test at a later time, FreeSpec adds a method ignore to strings that can be used instead of in to register a test. For example, to temporarily disable the test with the name "A Stack should pop values in last-in-first-out order", just change “in” into “ignore,” like this:

package org.scalatest.examples.freespec.ignore

import org.scalatest.FreeSpec
class SetSpec extends FreeSpec {
"A Set" - { "when empty" - { "should have size 0" ignore { assert(Set.empty.size === 0) }
"should produce NoSuchElementException when head is invoked" in { assertThrows[NoSuchElementException] { Set.empty.head } } } } }

If you run this version of SetSpec with:

scala> org.scalatest.run(new SetSpec)

It will run only the second test and report that the first test was ignored:

A Set
  when empty
  - should have size 0 !!! IGNORED !!!
  - should produce NoSuchElementException when head is invoked

If you wish to temporarily ignore an entire suite of tests, you can (on the JVM, not Scala.js) annotate the test class with @Ignore, like this:

package org.scalatest.examples.freespec.ignoreall

import org.scalatest.FreeSpec import org.scalatest.Ignore
@Ignore class SetSpec extends FreeSpec {
"A Set" - { "when empty" - { "should have size 0" in { assert(Set.empty.size === 0) }
"should produce NoSuchElementException when head is invoked" in { assertThrows[NoSuchElementException] { Set.empty.head } } } } }

When you mark a test class with a tag annotation, ScalaTest will mark each test defined in that class with that tag. Thus, marking the SetSpec in the above example with the @Ignore tag annotation means that both tests in the class will be ignored. If you run the above SetSpec in the Scala interpreter, you'll see:

scala> org.scalatest.run(new SetSpec)
SetSpec:
A Set
  when empty
  - should have size 0 !!! IGNORED !!!
  - should produce NoSuchElementException when head is invoked !!! IGNORED !!!

Note that marking a test class as ignored won't prevent it from being discovered by ScalaTest. Ignored classes will be discovered and run, and all their tests will be reported as ignored. This is intended to keep the ignored class visible, to encourage the developers to eventually fix and “un-ignore” it. If you want to prevent a class from being discovered at all (on the JVM, not Scala.js), use the DoNotDiscover annotation instead.

Informers

One of the parameters to FreeSpec's run method is a Reporter, which will collect and report information about the running suite of tests. Information about suites and tests that were run, whether tests succeeded or failed, and tests that were ignored will be passed to the Reporter as the suite runs. Most often the reporting done by default by FreeSpec's methods will be sufficient, but occasionally you may wish to provide custom information to the Reporter from a test. For this purpose, an Informer that will forward information to the current Reporter is provided via the info parameterless method. You can pass the extra information to the Informer via its apply method. The Informer will then pass the information to the Reporter via an InfoProvided event.

One use case for the Informer is to pass more information about a specification to the reporter. For example, the GivenWhenThen trait provides methods that use the implicit info provided by FreeSpec to pass such information to the reporter. Here's an example:

package org.scalatest.examples.freespec.info

import collection.mutable import org.scalatest._
class SetSpec extends FreeSpec with GivenWhenThen {
"A mutable Set" - { "should allow an element to be added" in { Given("an empty mutable Set") val set = mutable.Set.empty[String]
When("an element is added") set += "clarity"
Then("the Set should have size 1") assert(set.size === 1)
And("the Set should contain the added element") assert(set.contains("clarity"))
info("That's all folks!") } } }

If you run this FreeSpec from the interpreter, you will see the following output:

scala> org.scalatest.run(new SetSpec)
A mutable Set
- should allow an element to be added
  + Given an empty mutable Set
  + When an element is added
  + Then the Set should have size 1
  + And the Set should contain the added element
  + That's all folks! 

Documenters

FreeSpec also provides a markup method that returns a Documenter, which allows you to send to the Reporter text formatted in Markdown syntax. You can pass the extra information to the Documenter via its apply method. The Documenter will then pass the information to the Reporter via an MarkupProvided event.

Here's an example FreeSpec that uses markup:

package org.scalatest.examples.freespec.markup

import collection.mutable import org.scalatest._
class SetSpec extends FreeSpec with GivenWhenThen {
markup { """ Mutable Set ———-- A set is a collection that contains no duplicate elements. To implement a concrete mutable set, you need to provide implementations of the following methods: def contains(elem: A): Boolean def iterator: Iterator[A] def += (elem: A): this.type def -= (elem: A): this.type If you wish that methods like `take`, `drop`, `filter` return the same kind of set, you should also override: def empty: This It is also good idea to override methods `foreach` and `size` for efficiency. """ }
"A mutable Set" - { "should allow an element to be added" in { Given("an empty mutable Set") val set = mutable.Set.empty[String]
When("an element is added") set += "clarity"
Then("the Set should have size 1") assert(set.size === 1)
And("the Set should contain the added element") assert(set.contains("clarity"))
markup("This test finished with a **bold** statement!") } } }

Although all of ScalaTest's built-in reporters will display the markup text in some form, the HTML reporter will format the markup information into HTML. Thus, the main purpose of markup is to add nicely formatted text to HTML reports. Here's what the above SetSpec would look like in the HTML reporter:

Notifiers and alerters

ScalaTest records text passed to info and markup during tests, and sends the recorded text in the recordedEvents field of test completion events like TestSucceeded and TestFailed. This allows string reporters (like the standard out reporter) to show info and markup text after the test name in a color determined by the outcome of the test. For example, if the test fails, string reporters will show the info and markup text in red. If a test succeeds, string reporters will show the info and markup text in green. While this approach helps the readability of reports, it means that you can't use info to get status updates from long running tests.

To get immediate (i.e., non-recorded) notifications from tests, you can use note (a Notifier) and alert (an Alerter). Here's an example showing the differences:

package org.scalatest.examples.freespec.note

import collection.mutable import org.scalatest._
class SetSpec extends FreeSpec {
"A mutable Set" - { "should allow an element to be added" in {
info("info is recorded") markup("markup is *also* recorded") note("notes are sent immediately") alert("alerts are also sent immediately")
val set = mutable.Set.empty[String] set += "clarity" assert(set.size === 1) assert(set.contains("clarity")) } } }

scala> org.scalatest.run(new SetSpec)
SetSpec:
 A mutable Set
   + notes are sent immediately
   + alerts are also sent immediately
 - should allow an element to be added
   + info is recorded
   + markup is *also* recorded

Another example is slowpoke notifications. If you find a test is taking a long time to complete, but you're not sure which test, you can enable slowpoke notifications. ScalaTest will use an Alerter to fire an event whenever a test has been running longer than a specified amount of time.

In summary, use info and markup for text that should form part of the specification output. Use note and alert to send status notifications. (Because the HTML reporter is intended to produce a readable, printable specification, info and markup text will appear in the HTML report, but note and alert text will not.)

Pending tests

A pending test is one that has been given a name but is not yet implemented. The purpose of pending tests is to facilitate a style of testing in which documentation of behavior is sketched out before tests are written to verify that behavior (and often, before the behavior of the system being tested is itself implemented). Such sketches form a kind of specification of what tests and functionality to implement later.

To support this style of testing, a test can be given a name that specifies one bit of behavior required by the system being tested. The test can also include some code that sends more information about the behavior to the reporter when the tests run. At the end of the test, it can call method pending, which will cause it to complete abruptly with TestPendingException.

Because tests in ScalaTest can be designated as pending with TestPendingException, both the test name and any information sent to the reporter when running the test can appear in the report of a test run. (In other words, the code of a pending test is executed just like any other test.) However, because the test completes abruptly with TestPendingException, the test will be reported as pending, to indicate the actual test, and possibly the functionality it is intended to test, has not yet been implemented. You can mark tests as pending in a FreeSpec like this:

package org.scalatest.examples.freespec.pending

import org.scalatest._
class SetSpec extends FreeSpec {
"A Set" - { "when empty" - { "should have size 0" in (pending)
"should produce NoSuchElementException when head is invoked" in { assertThrows[NoSuchElementException] { Set.empty.head } } } } }

If you run this version of SetSpec with:

scala> org.scalatest.run(new SetSpec)

It will run both tests but report that should have size 0 is pending. You'll see:

A Set
  when empty
  - should have size 0 (pending)
  - should produce NoSuchElementException when head is invoked

One difference between an ignored test and a pending one is that an ignored test is intended to be used during a significant refactorings of the code under test, when tests break and you don't want to spend the time to fix all of them immediately. You can mark some of those broken tests as ignored temporarily, so that you can focus the red bar on just failing tests you actually want to fix immediately. Later you can go back and fix the ignored tests. In other words, by ignoring some failing tests temporarily, you can more easily notice failed tests that you actually want to fix. By contrast, a pending test is intended to be used before a test and/or the code under test is written. Pending indicates you've decided to write a test for a bit of behavior, but either you haven't written the test yet, or have only written part of it, or perhaps you've written the test but don't want to implement the behavior it tests until after you've implemented a different bit of behavior you realized you need first. Thus ignored tests are designed to facilitate refactoring of existing code whereas pending tests are designed to facilitate the creation of new code.

One other difference between ignored and pending tests is that ignored tests are implemented as a test tag that is excluded by default. Thus an ignored test is never executed. By contrast, a pending test is implemented as a test that throws TestPendingException (which is what calling the pending method does). Thus the body of pending tests are executed up until they throw TestPendingException. The reason for this difference is that it enables your unfinished test to send InfoProvided messages to the reporter before it completes abruptly with TestPendingException, as shown in the previous example on Informers that used the GivenWhenThen trait. For example, the following snippet in a FreeSpec:

"The Scala language" - {
   "should add correctly" in {
     Given("two integers")
     When("they are added")
     Then("the result is the sum of the two numbers")
     pending
   }
   // ...

Would yield the following output when run in the interpreter:

The Scala language
- should add correctly (pending)
  + Given two integers
  + When they are added
  + Then the result is the sum of the two numbers

Tagging tests

A FreeSpec's tests may be classified into groups by tagging them with string names. As with any suite, when executing a FreeSpec, groups of tests can optionally be included and/or excluded. To tag a FreeSpec's tests, you pass objects that extend class org.scalatest.Tag to methods that register tests. Class Tag takes one parameter, a string name. If you have created tag annotation interfaces as described in the Tag documentation, then you will probably want to use tag names on your test functions that match. To do so, simply pass the fully qualified names of the tag interfaces to the Tag constructor. For example, if you've defined a tag annotation interface with fully qualified name, com.mycompany.tags.DbTest, then you could create a matching tag for FreeSpecs like this:

import org.scalatest.Tag

object DbTest extends Tag("com.mycompany.tags.DbTest")

Given these definitions, you could tag FreeSpec tests like this:

package org.scalatest.examples.freespec.tagging

import org.scalatest.Tag
object DbTest extends Tag("com.mycompany.tags.DbTest")
import org.scalatest.FreeSpec import org.scalatest.tagobjects.Slow
class SetSpec extends FreeSpec {
"A Set" - { "when empty" - { "should have size 0" taggedAs(Slow) in { assert(Set.empty.size === 0) }
"should produce NoSuchElementException when head is invoked" taggedAs(Slow, DbTest) in { assertThrows[NoSuchElementException] { Set.empty.head } } } } }

This code marks both tests with the org.scalatest.tags.Slow tag, and the second test with the com.mycompany.tags.DbTest tag.

The run method takes a Filter, whose constructor takes an optional Set[String] called tagsToInclude and a Set[String] called tagsToExclude. If tagsToInclude is None, all tests will be run except those those belonging to tags listed in the tagsToExclude Set. If tagsToInclude is defined, only tests belonging to tags mentioned in the tagsToInclude set, and not mentioned in tagsToExclude, will be run.

It is recommended, though not required, that you create a corresponding tag annotation when you create a Tag object. A tag annotation (on the JVM, not Scala.js) allows you to tag all the tests of a FreeSpec in one stroke by annotating the class. For more information and examples, see the documentation for class Tag. On Scala.js, to tag all tests of a suite, you'll need to tag each test individually at the test site.

