Testing
Using PHPUnit in connection with SMW
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PHPUnit · Testing · Tests · PHP
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Tests are commonly divided into a manual (without using any tool or automated script) and an automated scripted test approach.

Manual testing

If you want to run some manual tests (either as scripted or exploratory test procedure) then you just have to:

Download a related branch using composer require "mediawiki/semantic-media-wiki:dev-foo (where foo refers to the branch name) or in case you want to test the current master, use @dev or dev-master as version together with the minimum-stability: dev flag so that the branch/master can be fetched without any stability limitations.
Run composer dump-autoload to ensure that all registered classes are correctly initialized before starting any test procedure.

Automated testing (PHPUnit)

For the automated approach, Semantic MediaWiki relies on PHPUnit as scripted testing methodology. Scripted tests are used to verify that an expected behaviour occurs for codified requirements on the given conditions.

Unit test refers to a script that verifies results for a unit, module, or class against an expected outcome in an isolated environment
Integration test (or functional test) normally combines multiple components into a single process and verifies the results in a semi-production like environment (including DB access, sample data etc.)
System test (and its individual modules) is treated as "black-box" to observe behaviour as a whole rather than its units

Information about PHPUnit in connection with MediaWiki can be found at smw.org and mediawiki.org.

Running tests

See docs/DEVELOPMENT.md for full setup instructions. All test commands run inside Docker.

Running all tests

sh make composer-test

This runs lint, PHPCS, and all PHPUnit test suites.

Running a single testsuite

Test suites are defined in phpunit.xml.dist:

semantic-mediawiki-check
semantic-mediawiki-unit
semantic-mediawiki-integration
semantic-mediawiki-import
semantic-mediawiki-structure
semantic-mediawiki-benchmark

To run a single testsuite:

sh make composer-test COMPOSER_PARAMS="-- --testsuite=semantic-mediawiki-unit"

Running a single test

sh make composer-test COMPOSER_PARAMS="-- --filter ParserAfterTidyTest"

Writing tests

Writing meaningful tests isn't difficult but requires some diligence on how to setup a test and its environment. One simple rule is to avoid the use of hidden expectations or inheritance as remedy for the "less code is good code" aesthetics. Allow the code to be readable and if possible follow the arrange, act, assert pattern.

For a short introduction on "How to write a test for Semantic MediaWiki", have a look at this video.

/tests ├─ /phpunit │ ├─ Benchmark # Performance benchmarks │ ├─ Fixtures # Fixed data, schemata, and test helpers │ ├─ Integration # Integration tests (require MW, DB, or external services) │ │ ├─ JSONScript # JSON-based declarative integration tests │ │ ├─ MediaWiki # MW hook and API integration tests │ │ └─ ... │ ├─ Structure # Structural/sanity checks │ ├─ Unit # Unit tests (no MW or DB dependency) │ │ ├─ DataValues # Mirrors src/DataValues/ │ │ ├─ MediaWiki # Mirrors src/MediaWiki/ │ │ ├─ SQLStore # Mirrors src/SQLStore/ │ │ └─ ... # Subdirectories mirror the source tree │ └─ Utils # Shared test utilities and validators │ └─ /qunit # JavaScript (QUnit) tests

Unit tests

Unit tests live in tests/phpunit/Unit/ and extend PHPUnit\Framework\TestCase. They should not rely on MediaWiki services, database connections, or external services. All dependencies should be mocked.

The directory structure inside Unit/ mirrors the source tree (src/). For example, unit tests for src/SQLStore/RedirectStore.php go in Unit/SQLStore/RedirectStoreTest.php.

Base classes available:

QueryPrinterTestCase — base class for all query and result printers
SpecialPageTestCase — derives from SemanticMediaWikiTestCase

Integration tests

Integration tests live in tests/phpunit/Integration/ and typically extend SMWIntegrationTestCase (which extends MediaWiki's MediaWikiIntegrationTestCase). They test interaction with MediaWiki, database, or external services.

Integration tests are vital to confirm the behaviour of a component from an integrative perspective that occurs through an interplay with its surroundings.

Those tests don't replace unit tests, they complement them to verify that an expected outcome does actually occur in combination with MediaWiki and other services.

Integration tests can help reduce the recurrence of regressions or bugs, given that a developers follows a simple process:

Make a conjecture or hypothesis about the cause of the bug or regression
Find a minimal test case (using wiki text at this point should make it much easier to replicate a deviated behaviour)
Write a JSON test and have it fail
Apply a fix
Run the test again and then run all other integration tests to ensure nothing else was altered by accidentally introducing another regression not directly related to the one that has been fixed

The Integration directory is expected to host tests that target the validation of reciprocity with MediaWiki and/or other services such as:

Triple-stores (necessary for the SPARQLStore)
Extensions (SESP, SBL etc.)

JSONScript

One best practice in Semantic MediaWiki is to write integration tests as pseudo JSONScript to allow non-developers to review and understand the setup and requirements of its test scenarios.

The JSON format was introduced as abstraction layer to lower the barrier of understanding of what is being tested by using the wikitext markup to help design test cases quicker without the need to learn how PHPUnit or internal MediaWiki objects work.

Benchmark tests

For details, please have a look at the benchmark guide document.

JavaScript (QUnit)

Running qunit tests in connection with MediaWiki requires to execute Special:JavaScriptTest.

Miscellaneous

Writing testable code
Code coverage in a nutshell
Test Doubles (mocks, stubs etc.) and how to write them

Status:	effective
Progress:	100%

Using PHPUnit

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