Writing tests

We strive to test all functionality in SpenDB. If you add a new functionality to the code base, please take the time to create a test for it. We regression test everything that is contributed into the code base.

If tests need to be removed or modified as part of a code contributions, please indicate so clearly in the relevant commit, preferably using ALL CAPS in the first line of the commit message.

All tests can be found in spendb.tests, arranged into directories by what part of spendb they test:

• command: Tests for ostool functionality (code in spendb.command)
• views: Tests for user facing functionality (access points via URLs) as SpenDB follows an MVC (model, view, controller) architecture (code in spendb.views with templates in templates).
• importer: Tests for the CSV importer in SpenDB, the important bit handled by Celery to get data into SpenDB (code in spendb.importer which is called from spendb.tasks which calls spendb.command).
• lib: Tests generic spendb functions and classes made designed to be reusable all over the code base. These include solr wrappers, parameter parsers and views (code in spendb.lib).
• model: Tests for the database model functionality (the database interface) as SpenDB follows an MVC architecture (code in spendb.model).

Test cases should inherit from the Test classed made available in spendb.tests.base:

• TestCase: Tests for functionality without touching the database
• DatabaseTestCase: Tests that need to test database interactions
• ControllerTestCase: Tests that need to test HTTP interactions

In spendb.tests.helpers a few functions are made available that can make tests easier to write. Noteworthy functions are make_account to make a user account to test with, load_fixture to load a test dataset into the test database, clean_and_reindex_solr to ensure any solr tests are clean and isolated. There are other test helper functions in spendb.tests.helpers and test case writers are encouraged to take a look at the test helpers file.

Test datasets are available in the fixtures directory, both models and data. These are loaded in via the load_fixture function in spendb.tests.helpers.

Run the SpenDB test suite by running

nosetests

in the root of the repository, while in an active virtualenv.