Shared fixtures

A test fixture is composed of the objects and other artifacts (files, sockets, database connections, etc.) tests use to do their work. When multiple tests need to work with the same fixtures, it is important to try and avoid duplicating the fixture code across those tests. The more code duplication you have in your tests, the greater drag the tests will have on refactoring the actual production code.

ScalaTest recommends three techniques to eliminate such code duplication:

  • Refactor using Scala
  • Override withFixture
  • Mix in a before-and-after trait

Each technique is geared towards helping you reduce code duplication without introducing instance vars, shared mutable objects, or other dependencies between tests. Eliminating shared mutable state across tests will make your test code easier to reason about and more amenable for parallel test execution.

The following sections describe these techniques, including explaining the recommended usage for each. But first, here's a table summarizing the options:

Refactor using Scala when different tests need different fixtures.
get-fixture methods The extract method refactor helps you create a fresh instances of mutable fixture objects in each test that needs them, but doesn't help you clean them up when you're done.
fixture-context objects By placing fixture methods and fields into traits, you can easily give each test just the newly created fixtures it needs by mixing together traits. Use this technique when you need different combinations of mutable fixture objects in different tests, and don't need to clean up after.
loan-fixture methods Factor out dupicate code with the loan pattern when different tests need different fixtures that must be cleaned up afterwards.
Override withFixture when most or all tests need the same fixture.
withFixture(NoArgTest) The recommended default approach when most or all tests need the same fixture treatment. This general technique allows you, for example, to perform side effects at the beginning and end of all or most tests, transform the outcome of tests, retry tests, make decisions based on test names, tags, or other test data. Use this technique unless:
Different tests need different fixtures (refactor using Scala instead)
An exception in fixture code should abort the suite, not fail the test (use a before-and-after trait instead)
You have objects to pass into tests (override withFixture(OneArgTest) instead)
withFixture(OneArgTest) Use when you want to pass the same fixture object or objects as a parameter into all or most tests.
Mix in a before-and-after trait when you want an aborted suite, not a failed test, if the fixture code fails.
BeforeAndAfter Use this boilerplate-buster when you need to perform the same side-effects before and/or after tests, rather than at the beginning or end of tests.
BeforeAndAfterEach Use when you want to stack traits that perform the same side-effects before and/or after tests, rather than at the beginning or end of tests.

Calling get-fixture methods

If you need to create the same mutable fixture objects in multiple tests, and don't need to clean them up after using them, the simplest approach is to write one or more get-fixture methods. A get-fixture method returns a new instance of a needed fixture object (or an holder object containing multiple fixture objects) each time it is called. You can call a get-fixture method at the beginning of each test that needs the fixture, storing the returned object or objects in local variables. Here's an example:

package org.scalatest.examples.freespec.getfixture

import org.scalatest.FreeSpec import collection.mutable.ListBuffer
class ExampleSpec extends FreeSpec {
class Fixture { val builder = new StringBuilder("ScalaTest is ") val buffer = new ListBuffer[String] }
def fixture = new Fixture
"Testing" - { "should be easy" in { val f = fixture f.builder.append("easy!") assert(f.builder.toString === "ScalaTest is easy!") assert(f.buffer.isEmpty) f.buffer += "sweet" }
"should be fun" in { val f = fixture f.builder.append("fun!") assert(f.builder.toString === "ScalaTest is fun!") assert(f.buffer.isEmpty) } } }

The “f.” in front of each use of a fixture object provides a visual indication of which objects are part of the fixture, but if you prefer, you can import the the members with “import f._” and use the names directly.

If you need to configure fixture objects differently in different tests, you can pass configuration into the get-fixture method. For example, if you could pass in an initial value for a mutable fixture object as a parameter to the get-fixture method.

Instantiating fixture-context objects

An alternate technique that is especially useful when different tests need different combinations of fixture objects is to define the fixture objects as instance variables of fixture-context objects whose instantiation forms the body of tests. Like get-fixture methods, fixture-context objects are only appropriate if you don't need to clean up the fixtures after using them.

To use this technique, you define instance variables intialized with fixture objects in traits and/or classes, then in each test instantiate an object that contains just the fixture objects needed by the test. Traits allow you to mix together just the fixture objects needed by each test, whereas classes allow you to pass data in via a constructor to configure the fixture objects. Here's an example in which fixture objects are partitioned into two traits and each test just mixes together the traits it needs:

package org.scalatest.examples.freespec.fixturecontext

import collection.mutable.ListBuffer import org.scalatest.FreeSpec
class ExampleSpec extends FreeSpec {
trait Builder { val builder = new StringBuilder("ScalaTest is ") }
trait Buffer { val buffer = ListBuffer("ScalaTest", "is") }
"Testing" - { // This test needs the StringBuilder fixture "should be productive" in new Builder { builder.append("productive!") assert(builder.toString === "ScalaTest is productive!") } }
"Test code" - { // This test needs the ListBuffer[String] fixture "should be readable" in new Buffer { buffer += ("readable!") assert(buffer === List("ScalaTest", "is", "readable!")) }
// This test needs both the StringBuilder and ListBuffer "should be clear and concise" in new Builder with Buffer { builder.append("clear!") buffer += ("concise!") assert(builder.toString === "ScalaTest is clear!") assert(buffer === List("ScalaTest", "is", "concise!")) } } }

Overriding withFixture(NoArgTest)

Although the get-fixture method and fixture-context object approaches take care of setting up a fixture at the beginning of each test, they don't address the problem of cleaning up a fixture at the end of the test. If you just need to perform a side-effect at the beginning or end of a test, and don't need to actually pass any fixture objects into the test, you can override withFixture(NoArgTest), one of ScalaTest's lifecycle methods defined in trait Suite.

Trait Suite's implementation of runTest passes a no-arg test function to withFixture(NoArgTest). It is withFixture's responsibility to invoke that test function. Suite's implementation of withFixture simply invokes the function, like this:

// Default implementation in trait Suite
protected def withFixture(test: NoArgTest) = {
  test()
}

You can, therefore, override withFixture to perform setup before and/or cleanup after invoking the test function. If you have cleanup to perform, you should invoke the test function inside a try block and perform the cleanup in a finally clause, in case an exception propagates back through withFixture. (If a test fails because of an exception, the test function invoked by withFixture will result in a Failed wrapping the exception. Nevertheless, best practice is to perform cleanup in a finally clause just in case an exception occurs.)

The withFixture method is designed to be stacked, and to enable this, you should always call the super implementation of withFixture, and let it invoke the test function rather than invoking the test function directly. In other words, instead of writing “test()”, you should write “super.withFixture(test)”, like this:

// Your implementation
override def withFixture(test: NoArgTest) = {
  // Perform setup
  try super.withFixture(test) // Invoke the test function
  finally {
    // Perform cleanup
  }
}

Here's an example in which withFixture(NoArgTest) is used to take a snapshot of the working directory if a test fails, and send that information to the reporter:

package org.scalatest.examples.freespec.noargtest

import java.io.File import org.scalatest._
class ExampleSpec extends FreeSpec {
override def withFixture(test: NoArgTest) = {
super.withFixture(test) match { case failed: Failed => val currDir = new File(".") val fileNames = currDir.list() info("Dir snapshot: " + fileNames.mkString(", ")) failed case other => other } }
"This test" - { "should succeed" in { assert(1 + 1 === 2) }
"should fail" in { assert(1 + 1 === 3) } } }

Running this version of ExampleSuite in the interpreter in a directory with two files, hello.txt and world.txt would give the following output:

scala> org.scalatest.run(new ExampleSuite)
ExampleSuite:
This test
- should succeed
- should fail *** FAILED ***
  2 did not equal 3 (:33)
  + Dir snapshot: hello.txt, world.txt 

Note that the NoArgTest passed to withFixture, in addition to an apply method that executes the test, also includes the test name and the config map passed to runTest. Thus you can also use the test name and configuration objects in your withFixture implementation.

Calling loan-fixture methods

If you need to both pass a fixture object into a test and perform cleanup at the end of the test, you'll need to use the loan pattern. If different tests need different fixtures that require cleanup, you can implement the loan pattern directly by writing loan-fixture methods. A loan-fixture method takes a function whose body forms part or all of a test's code. It creates a fixture, passes it to the test code by invoking the function, then cleans up the fixture after the function returns.

The following example shows three tests that use two fixtures, a database and a file. Both require cleanup after, so each is provided via a loan-fixture method. (In this example, the database is simulated with a StringBuffer.)

package org.scalatest.examples.freespec.loanfixture

import java.util.concurrent.ConcurrentHashMap
object DbServer { // Simulating a database server type Db = StringBuffer private val databases = new ConcurrentHashMap[String, Db] def createDb(name: String): Db = { val db = new StringBuffer databases.put(name, db) db } def removeDb(name: String) { databases.remove(name) } }
import org.scalatest.FreeSpec import DbServer._ import java.util.UUID.randomUUID import java.io._
class ExampleSpec extends FreeSpec {
def withDatabase(testCode: Db => Any) { val dbName = randomUUID.toString val db = createDb(dbName) // create the fixture try { db.append("ScalaTest is ") // perform setup testCode(db) // "loan" the fixture to the test } finally removeDb(dbName) // clean up the fixture }
def withFile(testCode: (File, FileWriter) => Any) { val file = File.createTempFile("hello", "world") // create the fixture val writer = new FileWriter(file) try { writer.write("ScalaTest is ") // set up the fixture testCode(file, writer) // "loan" the fixture to the test } finally writer.close() // clean up the fixture }
"Testing" - { // This test needs the file fixture "should be productive" in withFile { (file, writer) => writer.write("productive!") writer.flush() assert(file.length === 24) } }
"Test code" - { // This test needs the database fixture "should be readable" in withDatabase { db => db.append("readable!") assert(db.toString === "ScalaTest is readable!") }
// This test needs both the file and the database "should be clear and concise" in withDatabase { db => withFile { (file, writer) => // loan-fixture methods compose db.append("clear!") writer.write("concise!") writer.flush() assert(db.toString === "ScalaTest is clear!") assert(file.length === 21) } } } }

As demonstrated by the last test, loan-fixture methods compose. Not only do loan-fixture methods allow you to give each test the fixture it needs, they allow you to give a test multiple fixtures and clean everything up afterwards.

Also demonstrated in this example is the technique of giving each test its own "fixture sandbox" to play in. When your fixtures involve external side-effects, like creating files or databases, it is a good idea to give each file or database a unique name as is done in this example. This keeps tests completely isolated, allowing you to run them in parallel if desired.

Overriding withFixture(OneArgTest)

If all or most tests need the same fixture, you can avoid some of the boilerplate of the loan-fixture method approach by using a fixture.FreeSpec and overriding withFixture(OneArgTest). Each test in a fixture.FreeSpec takes a fixture as a parameter, allowing you to pass the fixture into the test. You must indicate the type of the fixture parameter by specifying FixtureParam, and implement a withFixture method that takes a OneArgTest. This withFixture method is responsible for invoking the one-arg test function, so you can perform fixture set up before, and clean up after, invoking and passing the fixture into the test function.

