Re: [aspectj-users] Testing with JUnit

[Wes Isberg <wes@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

We follow something like the approach you suggested.  How you
test of course depends on what you are trying to verify.

If the question is whether a static pointcut is working,
we set up a declare-warning statement for that pointcut and
expect the compiler to fail at the appropriate places.

Dynamic tests vary depending more based on what we're trying to
test than on the type of component being tested, but we can
usually verify results by logging arbitrary events
(e.g., a String including a particular value) and check for
expected events when done.  That tests both functionality
and dynamic sequence.  E.g.,

public class TestEvents {
    public void gotEvent(String s) { ... }
    public void expectEvents(String[] expected) { ... }
    public void checkAllEvents() throws ... { ... }
}

aspect TestStuff {
   private static final TestEvents testEvents;
   static {
        testEvents = new TestEvents();
        testEvents.expectEvents(new String[]
           {  "before [...] - target one"),
              "before [...] - target two")
           });
   }
   before() : ... {
       testEvents.gotEvent("before [...] - target " +
                             thisJoinPoint.getTarget());
   }
   ...
   after() returning : testInvocation() {
       testEvents.checkAllEvents();
   }
}

So setting up a dynamic test is a matter of:

- setting up the functional test
- setting up the join points and context to verify
  during the functional test
- calculating the expected events, usually by running the
  test, capturing the events, and verifying them manually
- setting up the event verifier to expect those events
  and fail if the events did not occur

That works for any kind of test -- unit, system, etc. Being
able to capture actual events and verify/state that they are
expected makes it pretty easy to specify even complex tests.
(It does mean you have to avoid run-specific String renderings,
such as the default Object.toString() implementation.)

For more examples, see the test-related modules in the AspectJ
CVS tree, especially the code in tests/ specified in
tests/ajcTests.xml.

Wes

Neil Hart wrote:

> I have a test suite for classes and aspects and I'm trying to figure out the
> best way to construct the tests.  Currently I code a TestCase for each woven
> piece of code.  I want to ensure that the code I think I've woven is working
> correctly.  Ideally I'd like to write the aspect test cases as aspects that
> get woven into a test case and a check that I've woven the correct code.
> Does anyone have any ideas or experiences with this?  Does what I said make
> sense?
>
> TIA
>
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