Deprecate "Test" suffix for abstract test case classes

[sebastianbergmann]

No description provided.

[blackdrago]

@sebastianbergmann I've been reading through various PRs on Github, the change log, and other PHPUnit documentation, looking for any background or details as to why this change was made and/or what naming convention (if any) is suggested for these abstract test classes, but I haven't found anything about it.

In our testing suite, we have a number of abstract "BaseTest" classes. Some of these establish shared testing setup elements (e.g., loading a specific data set that multiple tests use) while others contain core testing code that's used to test multiple classes (basic code reduction).

Was this change done simply to enforce a requirement (e.g., any class that uses the 'Test' suffix must be a class that PHPUnit can execute directly, and abstract test classes cannot be run directly, so they can't use the suffix), or is there more to it?

I know I'll be asked for 'the why' as soon as I create the ticket for updating the class names, so I figured I'd ask rather than assume.

[speedbomb]

@sebastianbergmann I have a question about this deprecation: As far as I can see, this should affect only abstract classes whose class name ends with "Test". There is no such class in our test suite, but we get this error:

PHPUnit 9.6.6 by Sebastian Bergmann and contributors.
Warning:       Abstract test case classes with "Test" suffix are deprecated (Tests\Unit\TestCases\BeModuleTestCase)

Is this behaviour intended?

[sebastianbergmann]

@speedbomb You may have run into an edge case that I will gladly investigate if you can provide a minimal, self-contained, reproducing test case that shows the problem. Please do so in a new issue. Thanks!

[speedbomb]

@speedbomb You may have run into an edge case [...]

It's conceivable that this edge case is the usage of the IDE PhpStorm: The abstract test case BeModuleTestCase has 3 inheritors. I can savely run the test method testCanCallView for each of them separately, but if i choose to run all 3 of them, the warning occurs.

[Jehong-Ahn]

Class Foo in Foo_Test.php causes this problem in my case.
I made the change to class Foo_Test.

[Mistralys]

I am currently puzzling over this. On PHPunit 9.6.10 , I get the deprecation message even on classes that do not use any "Test" suffix at all, whether in the class name or the file name e.g.

BaseMailcodeChecks.php

Abstract test case classes with "Test" suffix are deprecated (BaseMailcodeChecks)

So I had a look at the PHPUnit code that triggers the message, and if I am not mistaken, it means that using abstract classes extending TestCase are deprecated in general?

TestSuite.php:459

if ($class->isAbstract() && $class->isSubclassOf(TestCase::class)) {
    $this->addWarning(
        sprintf(
            'Abstract test case classes with "Test" suffix are deprecated (%s)',
            $class->getName(),
        ),
    );
}

If that's the case, how should one handle methods common to test classes? With traits?

[midnite81]

Yeah, this is how it looks to me too, @Mistralys. If this is the case that no abstract classes can be used, this would have quite an impact on many codebases.

[borgogelli]

I am currently puzzling over this. On PHPunit 9.6.10 , I get the deprecation message even on classes that do not use any "Test" suffix at all, whether in the class name or the file name e.g.

BaseMailcodeChecks.php

Abstract test case classes with "Test" suffix are deprecated (BaseMailcodeChecks)

So I had a look at the PHPUnit code that triggers the message, and if I am not mistaken, it means that using abstract classes extending TestCase are deprecated in general?

TestSuite.php:459

if ($class->isAbstract() && $class->isSubclassOf(TestCase::class)) {
    $this->addWarning(
        sprintf(
            'Abstract test case classes with "Test" suffix are deprecated (%s)',
            $class->getName(),
        ),
    );
}

If that's the case, how should one handle methods common to test classes? With traits?

@Mistralys did you find any solutions ? I have the same problem with PHPUnit 10.4.2

[Mistralys]

@borgogelli I found out that the error message is only shown when I run a specific test. I am using PHPStorm, and when I choose a single test class or test method to run, I get the message. If I run all tests through phpunit.xml, PHPUnit does not complain. Maybe an issue with the scope of the test?

I have come to simply ignore the message.