To enable the stacking of traits that define withFixture(NoArgTest), it is a good idea to let withFixture(NoArgTest) invoke the test function instead of invoking the test function directly. To do so, you'll need to convert the OneArgTest to a NoArgTest. You can do that by passing the fixture object to the toNoArgTest method of OneArgTest. In other words, instead of writing “test(theFixture)”, you'd delegate responsibility for invoking the test function to the withFixture(NoArgTest) method of the same instance by writing:

withFixture(test.toNoArgTest(theFixture))

Here's a complete example:

package org.scalatest.examples.freespec.oneargtest

import org.scalatest.fixture import java.io._
class ExampleSpec extends fixture.FreeSpec {
case class FixtureParam(file: File, writer: FileWriter)
def withFixture(test: OneArgTest) = {
// create the fixture val file = File.createTempFile("hello", "world") val writer = new FileWriter(file) val theFixture = FixtureParam(file, writer)
try { writer.write("ScalaTest is ") // set up the fixture withFixture(test.toNoArgTest(theFixture)) // "loan" the fixture to the test } finally writer.close() // clean up the fixture }
"Testing" - { "should be easy" in { f => f.writer.write("easy!") f.writer.flush() assert(f.file.length === 18) }
"should be fun" in { f => f.writer.write("fun!") f.writer.flush() assert(f.file.length === 17) } } }

In this example, the tests actually required two fixture objects, a File and a FileWriter. In such situations you can simply define the FixtureParam type to be a tuple containing the objects, or as is done in this example, a case class containing the objects. For more information on the withFixture(OneArgTest) technique, see the documentation for fixture.FreeSpec.

Mixing in BeforeAndAfter

In all the shared fixture examples shown so far, the activities of creating, setting up, and cleaning up the fixture objects have been performed during the test. This means that if an exception occurs during any of these activities, it will be reported as a test failure. Sometimes, however, you may want setup to happen before the test starts, and cleanup after the test has completed, so that if an exception occurs during setup or cleanup, the entire suite aborts and no more tests are attempted. The simplest way to accomplish this in ScalaTest is to mix in trait BeforeAndAfter. With this trait you can denote a bit of code to run before each test with before and/or after each test each test with after, like this:

package org.scalatest.examples.freespec.beforeandafter

import org.scalatest.FreeSpec import org.scalatest.BeforeAndAfter import collection.mutable.ListBuffer
class ExampleSpec extends FreeSpec with BeforeAndAfter {
val builder = new StringBuilder val buffer = new ListBuffer[String]
before { builder.append("ScalaTest is ") }
after { builder.clear() buffer.clear() }
"Testing" - { "should be easy" in { builder.append("easy!") assert(builder.toString === "ScalaTest is easy!") assert(buffer.isEmpty) buffer += "sweet" }
"should be fun" in { builder.append("fun!") assert(builder.toString === "ScalaTest is fun!") assert(buffer.isEmpty) } } }

Note that the only way before and after code can communicate with test code is via some side-effecting mechanism, commonly by reassigning instance vars or by changing the state of mutable objects held from instance vals (as in this example). If using instance vars or mutable objects held from instance vals you wouldn't be able to run tests in parallel in the same instance of the test class (on the JVM, not Scala.js) unless you synchronized access to the shared, mutable state. This is why ScalaTest's ParallelTestExecution trait extends OneInstancePerTest. By running each test in its own instance of the class, each test has its own copy of the instance variables, so you don't need to synchronize. If you mixed ParallelTestExecution into the ExampleSuite above, the tests would run in parallel just fine without any synchronization needed on the mutable StringBuilder and ListBuffer[String] objects.

Although BeforeAndAfter provides a minimal-boilerplate way to execute code before and after tests, it isn't designed to enable stackable traits, because the order of execution would be non-obvious. If you want to factor out before and after code that is common to multiple test suites, you should use trait BeforeAndAfterEach instead, as shown later in the next section, composing fixtures by stacking traits.

Composing fixtures by stacking traits

In larger projects, teams often end up with several different fixtures that test classes need in different combinations, and possibly initialized (and cleaned up) in different orders. A good way to accomplish this in ScalaTest is to factor the individual fixtures into traits that can be composed using the stackable trait pattern. This can be done, for example, by placing withFixture methods in several traits, each of which call super.withFixture. Here's an example in which the StringBuilder and ListBuffer[String] fixtures used in the previous examples have been factored out into two stackable fixture traits named Builder and Buffer:

package org.scalatest.examples.freespec.composingwithfixture

import org.scalatest._ import collection.mutable.ListBuffer
trait Builder extends TestSuiteMixin { this: TestSuite =>
val builder = new StringBuilder
abstract override def withFixture(test: NoArgTest) = { builder.append("ScalaTest is ") try super.withFixture(test) // To be stackable, must call super.withFixture finally builder.clear() } }
trait Buffer extends TestSuiteMixin { this: TestSuite =>
val buffer = new ListBuffer[String]
abstract override def withFixture(test: NoArgTest) = { try super.withFixture(test) // To be stackable, must call super.withFixture finally buffer.clear() } }
class ExampleSpec extends FreeSpec with Builder with Buffer {
"Testing" - { "should be easy" in { builder.append("easy!") assert(builder.toString === "ScalaTest is easy!") assert(buffer.isEmpty) buffer += "sweet" }
"should be fun" in { builder.append("fun!") assert(builder.toString === "ScalaTest is fun!") assert(buffer.isEmpty) buffer += "clear" } } }

By mixing in both the Builder and Buffer traits, ExampleSuite gets both fixtures, which will be initialized before each test and cleaned up after. The order the traits are mixed together determines the order of execution. In this case, Builder is “super” to Buffer. If you wanted Buffer to be “super” to Builder, you need only switch the order you mix them together, like this:

class Example2Spec extends FreeSpec with Buffer with Builder

And if you only need one fixture you mix in only that trait:

class Example3Spec extends FreeSpec with Builder

Another way to create stackable fixture traits is by extending the BeforeAndAfterEach and/or BeforeAndAfterAll traits. BeforeAndAfterEach has a beforeEach method that will be run before each test (like JUnit's setUp), and an afterEach method that will be run after (like JUnit's tearDown). Similarly, BeforeAndAfterAll has a beforeAll method that will be run before all tests, and an afterAll method that will be run after all tests. Here's what the previously shown example would look like if it were rewritten to use the BeforeAndAfterEach methods instead of withFixture:

package org.scalatest.examples.freespec.composingbeforeandaftereach

import org.scalatest._ import org.scalatest.BeforeAndAfterEach import collection.mutable.ListBuffer
trait Builder extends BeforeAndAfterEach { this: Suite =>
val builder = new StringBuilder
override def beforeEach() { builder.append("ScalaTest is ") super.beforeEach() // To be stackable, must call super.beforeEach }
override def afterEach() { try super.afterEach() // To be stackable, must call super.afterEach finally builder.clear() } }
trait Buffer extends BeforeAndAfterEach { this: Suite =>
val buffer = new ListBuffer[String]
override def afterEach() { try super.afterEach() // To be stackable, must call super.afterEach finally buffer.clear() } }
class ExampleSpec extends FreeSpec with Builder with Buffer {
"Testing" - { "should be easy" in { builder.append("easy!") assert(builder.toString === "ScalaTest is easy!") assert(buffer.isEmpty) buffer += "sweet" }
"should be fun" in { builder.append("fun!") assert(builder.toString === "ScalaTest is fun!") assert(buffer.isEmpty) buffer += "clear" } } }

To get the same ordering as withFixture, place your super.beforeEach call at the end of each beforeEach method, and the super.afterEach call at the beginning of each afterEach method, as shown in the previous example. It is a good idea to invoke super.afterEach in a try block and perform cleanup in a finally clause, as shown in the previous example, because this ensures the cleanup code is performed even if super.afterEach throws an exception.

The difference between stacking traits that extend BeforeAndAfterEach versus traits that implement withFixture is that setup and cleanup code happens before and after the test in BeforeAndAfterEach, but at the beginning and end of the test in withFixture. Thus if a withFixture method completes abruptly with an exception, it is considered a failed test. By contrast, if any of the beforeEach or afterEach methods of BeforeAndAfterEach complete abruptly, it is considered an aborted suite, which will result in a SuiteAborted event.

Shared tests

Sometimes you may want to run the same test code on different fixture objects. In other words, you may want to write tests that are "shared" by different fixture objects. To accomplish this in a FreeSpec, you first place shared tests in behavior functions. These behavior functions will be invoked during the construction phase of any FreeSpec that uses them, so that the tests they contain will be registered as tests in that FreeSpec. For example, given this stack class:

import scala.collection.mutable.ListBuffer

class Stack[T] {
val MAX = 10 private val buf = new ListBuffer[T]
def push(o: T) { if (!full) buf.prepend(o) else throw new IllegalStateException("can't push onto a full stack") }
def pop(): T = { if (!empty) buf.remove(0) else throw new IllegalStateException("can't pop an empty stack") }
def peek: T = { if (!empty) buf(0) else throw new IllegalStateException("can't pop an empty stack") }
def full: Boolean = buf.size == MAX def empty: Boolean = buf.size == 0 def size = buf.size
override def toString = buf.mkString("Stack(", ", ", ")") }

You may want to test the Stack class in different states: empty, full, with one item, with one item less than capacity, etc. You may find you have several tests that make sense any time the stack is non-empty. Thus you'd ideally want to run those same tests for three stack fixture objects: a full stack, a stack with a one item, and a stack with one item less than capacity. With shared tests, you can factor these tests out into a behavior function, into which you pass the stack fixture to use when running the tests. So in your FreeSpec for stack, you'd invoke the behavior function three times, passing in each of the three stack fixtures so that the shared tests are run for all three fixtures. You can define a behavior function that encapsulates these shared tests inside the FreeSpec that uses them. If they are shared between different FreeSpecs, however, you could also define them in a separate trait that is mixed into each FreeSpec that uses them.

For example, here the nonEmptyStack behavior function (in this case, a behavior method) is defined in a trait along with another method containing shared tests for non-full stacks:

trait StackBehaviors { this: FreeSpec =>

def nonEmptyStack(newStack: => Stack[Int], lastItemAdded: Int) {
"be non-empty" in { assert(!newStack.empty) }
"return the top item on peek" in { assert(newStack.peek === lastItemAdded) }
"not remove the top item on peek" in { val stack = newStack val size = stack.size assert(stack.peek === lastItemAdded) assert(stack.size === size) }
"remove the top item on pop" in { val stack = newStack val size = stack.size assert(stack.pop === lastItemAdded) assert(stack.size === size - 1) } }
def nonFullStack(newStack: => Stack[Int]) {
"not be full" in { assert(!newStack.full) }
"add to the top on push" in { val stack = newStack val size = stack.size stack.push(7) assert(stack.size === size + 1) assert(stack.peek === 7) } } }

Given these behavior functions, you could invoke them directly, but FreeSpec offers a DSL for the purpose, which looks like this:

behave like nonEmptyStack(stackWithOneItem, lastValuePushed)
behave like nonFullStack(stackWithOneItem)

If you prefer to use an imperative style to change fixtures, for example by mixing in BeforeAndAfterEach and reassigning a stack var in beforeEach, you could write your behavior functions in the context of that var, which means you wouldn't need to pass in the stack fixture because it would be in scope already inside the behavior function. In that case, your code would look like this:

behave like nonEmptyStack // assuming lastValuePushed is also in scope inside nonEmptyStack
behave like nonFullStack

The recommended style, however, is the functional, pass-all-the-needed-values-in style. Here's an example:

class SharedTestExampleSpec extends FreeSpec with StackBehaviors {

// Stack fixture creation methods def emptyStack = new Stack[Int]
def fullStack = { val stack = new Stack[Int] for (i <- 0 until stack.MAX) stack.push(i) stack }
def stackWithOneItem = { val stack = new Stack[Int] stack.push(9) stack }
def stackWithOneItemLessThanCapacity = { val stack = new Stack[Int] for (i <- 1 to 9) stack.push(i) stack }
val lastValuePushed = 9
"A Stack" - { "when empty" - { "should be empty" in { assert(emptyStack.empty) }
"should complain on peek" in { assertThrows[IllegalStateException] { emptyStack.peek } }
"should complain on pop" in { assertThrows[IllegalStateException] { emptyStack.pop } } }
"when it contains one item" - { "should" - { behave like nonEmptyStack(stackWithOneItem, lastValuePushed) behave like nonFullStack(stackWithOneItem) } }
"when it contains one item less than capacity" - { "should" - { behave like nonEmptyStack(stackWithOneItemLessThanCapacity, lastValuePushed) behave like nonFullStack(stackWithOneItemLessThanCapacity) } }
"when full" - { "should be full" in { assert(fullStack.full) }
"should" - { behave like nonEmptyStack(fullStack, lastValuePushed) }
"should complain on a push" in { assertThrows[IllegalStateException] { fullStack.push(10) } } } } }

If you load these classes into the Scala interpreter (with scalatest's JAR file on the class path), and execute it, you'll see:

scala> org.scalatest.run(new SharedTestExampleSpec)
SharedTestExampleSpec:
A Stack
  when empty
  - should be empty
  - should complain on peek
  - should complain on pop
  when it contains one item
    should
    - be non-empty
    - return the top item on peek
    - not remove the top item on peek
    - remove the top item on pop
    - not be full
    - add to the top on push
  when it contains one item less than capacity
    should
    - be non-empty
    - return the top item on peek
    - not remove the top item on peek
    - remove the top item on pop
    - not be full
    - add to the top on push
  when full
  - should be full
    should
    - be non-empty
    - return the top item on peek
    - not remove the top item on peek
    - remove the top item on pop
  - should complain on a push

One thing to keep in mind when using shared tests is that in ScalaTest, each test in a suite must have a unique name. If you register the same tests repeatedly in the same suite, one problem you may encounter is an exception at runtime complaining that multiple tests are being registered with the same test name. A good way to solve this problem in a FreeSpec is to make sure each test is in the context of different surrounding description clauses, because a test's name is the concatenation of its surrounding clauses, followed by the test's text. For example, the following code in a FreeSpec would register a test with the name "A Stack when empty should be empty":

"A Stack" - {
  "when empty" - {
    "should be empty" in {
      assert(emptyStack.empty)
    }
  }
}
// ...

If the "should be empty" test was factored out into a behavior function, it could be called repeatedly so long as each invocation of the behavior function is in the context of a different surrounding description (dash) clauses.

Source
FreeSpec.scala
Linear Supertypes
FreeSpecLike, Documenting, Alerting, Notifying, Informing, TestRegistration, TestSuite, Suite, Serializable, Serializable, Assertions, TripleEquals, TripleEqualsSupport, AnyRef, Any
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Inherited
  1. FreeSpec
  2. FreeSpecLike
  3. Documenting
  4. Alerting
  5. Notifying
  6. Informing
  7. TestRegistration
  8. TestSuite
  9. Suite
  10. Serializable
  11. Serializable
  12. Assertions
  13. TripleEquals
  14. TripleEqualsSupport
  15. AnyRef
  16. Any
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Visibility
  1. Public
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Instance Constructors

  1. new FreeSpec()

Type Members

  1. class AssertionsHelper extends AnyRef

    Helper class used by code generated by the assert macro.

    Helper class used by code generated by the assert macro.

    Definition Classes
    Assertions
  2. class CheckingEqualizer[L] extends AnyRef
    Definition Classes
    TripleEqualsSupport
  3. class Equalizer[L] extends AnyRef
    Definition Classes
    TripleEqualsSupport
  4. final class FreeSpecStringWrapper extends AnyRef

    A class that via an implicit conversion (named convertToFreeSpecStringWrapper) enables methods in, is, taggedAs and ignore, as well as the dash operator (-), to be invoked on Strings.

    A class that via an implicit conversion (named convertToFreeSpecStringWrapper) enables methods in, is, taggedAs and ignore, as well as the dash operator (-), to be invoked on Strings.

    Attributes
    protected
    Definition Classes
    FreeSpecLike
  5. final class ResultOfTaggedAsInvocationOnString extends AnyRef

    Class that supports the registration of tagged tests.

    Class that supports the registration of tagged tests.

    Instances of this class are returned by the taggedAs method of class FreeSpecStringWrapper.

    Attributes
    protected
    Definition Classes
    FreeSpecLike
  6. trait NoArgTest extends () ⇒ Outcome with TestData

    A test function taking no arguments and returning an Outcome.

    A test function taking no arguments and returning an Outcome.

    For more detail and examples, see the relevant section in the documentation for trait fixture.FlatSpec.

    Attributes
    protected
    Definition Classes
    TestSuite

Value Members

  1. final def !=(arg0: Any): Boolean
    Definition Classes
    AnyRef → Any
  2. def !==[T](right: Spread[T]): TripleEqualsInvocationOnSpread[T]
    Definition Classes
    TripleEqualsSupport
  3. def !==(right: Null): TripleEqualsInvocation[Null]
    Definition Classes
    TripleEqualsSupport
  4. def !==[T](right: T): TripleEqualsInvocation[T]
    Definition Classes
    TripleEqualsSupport
  5. final def ##(): Int
    Definition Classes
    AnyRef → Any
  6. final def ==(arg0: Any): Boolean
    Definition Classes
    AnyRef → Any
  7. def ===[T](right: Spread[T]): TripleEqualsInvocationOnSpread[T]
    Definition Classes
    TripleEqualsSupport
  8. def ===(right: Null): TripleEqualsInvocation[Null]
    Definition Classes
    TripleEqualsSupport
  9. def ===[T](right: T): TripleEqualsInvocation[T]
    Definition Classes
    TripleEqualsSupport
  10. def alert: Alerter

    Returns an Alerter that during test execution will forward strings passed to its apply method to the current reporter.

    Returns an Alerter that during test execution will forward strings passed to its apply method to the current reporter. If invoked in a constructor, it will register the passed string for forwarding later during test execution. If invoked while this FreeSpec is being executed, such as from inside a test function, it will forward the information to the current reporter immediately. If invoked at any other time, it will print to the standard output. This method can be called safely by any thread.

    Attributes
    protected
    Definition Classes
    FreeSpecLikeAlerting
  11. final def asInstanceOf[T0]: T0
    Definition Classes
    Any
  12. macro def assert(condition: Boolean, clue: Any)(implicit prettifier: Prettifier, pos: Position): Assertion

    Assert that a boolean condition, described in String message, is true.

    Assert that a boolean condition, described in String message, is true. If the condition is true, this method returns normally. Else, it throws TestFailedException with a helpful error message appended with the String obtained by invoking toString on the specified clue as the exception's detail message.

    This method is implemented in terms of a Scala macro that will generate a more helpful error message for expressions of this form:

    • assert(a == b, "a good clue")
    • assert(a != b, "a good clue")
    • assert(a === b, "a good clue")
    • assert(a !== b, "a good clue")
    • assert(a > b, "a good clue")
    • assert(a >= b, "a good clue")
    • assert(a < b, "a good clue")
    • assert(a <= b, "a good clue")
    • assert(a startsWith "prefix", "a good clue")
    • assert(a endsWith "postfix", "a good clue")
    • assert(a contains "something", "a good clue")
    • assert(a eq b, "a good clue")
    • assert(a ne b, "a good clue")
    • assert(a > 0 && b > 5, "a good clue")
    • assert(a > 0 || b > 5, "a good clue")
    • assert(a.isEmpty, "a good clue")
    • assert(!a.isEmpty, "a good clue")
    • assert(a.isInstanceOf[String], "a good clue")
    • assert(a.length == 8, "a good clue")
    • assert(a.size == 8, "a good clue")
    • assert(a.exists(_ == 8), "a good clue")

    At this time, any other form of expression will just get a TestFailedException with message saying the given expression was false. In the future, we will enhance this macro to give helpful error messages in more situations. In ScalaTest 2.0, however, this behavior was sufficient to allow the === that returns Boolean to be the default in tests. This makes === consistent between tests and production code.

    condition

    the boolean condition to assert

    clue

    An objects whose toString method returns a message to include in a failure report.

    Definition Classes
    Assertions
    Exceptions thrown

    NullArgumentException if message is null.

    TestFailedException if the condition is false.

  13. macro def assert(condition: Boolean)(implicit prettifier: Prettifier, pos: Position): Assertion

    Assert that a boolean condition is true.

    Assert that a boolean condition is true. If the condition is true, this method returns normally. Else, it throws TestFailedException.

    This method is implemented in terms of a Scala macro that will generate a more helpful error message for expressions of this form:

    • assert(a == b)
    • assert(a != b)
    • assert(a === b)
    • assert(a !== b)
    • assert(a > b)
    • assert(a >= b)
    • assert(a < b)
    • assert(a <= b)
    • assert(a startsWith "prefix")
    • assert(a endsWith "postfix")
    • assert(a contains "something")
    • assert(a eq b)
    • assert(a ne b)
    • assert(a > 0 && b > 5)
    • assert(a > 0 || b > 5)
    • assert(a.isEmpty)
    • assert(!a.isEmpty)
    • assert(a.isInstanceOf[String])
    • assert(a.length == 8)
    • assert(a.size == 8)
    • assert(a.exists(_ == 8))

    At this time, any other form of expression will get a TestFailedException with message saying the given expression was false. In the future, we will enhance this macro to give helpful error messages in more situations. In ScalaTest 2.0, however, this behavior was sufficient to allow the === that returns Boolean to be the default in tests. This makes === consistent between tests and production code.

    condition

    the boolean condition to assert

    Definition Classes
    Assertions
    Exceptions thrown

    TestFailedException if the condition is false.

  14. macro def assertCompiles(code: String)(implicit pos: Position): Assertion

    Asserts that a given string snippet of code passes both the Scala parser and type checker.

    Asserts that a given string snippet of code passes both the Scala parser and type checker.

    You can use this to make sure a snippet of code compiles:

    assertCompiles("val a: Int = 1")
    

    Although assertCompiles is implemented with a macro that determines at compile time whether the snippet of code represented by the passed string compiles, errors (i.e., snippets of code that do not compile) are reported as test failures at runtime.

    code

    the snippet of code that should compile

    Definition Classes
    Assertions
  15. macro def assertDoesNotCompile(code: String)(implicit pos: Position): Assertion

    Asserts that a given string snippet of code does not pass either the Scala parser or type checker.

    Asserts that a given string snippet of code does not pass either the Scala parser or type checker.

    Often when creating libraries you may wish to ensure that certain arrangements of code that represent potential “user errors” do not compile, so that your library is more error resistant. ScalaTest's Assertions trait includes the following syntax for that purpose:

    assertDoesNotCompile("val a: String = \"a string")
    

    Although assertDoesNotCompile is implemented with a macro that determines at compile time whether the snippet of code represented by the passed string doesn't compile, errors (i.e., snippets of code that do compile) are reported as test failures at runtime.

    Note that the difference between assertTypeError and assertDoesNotCompile is that assertDoesNotCompile will succeed if the given code does not compile for any reason, whereas assertTypeError will only succeed if the given code does not compile because of a type error. If the given code does not compile because of a syntax error, for example, assertDoesNotCompile will return normally but assertTypeError will throw a TestFailedException.

    code

    the snippet of code that should not type check

    Definition Classes
    Assertions
  16. def assertResult(expected: Any)(actual: Any)(implicit prettifier: Prettifier, pos: Position): Assertion

    Assert that the value passed as expected equals the value passed as actual.

    Assert that the value passed as expected equals the value passed as actual. If the actual value equals the expected value (as determined by ==), assertResult returns normally. Else, assertResult throws a TestFailedException whose detail message includes the expected and actual values.

    expected

    the expected value

    actual

    the actual value, which should equal the passed expected value

    Definition Classes
    Assertions
    Exceptions thrown

    TestFailedException if the passed actual value does not equal the passed expected value.

  17. def assertResult(expected: Any, clue: Any)(actual: Any)(implicit prettifier: Prettifier, pos: Position): Assertion

    Assert that the value passed as expected equals the value passed as actual.

    Assert that the value passed as expected equals the value passed as actual. If the actual equals the expected (as determined by ==), assertResult returns normally. Else, if actual is not equal to expected, assertResult throws a TestFailedException whose detail message includes the expected and actual values, as well as the String obtained by invoking toString on the passed clue.

    expected

    the expected value

    clue

    An object whose toString method returns a message to include in a failure report.

    actual

    the actual value, which should equal the passed expected value

    Definition Classes
    Assertions
    Exceptions thrown

    TestFailedException if the passed actual value does not equal the passed expected value.

  18. def assertThrows[T <: AnyRef](f: ⇒ Any)(implicit classTag: ClassTag[T], pos: Position): Assertion

    Ensure that an expected exception is thrown by the passed function value.

    Ensure that an expected exception is thrown by the passed function value. The thrown exception must be an instance of the type specified by the type parameter of this method. This method invokes the passed function. If the function throws an exception that's an instance of the specified type, this method returns Succeeded. Else, whether the passed function returns normally or completes abruptly with a different exception, this method throws TestFailedException.

    Note that the type specified as this method's type parameter may represent any subtype of AnyRef, not just Throwable or one of its subclasses. In Scala, exceptions can be caught based on traits they implement, so it may at times make sense to specify a trait that the intercepted exception's class must mix in. If a class instance is passed for a type that could not possibly be used to catch an exception (such as String, for example), this method will complete abruptly with a TestFailedException.

    Also note that the difference between this method and intercept is that this method does not return the expected exception, so it does not let you perform further assertions on that exception. Instead, this method returns Succeeded, which means it can serve as the last statement in an async- or safe-style suite. It also indicates to the reader of the code that nothing further is expected about the thrown exception other than its type. The recommended usage is to use assertThrows by default, intercept only when you need to inspect the caught exception further.

    f

    the function value that should throw the expected exception

    classTag

    an implicit ClassTag representing the type of the specified type parameter.

    returns

    the Succeeded singleton, if an exception of the expected type is thrown

    Definition Classes
    Assertions
    Exceptions thrown

    TestFailedException if the passed function does not complete abruptly with an exception that's an instance of the specified type.

  19. macro def assertTypeError(code: String)(implicit pos: Position): Assertion

    Asserts that a given string snippet of code does not pass the Scala type checker, failing if the given snippet does not pass the Scala parser.

    Asserts that a given string snippet of code does not pass the Scala type checker, failing if the given snippet does not pass the Scala parser.

    Often when creating libraries you may wish to ensure that certain arrangements of code that represent potential “user errors” do not compile, so that your library is more error resistant. ScalaTest's Assertions trait includes the following syntax for that purpose:

    assertTypeError("val a: String = 1")
    

    Although assertTypeError is implemented with a macro that determines at compile time whether the snippet of code represented by the passed string type checks, errors (i.e., snippets of code that do type check) are reported as test failures at runtime.

    Note that the difference between assertTypeError and assertDoesNotCompile is that assertDoesNotCompile will succeed if the given code does not compile for any reason, whereas assertTypeError will only succeed if the given code does not compile because of a type error. If the given code does not compile because of a syntax error, for example, assertDoesNotCompile will return normally but assertTypeError will throw a TestFailedException.

    code

    the snippet of code that should not type check

    Definition Classes
    Assertions
  20. val assertionsHelper: AssertionsHelper

    Helper instance used by code generated by macro assertion.

    Helper instance used by code generated by macro assertion.

    Definition Classes
    Assertions
  21. macro def assume(condition: Boolean, clue: Any)(implicit prettifier: Prettifier, pos: Position): Assertion

    Assume that a boolean condition, described in String message, is true.

    Assume that a boolean condition, described in String message, is true. If the condition is true, this method returns normally. Else, it throws TestCanceledException with a helpful error message appended with String obtained by invoking toString on the specified clue as the exception's detail message.

    This method is implemented in terms of a Scala macro that will generate a more helpful error message for expressions of this form:

    • assume(a == b, "a good clue")
    • assume(a != b, "a good clue")
    • assume(a === b, "a good clue")
    • assume(a !== b, "a good clue")
    • assume(a > b, "a good clue")
    • assume(a >= b, "a good clue")
    • assume(a < b, "a good clue")
    • assume(a <= b, "a good clue")
    • assume(a startsWith "prefix", "a good clue")
    • assume(a endsWith "postfix", "a good clue")
    • assume(a contains "something", "a good clue")
    • assume(a eq b, "a good clue")
    • assume(a ne b, "a good clue")
    • assume(a > 0 && b > 5, "a good clue")
    • assume(a > 0 || b > 5, "a good clue")
    • assume(a.isEmpty, "a good clue")
    • assume(!a.isEmpty, "a good clue")
    • assume(a.isInstanceOf[String], "a good clue")
    • assume(a.length == 8, "a good clue")
    • assume(a.size == 8, "a good clue")
    • assume(a.exists(_ == 8), "a good clue")

    At this time, any other form of expression will just get a TestCanceledException with message saying the given expression was false. In the future, we will enhance this macro to give helpful error messages in more situations. In ScalaTest 2.0, however, this behavior was sufficient to allow the === that returns Boolean to be the default in tests. This makes === consistent between tests and production code.

    condition

    the boolean condition to assume

    clue

    An objects whose toString method returns a message to include in a failure report.

    Definition Classes
    Assertions
    Exceptions thrown

    NullArgumentException if message is null.

    TestCanceledException if the condition is false.

  22. macro def assume(condition: Boolean)(implicit prettifier: Prettifier, pos: Position): Assertion

    Assume that a boolean condition is true.

    Assume that a boolean condition is true. If the condition is true, this method returns normally. Else, it throws TestCanceledException.

    This method is implemented in terms of a Scala macro that will generate a more helpful error message for expressions of this form:

    • assume(a == b)
    • assume(a != b)
    • assume(a === b)
    • assume(a !== b)
    • assume(a > b)
    • assume(a >= b)
    • assume(a < b)
    • assume(a <= b)
    • assume(a startsWith "prefix")
    • assume(a endsWith "postfix")
    • assume(a contains "something")
    • assume(a eq b)
    • assume(a ne b)
    • assume(a > 0 && b > 5)
    • assume(a > 0 || b > 5)
    • assume(a.isEmpty)
    • assume(!a.isEmpty)
    • assume(a.isInstanceOf[String])
    • assume(a.length == 8)
    • assume(a.size == 8)
    • assume(a.exists(_ == 8))

    At this time, any other form of expression will just get a TestCanceledException with message saying the given expression was false. In the future, we will enhance this macro to give helpful error messages in more situations. In ScalaTest 2.0, however, this behavior was sufficient to allow the === that returns Boolean to be the default in tests. This makes === consistent between tests and production code.

    condition

    the boolean condition to assume

    Definition Classes
    Assertions
    Exceptions thrown

    TestCanceledException if the condition is false.

  23. val behave: BehaveWord

    Supports shared test registration in FreeSpecs.

    Supports shared test registration in FreeSpecs.

    This field enables syntax such as the following:

    behave like nonFullStack(stackWithOneItem)
    ^
    

    For more information and examples of the use of <cod>behave, see the Shared tests section in the main documentation for this trait.

    Attributes
    protected
    Definition Classes
    FreeSpecLike
  24. def cancel(cause: Throwable)(implicit pos: Position): Nothing

    Throws TestCanceledException, with the passed Throwable cause, to indicate a test failed.

    Throws TestCanceledException, with the passed Throwable cause, to indicate a test failed. The getMessage method of the thrown TestCanceledException will return cause.toString.

    cause

    a Throwable that indicates the cause of the cancellation.

    Definition Classes
    Assertions
    Exceptions thrown

    NullArgumentException if cause is null

  25. def cancel(message: String, cause: Throwable)(implicit pos: Position): Nothing

    Throws TestCanceledException, with the passed String message as the exception's detail message and Throwable cause, to indicate a test failed.

    Throws TestCanceledException, with the passed String message as the exception's detail message and Throwable cause, to indicate a test failed.

    message

    A message describing the failure.

    cause

    A Throwable that indicates the cause of the failure.

    Definition Classes
    Assertions
    Exceptions thrown

    NullArgumentException if message or cause is null

  26. def cancel(message: String)(implicit pos: Position): Nothing

    Throws TestCanceledException, with the passed String message as the exception's detail message, to indicate a test was canceled.

    Throws TestCanceledException, with the passed String message as the exception's detail message, to indicate a test was canceled.

    message

    A message describing the cancellation.

    Definition Classes
    Assertions
    Exceptions thrown

    NullArgumentException if message is null

  27. def cancel()(implicit pos: Position): Nothing

    Throws TestCanceledException to indicate a test was canceled.

    Throws TestCanceledException to indicate a test was canceled.

    Definition Classes
    Assertions
  28. def clone(): AnyRef
    Attributes
    protected[java.lang]
    Definition Classes
    AnyRef
    Annotations
    @native() @throws( ... )
  29. def conversionCheckedConstraint[A, B](implicit equivalenceOfA: Equivalence[A], cnv: (B) ⇒ A): CanEqual[A, B]
    Definition Classes
    TripleEquals → TripleEqualsSupport
  30. def convertEquivalenceToAToBConstraint[A, B](equivalenceOfB: Equivalence[B])(implicit ev: <:<[A, B]): CanEqual[A, B]
    Definition Classes
    TripleEquals → TripleEqualsSupport
  31. def convertEquivalenceToAToBConversionConstraint[A, B](equivalenceOfB: Equivalence[B])(implicit ev: (A) ⇒ B): CanEqual[A, B]
    Definition Classes
    TripleEquals → TripleEqualsSupport
  32. def convertEquivalenceToBToAConstraint[A, B](equivalenceOfA: Equivalence[A])(implicit ev: <:<[B, A]): CanEqual[A, B]
    Definition Classes
    TripleEquals → TripleEqualsSupport
  33. def convertEquivalenceToBToAConversionConstraint[A, B](equivalenceOfA: Equivalence[A])(implicit ev: (B) ⇒ A): CanEqual[A, B]
    Definition Classes
    TripleEquals → TripleEqualsSupport
  34. def convertToCheckingEqualizer[T](left: T): CheckingEqualizer[T]
    Definition Classes
    TripleEquals → TripleEqualsSupport
  35. implicit def convertToEqualizer[T](left: T): Equalizer[T]
    Definition Classes
    TripleEquals → TripleEqualsSupport
  36. implicit def convertToFreeSpecStringWrapper(s: String)(implicit pos: Position): FreeSpecStringWrapper

    Implicitly converts Strings to FreeSpecStringWrapper, which enables methods in, is, taggedAs and ignore, as well as the dash operator (-), to be invoked on Strings.

    Implicitly converts Strings to FreeSpecStringWrapper, which enables methods in, is, taggedAs and ignore, as well as the dash operator (-), to be invoked on Strings.

    Attributes
    protected
    Definition Classes
    FreeSpecLike
  37. def defaultEquality[A]: Equality[A]
    Definition Classes
    TripleEqualsSupport
  38. final def eq(arg0: AnyRef): Boolean
    Definition Classes
    AnyRef
  39. def equals(arg0: Any): Boolean
    Definition Classes
    AnyRef → Any
  40. final def execute(testName: String = null, configMap: ConfigMap = ConfigMap.empty, color: Boolean = true, durations: Boolean = false, shortstacks: Boolean = false, fullstacks: Boolean = false, stats: Boolean = false): Unit

    Executes one or more tests in this Suite, printing results to the standard output.

    Executes one or more tests in this Suite, printing results to the standard output.

    This method invokes run on itself, passing in values that can be configured via the parameters to this method, all of which have default values. This behavior is convenient when working with ScalaTest in the Scala interpreter. Here's a summary of this method's parameters and how you can use them:

    The testName parameter

    If you leave testName at its default value (of null), this method will pass None to the testName parameter of run, and as a result all the tests in this suite will be executed. If you specify a testName, this method will pass Some(testName) to run, and only that test will be run. Thus to run all tests in a suite from the Scala interpreter, you can write:

    scala> (new ExampleSuite).execute()
    

    (The above syntax actually invokes the overloaded parameterless form of execute, which calls this form with its default parameter values.) To run just the test named "my favorite test" in a suite from the Scala interpreter, you would write:

    scala> (new ExampleSuite).execute("my favorite test")
    

    Or:

    scala> (new ExampleSuite).execute(testName = "my favorite test")
    

    The configMap parameter

    If you provide a value for the configMap parameter, this method will pass it to run. If not, the default value of an empty Map will be passed. For more information on how to use a config map to configure your test suites, see the config map section in the main documentation for this trait. Here's an example in which you configure a run with the name of an input file:

    scala> (new ExampleSuite).execute(configMap = Map("inputFileName" -> "in.txt")
    

    The color parameter

    If you leave the color parameter unspecified, this method will configure the reporter it passes to run to print to the standard output in color (via ansi escape characters). If you don't want color output, specify false for color, like this:

    scala> (new ExampleSuite).execute(color = false)
    

    The durations parameter

    If you leave the durations parameter unspecified, this method will configure the reporter it passes to run to not print durations for tests and suites to the standard output. If you want durations printed, specify true for durations, like this:

    scala> (new ExampleSuite).execute(durations = true)
    

    The shortstacks and fullstacks parameters

    If you leave both the shortstacks and fullstacks parameters unspecified, this method will configure the reporter it passes to run to not print stack traces for failed tests if it has a stack depth that identifies the offending line of test code. If you prefer a short stack trace (10 to 15 stack frames) to be printed with any test failure, specify true for shortstacks:

    scala> (new ExampleSuite).execute(shortstacks = true)
    

    For full stack traces, set fullstacks to true:

    scala> (new ExampleSuite).execute(fullstacks = true)
    

    If you specify true for both shortstacks and fullstacks, you'll get full stack traces.

    The stats parameter

    If you leave the stats parameter unspecified, this method will not fire RunStarting and either RunCompleted or RunAborted events to the reporter it passes to run. If you specify true for stats, this method will fire the run events to the reporter, and the reporter will print the expected test count before the run, and various statistics after, including the number of suites completed and number of tests that succeeded, failed, were ignored or marked pending. Here's how you get the stats:

    scala> (new ExampleSuite).execute(stats = true)
    

    To summarize, this method will pass to run:

    • testName - None if this method's testName parameter is left at its default value of null, else Some(testName).
    • reporter - a reporter that prints to the standard output
    • stopper - a Stopper whose apply method always returns false
    • filter - a Filter constructed with None for tagsToInclude and Set() for tagsToExclude
    • configMap - the configMap passed to this method
    • distributor - None
    • tracker - a new Tracker

    Note: In ScalaTest, the terms "execute" and "run" basically mean the same thing and can be used interchangably. The reason this method isn't named run is that it takes advantage of default arguments, and you can't mix overloaded methods and default arguments in Scala. (If named run, this method would have the same name but different arguments than the main run method that takes seven arguments. Thus it would overload and couldn't be used with default argument values.)

    Design note: This method has two "features" that may seem unidiomatic. First, the default value of testName is null. Normally in Scala the type of testName would be Option[String] and the default value would be None, as it is in this trait's run method. The null value is used here for two reasons. First, in ScalaTest 1.5, execute was changed from four overloaded methods to one method with default values, taking advantage of the default and named parameters feature introduced in Scala 2.8. To not break existing source code, testName needed to have type String, as it did in two of the overloaded execute methods prior to 1.5. The other reason is that execute has always been designed to be called primarily from an interpeter environment, such as the Scala REPL (Read-Evaluate-Print-Loop). In an interpreter environment, minimizing keystrokes is king. A String type with a null default value lets users type suite.execute("my test name") rather than suite.execute(Some("my test name")), saving several keystrokes.

    The second non-idiomatic feature is that shortstacks and fullstacks are all lower case rather than camel case. This is done to be consistent with the Shell, which also uses those forms. The reason lower case is used in the Shell is to save keystrokes in an interpreter environment. Most Unix commands, for example, are all lower case, making them easier and quicker to type. In the ScalaTest Shell, methods like shortstacks, fullstacks, and nostats, etc., are designed to be all lower case so they feel more like shell commands than methods.

    testName

    the name of one test to run.

    configMap

    a Map of key-value pairs that can be used by the executing Suite of tests.

    color

    a boolean that configures whether output is printed in color

    durations

    a boolean that configures whether test and suite durations are printed to the standard output

    shortstacks

    a boolean that configures whether short stack traces should be printed for test failures

    fullstacks

    a boolean that configures whether full stack traces should be printed for test failures

    stats

    a boolean that configures whether test and suite statistics are printed to the standard output

    Definition Classes
    Suite
    Exceptions thrown

    IllegalArgumentException if testName is defined, but no test with the specified test name exists in this Suite

    NullArgumentException if the passed configMap parameter is null.

  41. def expectedTestCount(filter: Filter): Int

    The total number of tests that are expected to run when this Suite's run method is invoked.

    The total number of tests that are expected to run when this Suite's run method is invoked.

    This trait's implementation of this method returns the sum of:

    • the size of the testNames List, minus the number of tests marked as ignored and any tests that are exluded by the passed Filter
    • the sum of the values obtained by invoking expectedTestCount on every nested Suite contained in nestedSuites
    filter

    a Filter with which to filter tests to count based on their tags

    Definition Classes
    Suite
  42. def fail(cause: Throwable)(implicit pos: Position): Nothing

    Throws TestFailedException, with the passed Throwable cause, to indicate a test failed.

    Throws TestFailedException, with the passed Throwable cause, to indicate a test failed. The getMessage method of the thrown TestFailedException will return cause.toString.

    cause

    a Throwable that indicates the cause of the failure.

    Definition Classes
    Assertions
    Exceptions thrown

    NullArgumentException if cause is null

  43. def fail(message: String, cause: Throwable)(implicit pos: Position): Nothing

    Throws TestFailedException, with the passed String message as the exception's detail message and Throwable cause, to indicate a test failed.

    Throws TestFailedException, with the passed String message as the exception's detail message and Throwable cause, to indicate a test failed.

    message

    A message describing the failure.

    cause

    A Throwable that indicates the cause of the failure.

    Definition Classes
    Assertions
    Exceptions thrown

    NullArgumentException if message or cause is null

  44. def fail(message: String)(implicit pos: Position): Nothing

    Throws TestFailedException, with the passed String message as the exception's detail message, to indicate a test failed.

    Throws TestFailedException, with the passed String message as the exception's detail message, to indicate a test failed.

    message

    A message describing the failure.

    Definition Classes
    Assertions
    Exceptions thrown

    NullArgumentException if message is null

  45. def fail()(implicit pos: Position): Nothing

    Throws TestFailedException to indicate a test failed.

    Throws TestFailedException to indicate a test failed.

    Definition Classes
    Assertions
  46. def finalize(): Unit
    Attributes
    protected[java.lang]
    Definition Classes
    AnyRef
    Annotations
    @throws( classOf[java.lang.Throwable] )
  47. final def getClass(): Class[_]
    Definition Classes
    AnyRef → Any
    Annotations
    @native()
  48. def hashCode(): Int
    Definition Classes
    AnyRef → Any
    Annotations
    @native()
  49. def info: Informer

    Returns an Informer that during test execution will forward strings passed to its apply method to the current reporter.

    Returns an Informer that during test execution will forward strings passed to its apply method to the current reporter. If invoked in a constructor, it will register the passed string for forwarding later during test execution. If invoked from inside a scope, it will forward the information to the current reporter immediately. If invoked from inside a test function, it will record the information and forward it to the current reporter only after the test completed, as recordedEvents of the test completed event, such as TestSucceeded. If invoked at any other time, it will print to the standard output. This method can be called safely by any thread.

    Attributes
    protected
    Definition Classes
    FreeSpecLikeInforming
  50. def intercept[T <: AnyRef](f: ⇒ Any)(implicit classTag: ClassTag[T], pos: Position): T

    Intercept and return an exception that's expected to be thrown by the passed function value.

    Intercept and return an exception that's expected to be thrown by the passed function value. The thrown exception must be an instance of the type specified by the type parameter of this method. This method invokes the passed function. If the function throws an exception that's an instance of the specified type, this method returns that exception. Else, whether the passed function returns normally or completes abruptly with a different exception, this method throws TestFailedException.

    Note that the type specified as this method's type parameter may represent any subtype of AnyRef, not just Throwable or one of its subclasses. In Scala, exceptions can be caught based on traits they implement, so it may at times make sense to specify a trait that the intercepted exception's class must mix in. If a class instance is passed for a type that could not possibly be used to catch an exception (such as String, for example), this method will complete abruptly with a TestFailedException.

    Also note that the difference between this method and assertThrows is that this method returns the expected exception, so it lets you perform further assertions on that exception. By contrast, the assertThrows method returns Succeeded, which means it can serve as the last statement in an async- or safe-style suite. assertThrows also indicates to the reader of the code that nothing further is expected about the thrown exception other than its type. The recommended usage is to use assertThrows by default, intercept only when you need to inspect the caught exception further.

    f

    the function value that should throw the expected exception

    classTag

    an implicit ClassTag representing the type of the specified type parameter.

    returns

    the intercepted exception, if it is of the expected type

    Definition Classes
    Assertions
    Exceptions thrown

    TestFailedException if the passed function does not complete abruptly with an exception that's an instance of the specified type.

  51. final def isInstanceOf[T0]: Boolean
    Definition Classes
    Any
  52. def lowPriorityConversionCheckedConstraint[A, B](implicit equivalenceOfB: Equivalence[B], cnv: (A) ⇒ B): CanEqual[A, B]
    Definition Classes
    TripleEquals → TripleEqualsSupport
  53. def lowPriorityTypeCheckedConstraint[A, B](implicit equivalenceOfB: Equivalence[B], ev: <:<[A, B]): CanEqual[A, B]
    Definition Classes
    TripleEquals → TripleEqualsSupport
  54. def markup: Documenter

    Returns a Documenter that during test execution will forward strings passed to its apply method to the current reporter.

    Returns a Documenter that during test execution will forward strings passed to its apply method to the current reporter. If invoked in a constructor, it will register the passed string for forwarding later during test execution. If invoked from inside a scope, it will forward the information to the current reporter immediately. If invoked from inside a test function, it will record the information and forward it to the current reporter only after the test completed, as recordedEvents of the test completed event, such as TestSucceeded. If invoked at any other time, it will print to the standard output. This method can be called safely by any thread.

    Attributes
    protected
    Definition Classes
    FreeSpecLikeDocumenting
  55. final def ne(arg0: AnyRef): Boolean
    Definition Classes
    AnyRef
  56. def nestedSuites: IndexedSeq[Suite]

    An immutable IndexedSeq of this Suite object's nested Suites.

    An immutable IndexedSeq of this Suite object's nested Suites. If this Suite contains no nested Suites, this method returns an empty IndexedSeq. This trait's implementation of this method returns an empty List.

    Definition Classes
    Suite
  57. def note: Notifier

    Returns a Notifier that during test execution will forward strings passed to its apply method to the current reporter.

    Returns a Notifier that during test execution will forward strings passed to its apply method to the current reporter. If invoked in a constructor, it will register the passed string for forwarding later during test execution. If invoked while this FreeSpec is being executed, such as from inside a test function, it will forward the information to the current reporter immediately. If invoked at any other time, it will print to the standard output. This method can be called safely by any thread.

    Attributes
    protected
    Definition Classes
    FreeSpecLikeNotifying
  58. final def notify(): Unit
    Definition Classes
    AnyRef
    Annotations
    @native()
  59. final def notifyAll(): Unit
    Definition Classes
    AnyRef
    Annotations
    @native()
  60. def pending: Assertion with PendingStatement

    Throws TestPendingException to indicate a test is pending.

    Throws TestPendingException to indicate a test is pending.

    A pending test is one that has been given a name but is not yet implemented. The purpose of pending tests is to facilitate a style of testing in which documentation of behavior is sketched out before tests are written to verify that behavior (and often, the before the behavior of the system being tested is itself implemented). Such sketches form a kind of specification of what tests and functionality to implement later.

    To support this style of testing, a test can be given a name that specifies one bit of behavior required by the system being tested. The test can also include some code that sends more information about the behavior to the reporter when the tests run. At the end of the test, it can call method pending, which will cause it to complete abruptly with TestPendingException. Because tests in ScalaTest can be designated as pending with TestPendingException, both the test name and any information sent to the reporter when running the test can appear in the report of a test run. (In other words, the code of a pending test is executed just like any other test.) However, because the test completes abruptly with TestPendingException, the test will be reported as pending, to indicate the actual test, and possibly the functionality it is intended to test, has not yet been implemented.

    Note: This method always completes abruptly with a TestPendingException. Thus it always has a side effect. Methods with side effects are usually invoked with parentheses, as in pending(). This method is defined as a parameterless method, in flagrant contradiction to recommended Scala style, because it forms a kind of DSL for pending tests. It enables tests in suites such as FunSuite or FunSpec to be denoted by placing "(pending)" after the test name, as in:

    test("that style rules are not laws") (pending)
    

    Readers of the code see "pending" in parentheses, which looks like a little note attached to the test name to indicate it is pending. Whereas "(pending()) looks more like a method call, "(pending)" lets readers stay at a higher level, forgetting how it is implemented and just focusing on the intent of the programmer who wrote the code.

    Definition Classes
    Assertions
  61. def pendingUntilFixed(f: ⇒ Unit)(implicit pos: Position): Assertion with PendingStatement

    Execute the passed block of code, and if it completes abruptly, throw TestPendingException, else throw TestFailedException.

    Execute the passed block of code, and if it completes abruptly, throw TestPendingException, else throw TestFailedException.

    This method can be used to temporarily change a failing test into a pending test in such a way that it will automatically turn back into a failing test once the problem originally causing the test to fail has been fixed. At that point, you need only remove the pendingUntilFixed call. In other words, a pendingUntilFixed surrounding a block of code that isn't broken is treated as a test failure. The motivation for this behavior is to encourage people to remove pendingUntilFixed calls when there are no longer needed.

    This method facilitates a style of testing in which tests are written before the code they test. Sometimes you may encounter a test failure that requires more functionality than you want to tackle without writing more tests. In this case you can mark the bit of test code causing the failure with pendingUntilFixed. You can then write more tests and functionality that eventually will get your production code to a point where the original test won't fail anymore. At this point the code block marked with pendingUntilFixed will no longer throw an exception (because the problem has been fixed). This will in turn cause pendingUntilFixed to throw TestFailedException with a detail message explaining you need to go back and remove the pendingUntilFixed call as the problem orginally causing your test code to fail has been fixed.

    f

    a block of code, which if it completes abruptly, should trigger a TestPendingException

    Definition Classes
    Assertions
    Exceptions thrown

    TestPendingException if the passed block of code completes abruptly with an Exception or AssertionError

  62. final def registerIgnoredTest(testText: String, testTags: Tag*)(testFun: ⇒ Any)(implicit pos: Position): Unit

    Registers an ignored test.

    Registers an ignored test.

    testText

    the test text

    testTags

    the test tags

    testFun

    the test function

    Definition Classes
    FreeSpecLikeTestRegistration
  63. final def registerTest(testText: String, testTags: Tag*)(testFun: ⇒ Any)(implicit pos: Position): Unit

    Registers a test.

    Registers a test.

    testText

    the test text

    testTags

    the test tags

    testFun

    the test function

    Definition Classes
    FreeSpecLikeTestRegistration
  64. def rerunner: Option[String]

    The fully qualified class name of the rerunner to rerun this suite.

    The fully qualified class name of the rerunner to rerun this suite. This implementation will look at this.getClass and see if it is either an accessible Suite, or it has a WrapWith annotation. If so, it returns the fully qualified class name wrapped in a Some, or else it returns None.

    Definition Classes
    Suite
  65. def run(testName: Option[String], args: Args): Status

    Runs this suite of tests.

    Runs this suite of tests.

    If testName is None, this trait's implementation of this method calls these two methods on this object in this order:

    • runNestedSuites
    • runTests

    If testName is defined, then this trait's implementation of this method calls runTests, but does not call runNestedSuites. This behavior is part of the contract of this method. Subclasses that override run must take care not to call runNestedSuites if testName is defined. (The OneInstancePerTest trait depends on this behavior, for example.)

    Subclasses and subtraits that override this run method can implement them without invoking either the runTests or runNestedSuites methods, which are invoked by this trait's implementation of this method. It is recommended, but not required, that subclasses and subtraits that override run in a way that does not invoke runNestedSuites also override runNestedSuites and make it final. Similarly it is recommended, but not required, that subclasses and subtraits that override run in a way that does not invoke runTests also override runTests (and runTest, which this trait's implementation of runTests calls) and make it final. The implementation of these final methods can either invoke the superclass implementation of the method, or throw an UnsupportedOperationException if appropriate. The reason for this recommendation is that ScalaTest includes several traits that override these methods to allow behavior to be mixed into a Suite. For example, trait BeforeAndAfterEach overrides runTestss. In a Suite subclass that no longer invokes runTests from run, the BeforeAndAfterEach trait is not applicable. Mixing it in would have no effect. By making runTests final in such a Suite subtrait, you make the attempt to mix BeforeAndAfterEach into a subclass of your subtrait a compiler error. (It would fail to compile with a complaint that BeforeAndAfterEach is trying to override runTests, which is a final method in your trait.)

    testName

    an optional name of one test to run. If None, all relevant tests should be run. I.e., None acts like a wildcard that means run all relevant tests in this Suite.

    args

    the Args for this run

    returns

    a Status object that indicates when all tests and nested suites started by this method have completed, and whether or not a failure occurred.

    Definition Classes
    FreeSpecLikeSuite
    Exceptions thrown

    IllegalArgumentException if testName is defined, but no test with the specified test name exists in this Suite

    NullArgumentException if any passed parameter is null.

  66. def runNestedSuites(args: Args): Status

    Run zero to many of this Suite's nested Suites.

    Run zero to many of this Suite's nested Suites.

    If the passed distributor is None, this trait's implementation of this method invokes run on each nested Suite in the List obtained by invoking nestedSuites. If a nested Suite's run method completes abruptly with an exception, this trait's implementation of this method reports that the Suite aborted and attempts to run the next nested Suite. If the passed distributor is defined, this trait's implementation puts each nested Suite into the Distributor contained in the Some, in the order in which the Suites appear in the List returned by nestedSuites, passing in a new Tracker obtained by invoking nextTracker on the Tracker passed to this method.

    Implementations of this method are responsible for ensuring SuiteStarting events are fired to the Reporter before executing any nested Suite, and either SuiteCompleted or SuiteAborted after executing any nested Suite.

    args

    the Args for this run

    returns

    a Status object that indicates when all nested suites started by this method have completed, and whether or not a failure occurred.

    Attributes
    protected
    Definition Classes
    Suite
    Exceptions thrown

    NullArgumentException if any passed parameter is null.

  67. def runTest(testName: String, args: Args): Status

    Run a test.

    Run a test. This trait's implementation runs the test registered with the name specified by testName. Each test's name is a concatenation of the text of all describers surrounding a test, from outside in, and the test's spec text, with one space placed between each item. (See the documentation for testNames for an example.)

    testName

    the name of one test to execute.

    args

    the Args for this run

    returns

    a Status object that indicates when the test started by this method has completed, and whether or not it failed .

    Attributes
    protected
    Definition Classes
    FreeSpecLikeTestSuiteSuite
    Exceptions thrown

    NullArgumentException if any of testName, reporter, stopper, or configMap is null.

  68. def runTests(testName: Option[String], args: Args): Status

    Run zero to many of this FreeSpec's tests.

    Run zero to many of this FreeSpec's tests.

    This method takes a testName parameter that optionally specifies a test to invoke. If testName is Some, this trait's implementation of this method invokes runTest on this object, passing in:

    • testName - the String value of the testName Option passed to this method
    • reporter - the Reporter passed to this method, or one that wraps and delegates to it
    • stopper - the Stopper passed to this method, or one that wraps and delegates to it
    • configMap - the configMap passed to this method, or one that wraps and delegates to it

    This method takes a Set of tag names that should be included (tagsToInclude), and a Set that should be excluded (tagsToExclude), when deciding which of this Suite's tests to execute. If tagsToInclude is empty, all tests will be executed except those those belonging to tags listed in the tagsToExclude Set. If tagsToInclude is non-empty, only tests belonging to tags mentioned in tagsToInclude, and not mentioned in tagsToExclude will be executed. However, if testName is Some, tagsToInclude and tagsToExclude are essentially ignored. Only if testName is None will tagsToInclude and tagsToExclude be consulted to determine which of the tests named in the testNames Set should be run. For more information on trait tags, see the main documentation for this trait.

    If testName is None, this trait's implementation of this method invokes testNames on this Suite to get a Set of names of tests to potentially execute. (A testNames value of None essentially acts as a wildcard that means all tests in this Suite that are selected by tagsToInclude and tagsToExclude should be executed.) For each test in the testName Set, in the order they appear in the iterator obtained by invoking the elements method on the Set, this trait's implementation of this method checks whether the test should be run based on the tagsToInclude and tagsToExclude Sets. If so, this implementation invokes runTest, passing in:

    • testName - the String name of the test to run (which will be one of the names in the testNames Set)
    • reporter - the Reporter passed to this method, or one that wraps and delegates to it
    • stopper - the Stopper passed to this method, or one that wraps and delegates to it
    • configMap - the configMap passed to this method, or one that wraps and delegates to it
    testName

    an optional name of one test to run. If None, all relevant tests should be run. I.e., None acts like a wildcard that means run all relevant tests in this Suite.

    args

    the Args for this run

    returns

    a Status object that indicates when all tests started by this method have completed, and whether or not a failure occurred.

    Attributes
    protected
    Definition Classes
    FreeSpecLikeSuite
    Exceptions thrown

    IllegalArgumentException if testName is defined, but no test with the specified test name exists in this Suite

    NullArgumentException if any of the passed parameters is null.

  69. final val styleName: String

    Suite style name.

    Suite style name.

    Definition Classes
    FreeSpecLikeSuite
  70. final val succeed: Assertion

    The Succeeded singleton.

    The Succeeded singleton.

    You can use succeed to solve a type error when an async test does not end in either Future[Assertion] or Assertion. Because Assertion is a type alias for Succeeded.type, putting succeed at the end of a test body (or at the end of a function being used to map the final future of a test body) will solve the type error.

    Definition Classes
    Assertions
  71. def suiteId: String

    A string ID for this Suite that is intended to be unique among all suites reported during a run.

    A string ID for this Suite that is intended to be unique among all suites reported during a run.

    This trait's implementation of this method returns the fully qualified name of this object's class. Each suite reported during a run will commonly be an instance of a different Suite class, and in such cases, this default implementation of this method will suffice. However, in special cases you may need to override this method to ensure it is unique for each reported suite. For example, if you write a Suite subclass that reads in a file whose name is passed to its constructor and dynamically creates a suite of tests based on the information in that file, you will likely need to override this method in your Suite subclass, perhaps by appending the pathname of the file to the fully qualified class name. That way if you run a suite of tests based on a directory full of these files, you'll have unique suite IDs for each reported suite.

    The suite ID is intended to be unique, because ScalaTest does not enforce that it is unique. If it is not unique, then you may not be able to uniquely identify a particular test of a particular suite. This ability is used, for example, to dynamically tag tests as having failed in the previous run when rerunning only failed tests.

    returns

    this Suite object's ID.

    Definition Classes
    Suite
  72. def suiteName: String

    A user-friendly suite name for this Suite.

    A user-friendly suite name for this Suite.

    This trait's implementation of this method returns the simple name of this object's class. This trait's implementation of runNestedSuites calls this method to obtain a name for Reports to pass to the suiteStarting, suiteCompleted, and suiteAborted methods of the Reporter.

    returns

    this Suite object's suite name.

    Definition Classes
    Suite
  73. final def synchronized[T0](arg0: ⇒ T0): T0
    Definition Classes
    AnyRef
  74. def tags: Map[String, Set[String]]

    A Map whose keys are String names of tagged tests and whose associated values are the Set of tags for the test.

    A Map whose keys are String names of tagged tests and whose associated values are the Set of tags for the test. If this FreeSpec contains no tags, this method returns an empty Map.

    This trait's implementation returns tags that were passed as strings contained in Tag objects passed to taggedAs.

    In addition, this trait's implementation will also auto-tag tests with class level annotations. For example, if you annotate @Ignore at the class level, all test methods in the class will be auto-annotated with org.scalatest.Ignore.

    Definition Classes
    FreeSpecLikeSuite
  75. def testDataFor(testName: String, theConfigMap: ConfigMap = ConfigMap.empty): TestData

    Provides a TestData instance for the passed test name, given the passed config map.

    Provides a TestData instance for the passed test name, given the passed config map.

    This method is used to obtain a TestData instance to pass to withFixture(NoArgTest) and withFixture(OneArgTest) and the beforeEach and afterEach methods of trait BeforeAndAfterEach.

    testName

    the name of the test for which to return a TestData instance

    theConfigMap

    the config map to include in the returned TestData

    returns

    a TestData instance for the specified test, which includes the specified config map

    Definition Classes
    FreeSpecLikeSuite
  76. def testNames: Set[String]

    An immutable Set of test names.

    An immutable Set of test names. If this FreeSpec contains no tests, this method returns an empty Set.

    This trait's implementation of this method will return a set that contains the names of all registered tests. The set's iterator will return those names in the order in which the tests were registered. Each test's name is composed of the concatenation of the text of each surrounding describer, in order from outside in, and the text of the example itself, with all components separated by a space. For example, consider this FreeSpec:

    import org.scalatest.FreeSpec
    
    class StackSpec extends FreeSpec { "A Stack" - { "when not empty" - { "must allow me to pop" in {} } "when not full" - { "must allow me to push" in {} } } }

    Invoking testNames on this FreeSpec will yield a set that contains the following two test name strings:

    "A Stack when not empty must allow me to pop"
    "A Stack when not full must allow me to push"
    

    Definition Classes
    FreeSpecLikeSuite
  77. def toString(): String

    Returns a user friendly string for this suite, composed of the simple name of the class (possibly simplified further by removing dollar signs if added by the Scala interpeter) and, if this suite contains nested suites, the result of invoking toString on each of the nested suites, separated by commas and surrounded by parentheses.

    Returns a user friendly string for this suite, composed of the simple name of the class (possibly simplified further by removing dollar signs if added by the Scala interpeter) and, if this suite contains nested suites, the result of invoking toString on each of the nested suites, separated by commas and surrounded by parentheses.

    returns

    a user-friendly string for this suite

    Definition Classes
    FreeSpec → AnyRef → Any
  78. def typeCheckedConstraint[A, B](implicit equivalenceOfA: Equivalence[A], ev: <:<[B, A]): CanEqual[A, B]
    Definition Classes
    TripleEquals → TripleEqualsSupport
  79. implicit def unconstrainedEquality[A, B](implicit equalityOfA: Equality[A]): CanEqual[A, B]
    Definition Classes
    TripleEquals → TripleEqualsSupport
  80. final def wait(): Unit
    Definition Classes
    AnyRef
    Annotations
    @throws( ... )
  81. final def wait(arg0: Long, arg1: Int): Unit
    Definition Classes
    AnyRef
    Annotations
    @throws( ... )
  82. final def wait(arg0: Long): Unit
    Definition Classes
    AnyRef
    Annotations
    @native() @throws( ... )
  83. def withClue[T](clue: Any)(fun: ⇒ T): T

    Executes the block of code passed as the second parameter, and, if it completes abruptly with a ModifiableMessage exception, prepends the "clue" string passed as the first parameter to the beginning of the detail message of that thrown exception, then rethrows it.

    Executes the block of code passed as the second parameter, and, if it completes abruptly with a ModifiableMessage exception, prepends the "clue" string passed as the first parameter to the beginning of the detail message of that thrown exception, then rethrows it. If clue does not end in a white space character, one space will be added between it and the existing detail message (unless the detail message is not defined).

    This method allows you to add more information about what went wrong that will be reported when a test fails. Here's an example:

    withClue("(Employee's name was: " + employee.name + ")") {
      intercept[IllegalArgumentException] {
        employee.getTask(-1)
      }
    }
    

    If an invocation of intercept completed abruptly with an exception, the resulting message would be something like:

    (Employee's name was Bob Jones) Expected IllegalArgumentException to be thrown, but no exception was thrown
    

    Definition Classes
    Assertions
    Exceptions thrown

    NullArgumentException if the passed clue is null

  84. def withFixture(test: NoArgTest): Outcome

    Run the passed test function in the context of a fixture established by this method.

    Run the passed test function in the context of a fixture established by this method.

    This method should set up the fixture needed by the tests of the current suite, invoke the test function, and if needed, perform any clean up needed after the test completes. Because the NoArgTest function passed to this method takes no parameters, preparing the fixture will require side effects, such as reassigning instance vars in this Suite or initializing a globally accessible external database. If you want to avoid reassigning instance vars you can use fixture.Suite.

    This trait's implementation of runTest invokes this method for each test, passing in a NoArgTest whose apply method will execute the code of the test.

    This trait's implementation of this method simply invokes the passed NoArgTest function.

    test

    the no-arg test function to run with a fixture

    Attributes
    protected
    Definition Classes
    TestSuite

Deprecated Value Members

  1. final def execute: Unit

    The parameterless execute method has been deprecated and will be removed in a future version of ScalaTest. Please invoke execute with empty parens instead: execute().

    The parameterless execute method has been deprecated and will be removed in a future version of ScalaTest. Please invoke execute with empty parens instead: execute().

    The original purpose of this method, which simply invokes the other overloaded form of execute with default parameter values, was to serve as a mini-DSL for the Scala interpreter. It allowed you to execute a Suite in the interpreter with a minimum of finger typing:

    scala> org.scalatest.run(new SetSpec)
    An empty Set
    - should have size 0
    - should produce NoSuchElementException when head is invoked !!! IGNORED !!!
    

    However it uses postfix notation, which is now behind a language feature import. Thus better to use the other execute method or org.scalatest.run:

    (new ExampleSuite).execute()
    // or
    org.scalatest.run(new ExampleSuite)
    

    Definition Classes
    Suite
    Annotations
    @deprecated
    Deprecated

    The parameterless execute method has been deprecated and will be removed in a future version of ScalaTest. Please invoke execute with empty parens instead: execute().

  2. def trap[T](f: ⇒ T): Throwable

    Trap and return any thrown exception that would normally cause a ScalaTest test to fail, or create and return a new RuntimeException indicating no exception is thrown.

    Trap and return any thrown exception that would normally cause a ScalaTest test to fail, or create and return a new RuntimeException indicating no exception is thrown.

    This method is intended to be used in the Scala interpreter to eliminate large stack traces when trying out ScalaTest assertions and matcher expressions. It is not intended to be used in regular test code. If you want to ensure that a bit of code throws an expected exception, use intercept, not trap. Here's an example interpreter session without trap:

    scala> import org.scalatest._
    import org.scalatest._
    
    scala> import Matchers._
    import Matchers._
    
    scala> val x = 12
    a: Int = 12
    
    scala> x shouldEqual 13
    org.scalatest.exceptions.TestFailedException: 12 did not equal 13
       at org.scalatest.Assertions$class.newAssertionFailedException(Assertions.scala:449)
       at org.scalatest.Assertions$.newAssertionFailedException(Assertions.scala:1203)
       at org.scalatest.Assertions$AssertionsHelper.macroAssertTrue(Assertions.scala:417)
       at .<init>(<console>:15)
       at .<clinit>(<console>)
       at .<init>(<console>:7)
       at .<clinit>(<console>)
       at $print(<console>)
       at sun.reflect.NativeMethodAccessorImpl.invoke0(Native Method)
       at sun.reflect.NativeMethodAccessorImpl.invoke(NativeMethodAccessorImpl.java:39)
       at sun.reflect.DelegatingMethodAccessorImpl.invoke(DelegatingMethodAccessorImpl.java:25)
       at java.lang.reflect.Method.invoke(Method.java:597)
       at scala.tools.nsc.interpreter.IMain$ReadEvalPrint.call(IMain.scala:731)
       at scala.tools.nsc.interpreter.IMain$Request.loadAndRun(IMain.scala:980)
       at scala.tools.nsc.interpreter.IMain.loadAndRunReq$1(IMain.scala:570)
       at scala.tools.nsc.interpreter.IMain.interpret(IMain.scala:601)
       at scala.tools.nsc.interpreter.IMain.interpret(IMain.scala:565)
       at scala.tools.nsc.interpreter.ILoop.reallyInterpret$1(ILoop.scala:745)
       at scala.tools.nsc.interpreter.ILoop.interpretStartingWith(ILoop.scala:790)
       at scala.tools.nsc.interpreter.ILoop.command(ILoop.scala:702)
       at scala.tools.nsc.interpreter.ILoop.processLine$1(ILoop.scala:566)
       at scala.tools.nsc.interpreter.ILoop.innerLoop$1(ILoop.scala:573)
       at scala.tools.nsc.interpreter.ILoop.loop(ILoop.scala:576)
       at scala.tools.nsc.interpreter.ILoop$$anonfun$process$1.apply$mcZ$sp(ILoop.scala:867)
       at scala.tools.nsc.interpreter.ILoop$$anonfun$process$1.apply(ILoop.scala:822)
       at scala.tools.nsc.interpreter.ILoop$$anonfun$process$1.apply(ILoop.scala:822)
       at scala.tools.nsc.util.ScalaClassLoader$.savingContextLoader(ScalaClassLoader.scala:135)
       at scala.tools.nsc.interpreter.ILoop.process(ILoop.scala:822)
       at scala.tools.nsc.MainGenericRunner.runTarget$1(MainGenericRunner.scala:83)
       at scala.tools.nsc.MainGenericRunner.process(MainGenericRunner.scala:96)
       at scala.tools.nsc.MainGenericRunner$.main(MainGenericRunner.scala:105)
       at scala.tools.nsc.MainGenericRunner.main(MainGenericRunner.scala)
    

    That's a pretty tall stack trace. Here's what it looks like when you use trap:

    scala> trap { x shouldEqual 13 }
    res1: Throwable = org.scalatest.exceptions.TestFailedException: 12 did not equal 13
    

    Much less clutter. Bear in mind, however, that if no exception is thrown by the passed block of code, the trap method will create a new NormalResult (a subclass of Throwable made for this purpose only) and return that. If the result was the Unit value, it will simply say that no exception was thrown:

    scala> trap { x shouldEqual 12 }
    res2: Throwable = No exception was thrown.
    

    If the passed block of code results in a value other than Unit, the NormalResult's toString will print the value:

    scala> trap { "Dude!" }
    res3: Throwable = No exception was thrown. Instead, result was: "Dude!"
    

    Although you can access the result value from the NormalResult, its type is Any and therefore not very convenient to use. It is not intended that trap be used in test code. The sole intended use case for trap is decluttering Scala interpreter sessions by eliminating stack traces when executing assertion and matcher expressions.

    Definition Classes
    Assertions
    Annotations
    @deprecated
    Deprecated

    The trap method is no longer needed for demos in the REPL, which now abreviates stack traces, and will be removed in a future version of ScalaTest

Inherited from FreeSpecLike

Inherited from Documenting

Inherited from Alerting

Inherited from Notifying

Inherited from Informing

Inherited from TestRegistration

Inherited from TestSuite

Inherited from Suite

Inherited from Serializable

Inherited from Serializable

Inherited from Assertions

Inherited from TripleEquals

Inherited from TripleEqualsSupport

Inherited from AnyRef

Inherited from Any

Ungrouped